Telephone sales. Presentation, work with objections, completion of the transaction

And again: though not glossy, but the "live" photo of the sales department

Extensive telephone sales guide for b2b, part 2 of 4.
In this part: general concepts, tips, mistakes, examples, expert opinion. The link to the previous part is indicated at the beginning of the article.

I continue to write an extensive telephone sales guide.

In the previous (1) part:
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Stages of sales. Making contact Identifying Needs (1 of 4)

If anyone is too lazy to read in parts - write to me in the VC . When I complete all 4 parts, I’ll drop the links to each of them so that you can read in a row.

Product presentation

The only sales stage at which the customer, not the customer, speaks, is the product presentation stage. Usually, the sales manager only asks questions to which the customer answers, but in this case the monologue of the seller occurs. A kind of "theater of one actor", in which for a vivid performance it is necessary to know your product along and across, otherwise the whole monologue will turn out to be "water".

The essence of the stage is to, on the basis of the needs identified earlier, associate the properties of the product with the benefits for the client, thereby correctly expressing the essence of the offer to the client. The ability to hold a bright and convincing presentation is a great art, directly related to the confidence of the sales manager.

Errors in the presentation of the product and their solutions

Product ignorance

Do you know how to "pour water"? If not, learn, because without knowing the subtleties of your own product, you will have to pour a lot of water. Your monologue will be too vague if you have nothing to say about your product. This means that you will be unconvincing, and the client will be lost.

Solution: continuous learning, repetition mat. parts. Let a knowledgeable person ask you the maximum possible number of questions on the product. Next, write down those questions that you can not give a confident answer. Make a training plan and find answers to all questions. Repeat 2-3 times with different knowledgeable people.

Seller timidity

Often shy when communicating with strangers? Is it difficult for you to conduct a monologue, since you doubt your abilities? Uncertainty in the voice, hesitancy, "slavish" tonality - a sure way to discourage the interest of the client.

Solution: listen to your dialogs. Compare with successful sales dialogs. Draw conclusions. Ask a colleague to watch over you so that he can constantly remind you that you need to behave more confidently. Over time, this will become a habit. A good motivation will be the comparison of previous dialogues with new ones, where you are a confident person.

Lack of faith in the product

Every manager faced with the fact that he has to sell something in which he does not believe. The reasons may be different: “Yes, who needs it at all”, “Our competitors have a better offer”, etc. It would seem: just don’t work with a product that has no faith, but everything’s not so simple - managers need to eat and not everyone can be taken to where they would like to work. Of course, such a dislike for your own product is the funeral march of the persuasiveness of the presentation.

Solution: make lists of the advantages of your product and of the competitors' product. Make a list of problems that are solved with the help of your product. Find negative reviews about competitors' products. Find positive reviews about your product. Using informational distortions, you will be able to consciously change your own attitude towards your product. Warning: advice for sellers, but not for owners.

Wrong benefits

Do you believe that there are special phrases that can convince anyone? Well, such, like: "You will save" or "Cheaper than the competition"? Welcome to the club for sellers who need training.

Solution: use only those benefits of the product that will be of interest to your client. To do this, you and identified the needs of the client before the presentation - on them and push. Everything is simple: use the identified benefits. I repeat: the benefits identified. If not, work on identifying needs to improve product presentation.

Throwing from stage to stage

I often observe how sales managers begin to present the product, then go on to identify needs and return to the presentation again. In this case, your presentation will fail, because the client will immediately realize that you are desperately trying to grab at least something that will allow you to convince him.

Solution (see video):


By the way, the same decision applies to the situation when you start making false promises to the client during the presentation process. If you begin to invent the properties of your product on the go - remember the words of Viktor Fedorovich.

Pause at the end of the presentation

Perhaps the most elementary mistake is a pause at the end of the presentation. This is the very moment when in the client's head there is an opportunity to ask you uncomfortable questions when you are completely unprepared for them.

Solution: Ask the client a question at the end of the presentation. This will allow you to keep the initiative with you, as well as avoid uncomfortable questions. Example: “What do you say?”, “What do you think about this?” And other formulations. The main thing - use the "open" questions.

Work with objections

Objections are divided into explicit and hidden. Explicit client expresses independently, usually - after your presentation. Hidden client does not express, but has in his head.

The essence of the work with objections is reduced to a simple formula: to help the client discard doubts, parrying his arguments with his own. By the way, in the previous stage I described how to avoid uncomfortable questions, but in fact they should be avoided only temporarily, as a tactical trick: to ultimately reveal the hidden objections of the client. Why reveal hidden objections, run into uncomfortable questions (when ready for them)?

If he voices them during the conversation - you have a chance to convince him. If you don’t voice it, the client will simply be left alone with his objections after talking with you, and this is very bad news for you. Simply put, the more you are able to identify and work out hidden objections during the conversation - the less likely that the client will doubt and think after he has finished talking with you.

Errors when dealing with objections and their solutions

I asked Vilen Shikoyantsu (who is Vilen, you can read at the beginning of the previous part of the article ): “What mistakes are often made when working out objections?” .


Below are Vilen's answers to my question:

The lack of blanks for working out objections

The crudest and most common mistake. Without prepared answers to the calculated questions, you will not be able to respond to the client’s attack properly, as a result of which your arguments will be extremely low.

Solution: write down each unique objection of each client, prepare in advance the answers to each of the objections. Try to remember, after what words, what objections arise and after what your answers, what reaction will follow.

Fear of hearing no

Among the newcomers, you can often meet a panic when the client says no. Often they even hang up to get rid of the source — the talking customer. It is clear that with this you need to do something.

Solution: download the client base on the Internet, which does not concern your sphere. Make an absurd sentence, for example: "A black and white used TV for only 25,000 rubles." Call on this database and voice your proposal. First you get used to hearing "no", and then try to continue the sale after the first "no", until the other person hangs up. In the end, you quickly get rid of your fear.

Interrupting a client

Do you think that you already understood the client’s idea or that he is wrong? Want to kill him at the moment where he is wrong to correct? Maybe you want to say something like: “I understand your thought - do you mean * something there *? Anyone can not stand when they interrupt him and the client is no exception.

Solution: attentively listen to the client, use the emotional connection and only then use the counter-argument and seize the initiative.

Pause after answering customer’s question

Often, managers respond to the objection of the client, after which they become silent. This leads to a loss of initiative in the dialogue. Your every answer should end with a counter question. Do not even think about answering the question with a question - give the client a detailed answer and ask the question only with the second sentence, without pausing between the sentences. In general, keep to the format "Give an answer - ask a question." Example:

- It's too expensive.

- Vasily, being in the place of the buyer, this is the first thing I would say in order to bargain. Will we bargain? This is normal.

Bringing a client to bargaining is not the only possible option, but it is interesting, since you are luring the client into a game in which it is easy to understand how interested he is.

Another variant:

- Expensive.

- Vasily, if I were in the place of a client, then it would be important for me to understand that for my money I will not receive bullshit. This offer includes * 1, 2, 3, 4 * - what do you think about this configuration?

And no incredibly idiotic questions, like:

- Expensive.

- In comparison with what?

I explain: the client is very unlikely to be able to answer this question. You just expose him to a stupid man, and he really does not like it. Even worse, if the client really has an example in his head of those who have better conditions than yours.

An exciting question: what to answer if they say: “I will think it over”?

- I'll think about it.

- What do you want to think about, Vasily?

- * hidden objection turns into explicit *

* Unfortunately, I distracted Vilen from the main work, so the question session had to be completed. Thanks to him for the answers *

Closing the deal

From the title it is clear that at this stage it’s time to agree on something with your client. The essence of the stage is to take stock and perform a targeted action: send a commercial offer, agree on payment, accept an order, send a brief to fill out and many other things, depending on the subject of the conversation.

If all the other steps are correct: establishing contact, identifying needs, presenting the product, working out objections - the completion of the transaction should go “like clockwork,” but it is still necessary to stipulate a couple of frequently made mistakes.

Errors at the end of the transaction

Attempt to sell "one touch"

Imagine: you are called with an offer to order an animated video for business. It seems to be interesting to you and you let it be understood by your behavior. But here the following happens: the manager invites you to make an advance payment for the creation of the video, so as not to waste time. No matter how interesting it is to you, no sensible person will go for this, because you do not know what you should subscribe to. The brief has not yet been filled out, you have not been sent a commercial offer, you have not seen examples of work. Simply put, you do not know anything that goes beyond what the manager voiced.

Solution: try to sell in two calls. The first is to send a commercial offer and brief, if appropriate. The second is to agree on payment, or to take another targeted action aimed at directly selling. Simply put, when you first call, you must give the person to get acquainted with your conditions, and when you make the second, you already have to sell.

Blurred dates

Often, at the end of a dialogue, the manager does not specify any deadlines during which the client must perform the target action. As a result, it becomes unclear: the client is still thinking, or he simply “disappeared”, as is often the case. As a result: it is not clear whether it is worth calling a customer to remind of himself, or not and it will only scare him away.

Solution: always specify the time within which the client can take the target action. For example: “How much time do you need to send us a filled brief, how do you think?”, “How much time do you need to make a decision, what do you think?”, “What do you think, how much time do you need to have time to pay in advance?”.

Superfluous mot

Sometimes at the end of the conversation I relaxed and could say something that scared the client, who seemed ready to deal. As far as I remember, the problem was quite common among other managers, but no one until the last could understand what was the matter - why did the client suddenly refuse?

Solution: just do not relax, hold on to the very end. Any extra word can be critical, which will cause you to lose a client. This is the most annoying: when it already seems that the client is “ready”, but here comes such a nuisance.

In the next part (3 of 4):

• How to create a sales script
• How to get around secretary