At the center of everything we do is the customer relationship. Additionally, like planets revolving around the sun, there are five stages of the sales cycle revolving around the customer relationship, which we must pass through in order to make the sale. In a way, this is our roadmap for when we are talking to the buyer. If we want to make a sale and get the re-order, we must control the sales conversation with the buyer, not the other way around. When we are talking to the buyer we are never stuck, because we know where we are in the cycle and what needs to come next. Let’s take a walk through the galaxy and visit each of these stages of the sales cycle.
This is all about forming a positive first impression. Remember the client doesn’t know us yet. We may have met them at an event, through a referral, via a website lead or through a cold call. We need our credibility statement beautifully refined to explain who we are and why we can do a great job of serving the buyer. We need to ask some qualifying questions at this point to really understand if we can in fact serve the buyer or not.
We need a plan for the conversation, so we have prepared an agenda statement. We invite the buyer to add any items they think necessary to get the right buy in, to progress the meeting using this agenda.
They don’t know us and this is an important point. We need to find out what they do know about us from their research or what they have heard in the market. Definitely we need to immediately correct any misperceptions or wrong information.
We are here to help them solve their problems, but like a medical doctor we need to understand the situation completely, before we start prescribing any solutions. To do this we need to ask as series of questions.
What is their current situation?
Where do they want to be in the next few years?
What things do they need to change to get where they want to be?
If this is a successful project helping them with their solutions, what will it mean for them personally?
After hearing them out we need to tell them if we can in fact help them or not. If we can’t then we need to get moving and find someone we can help. If we can help them, we give a quick summary of what we heard. Then we add our declaration that we do in fact have the right solutions for their issues.
We take what they have told us and we build the solution. Next, we have to take them through the solution, so that they know exactly how we can help them, how it works, what is involved, etc. At this point we are confirming that our understanding of their issues is correct. We need to provide the detail, the facts, features etc.
Importantly we need to provide the benefits of the features we are describing – tell them how to apply this in their business. We also must provide evidence of where this has worked before – we need to provide proof of what we are saying. Finally we should check for understanding or any concerns at this point, by using a trial close to test the waters.
Now if we haven’t been clear enough in our solution explanation, questions will arise. If we haven’t been persuasive enough, then concerns will arise. We may even get strong pushback against our solution. We need to know how to professionally handle any objections.
We have outlined the solution and dealt with any concerns, so now it is time to ask for the order. Before doing that, we need to paint a word picture that can conjure up in their mind scenes of success using our solution. We use one of our many techniques for softly asking for the order.
Once we get agreement, then we have to flesh out the details of how the solution will be delivered. We need to maintain contact with the client to make sure all is well after we have delivered the solution and see if they need any other help. A very happy client is perfectly poised to refer us to others who could also make valuable use of our solution.
The five steps in the sales cycle are our roadmap and all we need to do is work our way through them. Probably steps three to five will be at the second meeting. Do you have a road map? Do you have your credibility statement, agenda statement, qualifying questions? Do you have the right strategy for dealing with objections and for gently asking for the order? If you don’t, then “Japan Sales Mastery” will become a Sales Bible for you in Japan.
