In a nutshell : What is "Key Account Management" ?

1. KAM (Key Account Management) means creating a portfolio of customers by  selecting them carefully and organizing yourself to serve them as if each customer is a "market" by himself. 
2. Question :How do you select such customers ? Answer : You select those customers who will help you where you want to go. Caveat : You need to know first where you want to go yourself want to go : which markets ? with what positioning? based on what competence?
3. Question : How do you organize KAM ? Answer : By creating a specialist group within your company who, ideally, knows the customer's business as well - or even better - than the customer does. You must know his customers, his compulsions and his opportunities. You should be able to deploy all 5 marketing processes for such a customer. (I hope you remember what these processes are : market sensing, diagnosis and design of strategy, customer fulfillment, customer revenue acquisition and improvement driven by customer satisfaction measurement). If necessary you should be in a position to create a marketing plan for your customer as good as he can. Only when this is done will you earn the respect that a true partner deserves. Caveat : The primary consideration is whether the customer is really ready for a partnership mode and whether the benefits - financial and otherwise - to you are commensurate with the trouble you will need to take?
   
4. Speak in the buyer's problem language. The language of big problems is the language of time, money and risk. If you are speaking about product features, service guarantees and comparative analysis of your benefit, then be sure to list one-for-one with your competitor. Speak to the right level of buyer. You know you have to go higher to get executive sponsorship for bigger sales. This isn't new. The real issue is that it's not just sponsorship to be delegated to a lower level buyer. You need to stay with the executive sponsor through the entire process to get the sale done. That means focusing on his or her problem and staying on point.
   Focus on the early outcomes. Real improvements for your customers on bigger sales can be seen in the near-term. They are the currency of first steps and they give your buyers the necessary early results to encourage them and quiet potential detractors. This doesn't mean outrageous claims; it means measurable progress that can be observed early.
   Show how the change will take less than they fear. Big sales delay and die based upon fear, not for a lack of interest or anticipated benefit. Uncertainty is the grit in the gears of change. Spell out every step and show how you and your company will carry the load.
   Set the first step as NOW. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't sell past the next step in the process. Focus on what is necessary to be understood by you and your buyer from one step to the next. Accomplish the bigger sale one step at a time.
   Your record-breaking sale means pushing yourself to talk to bigger people about bigger problems, then showing the path for the buyer to see with confidence that each step will be safe, measurable and valuable.    

12 Sales Presentation Mistakes to Avoid

1. UNCLEAR THINKING. If you can't describe the objective of your interaction in one sentence, you may be guilty of fuzzy focus— trying to say too much at once. You'll confuse your listener and that doesn't make the sale. Decide exactly what you want and need to accomplish in this contact. What would be a positive outcome? For example, imagine that a busy executive says, "You have exactly ten minutes of my time to tell me what you want me to know about your company. In one sentence, tell me how I should describe your benefits when I talk to my managers tomorrow." At any stage of the sales process, you should know in advance why you are interacting, what benefits you are offering your prospect or client, and what you'd like the next step to be.
2. NO CLEAR STRUCTURE. Make it easy for your prospect to follow what you are saying—whether in a casual conversation or a formal presentation of information and ideas. They'll remember it better—and you will too. Otherwise, you may forget to make a key point. If you waffle or ramble, you lose your listeners. Even for a conversation, mentally outline your objectives. What key "Points of Wisdom" do you want the prospect to remember? How will you illustrate each point? What colorful examples will your prospect be able to repeat three days later? What phrases or slogans do you want to guarantee they will repeat afterwards? You speak to be remembered and repeated.
3. TALKING TOO MUCH. Salespeople often talk too much about themselves and their service or product. They make a speech rather than having an exchange or interaction—otherwise known as conversation. The key to connecting with a client is conversation. The secret of client conversation is to ask questions and the quality of client information received depends on the quality of the questions asked. The bigger secret is waiting for, and listening to, the answers! In fact, a successful encounter early in the sales process should probably be mostly open-ended questions—the kind that require essay answers rather than just "yes" and "no." And don't rush on with preprogrammed questions that pay no attention to the answer you've just received. Learn to listen...even pausing to wait for further comments. Silence draws people out.
4. NO MEMORABLE STORIES. People rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories. Help them "make the movie" in their minds by using memorable characters, exciting situations, intriguing dialogue, suspense, and humor. Telling stories of satisfied clients and painting a picture of how this client’s condition will be improved with your product or service are appropriate.
5. NO THIRD-PERSON ENDORSEMENTS. There's a limit to how many bold claims you can make about your company and product results, but there is no limit to the words of praise you can put in the mouths of your delighted clients. Use case histories of your clients' success stories about the benefits they received from your service or product. When you are using their actual dialogue, you can say much more glowing things about yourself and your company than you could if the words were your own. Your endorsement stories should use the same ingredients as a good Hollywood movie: create memorable characters, use vivid dialogue, and provide a dramatic lesson learned.
   
   The dramatic lesson learned in your Hollywood story will be the benefits of doing business with you. Choose characters that your prospects can connect with. It helps if the star of your story holds a similar position to your prospect. You can't say, "Do business with me, and you'll get promoted," but you can give a specific example of someone who phoned, e-mailed, or wrote you that this happened to them. "Just last week," you might say, "I heard from Mary Smith. She's the Payroll Manager at Amalgamated Systems. She said that changing their payroll system to our company not only made them more efficient, but they cut their costs 10%. She told me, 'You made me look good in the eyes of management. Thanks to you, I received a promotion!'" That's an emotional connection.
6. NO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION. The most powerful communication combines both intellectual and emotional connections. Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest with data and reasoned arguments. Emotion comes from engaging the listeners' imaginations, involving them in your illustrative stories by frequent use of the word "you" and from answering their unspoken question, "What's in this for me?" Obviously, a customer is going to justify doing business with you for specific analytical reasons. What gives you the edge—what I like to call the "unfair advantage"—is creating an emotional connection too. Build this emotional connection by using stories with characters that they can relate to and by providing a high I/You ratio, using the word "you" as often as possible and talking from their point of view.
   
   My recommendation is that you make telephone appointments with your happiest clients. Tell them you would like to use their stories about working with you as an endorsement, and ask permission to tape record your conversation. Then just let them talk. The more they say, encouraged now and then by a question from you, the better their stories and quotes will be. Finally, select the best quotes from what they've said.
7. WRONG LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION. Are you providing the big picture and generalities when your listeners are hungry for details, facts, and specific how-to's? Or, are you drowning them in data when they need to position themselves with an overview and find out why they should care? Get on the same wavelength with your prospects. For first contacts with executives, describe what your company can do for them in broad generalities. With middle managers, discuss exactly how you can work together, a medium level of abstraction. If you are dealing with IT professionals, use the lowest level of abstraction, lots of facts and figures. Don't discuss aspects or details of what you're offering that your audience has no interest in.
8. NO PAUSES. Few sales presentations have enough pauses. Good music and good communication both contain changes of pace, pauses, and full rests. This is when listeners think about important points you've just made. If you rush on at full speed to crowd in as much information as possible, chances are you've left your prospects back at the station. Give them enough time to ask a question or even time to think over what has been said. Pauses allow pondering and understanding.
9. IRRITATING NON-WORDS. Hmm--ah--er--you know what I mean. One presenter I heard began each new thought with "Now!" as he scanned his notes to figure out what came next. This might be okay occasionally, but not every 30 seconds. Practice in front of your sales manager or colleagues, giving them permission to call out whenever you hem or ah. Or video or digitally record yourself, and note any digressions.
10. STEPPING ON THE PUNCH-WORD. The most important word in a sentence is the punch-word. Usually, this is the final word: "Take my wife—PLEASE." But if you drop your voice or add, "Right?" or "See?" or "You know?" or "Okay?," you've killed the impact of your message. Another popular punch-line killer is the word "today." Avoid saying, "Let's look at the recommendations we have for you today." Obviously, you're talking "today." The punch word in this sentence should be "recommendations."
    
    Comedian Jerry Seinfeld says, "I'll spend an hour reducing an eight-word sentence to five words because the joke will be funnier." I train sales teams to do the same thing with their key phrases because their presentations will be more powerful. We go through their sentences, looking for the "$10 words." Not every word or phrase is, or should be, of equal importance. Emphasize the action words and phrases or those that make an emotional connection. "And"-"it"-"in" are no-dollar words.
    
    One recommendation I make to sales teams is to come up with what I call "$100 phrases." My clients get excited and call out, "Wow, that's SO good!" whenever someone uses an especially potent phrase. Often it is a succinct term for a hard-to-describe benefit. Such a phrase can be priceless. For example, a company offering a complex process might explain, "We're like a security guard that keeps the bad guys out and lets the good guys in."
    
    To find $100 phrases for your company, I suggest this process: Imagine you are trying to explain what you do to your 82-year-old great aunt. How you describe it should be part of your conversational sales presentation. This is an especially good technique to use for executive overviews. If your $100 phrase is "visual enough," your prospects and clients will repeat it later.
11. NOT HAVING A STRONG OPENING AND CLOSING. Engage your audience immediately with a powerful, relevant opening that includes them. For example, "You have an awesome responsibility." Then fill in what it is: increasing sales, reducing errors, cutting overhead, whatever your product can help your prospect do. Another excellent strategy is to do some research. Then you can say, "Congratulations on your company's recent success," and describe it. Or "I love your new commercials." Most salespeople start by talking about their company. Talk about your prospect instead.
    
    Whenever I give a speech for a company, I check out their web site, corporate reports, or press releases to find something their Chairman of the Board or CEO has said that I can quote. You can do this too, making it almost sound as if their CEO is recommending your company. For example, "Our core values are..." and match them to your own. Or "We subscribe to Best Practices and all our preferred vendors do as well." That's you!
    
    To close, pick the one sentence that you absolutely want embedded in their minds, even if you don't get the appointment or the sale. Leave them with a strong, positive message. They might say, "We're happy with our present vendor." You reply, "I appreciate your LOYALTY [a $10 word.] If you ever want a SECOND vendor [$10 word] or for any reason they DISSATISFY [$10 word] you, you need to do business with a company that will be around LONG-TERM [$10 word.] Please remember, we've been PROFITABLE [$10 word] for the last 167 quarters [$10 word.]"
    
    In the search for $100 phrases, don't just add up $10 words. A $100 phrase stands alone. It is a repetitive refrain that is so valuable to your company that every salesperson needs to be trained to use it in every presentation.
12. MISUSING TECHNOLOGY. Too many salespeople rely too much on their Power Point and flip charts and not enough on making an emotional connection. My friend, Charles H. Green, co-author of The Trusted Advisor, writes about four advertising agencies who were given an opportunity to bid for a large account. Each group had two hours. The last team walked in and said, "We're ready to do exactly what the other three competing agencies have done. We can give you the 'Dance of a Thousand Slides', but you have is a choice. You can pretend you already hired us and for the next two hours we can start brainstorming on your account. If you hire us, you've received two free hours consultation...and if you don't, you've still had two hours free." They proved they could think on their feet and be flexible. This won them a very profitable account. They showed they could use the latest technology, but, more importantly, that they didn't need it. "Whenever you're being considered for a job," says Charlie "act as if you already have it. Most people want to think that the quality of their work speaks for itself. It doesn't. Beat your competition by getting to work for your prospect immediately. Demonstrate how it will feel to be working together." All four agencies could have done a fine job. The one that landed the account had enough confidence in their presentation skills to use technology or not. The client was exhilarated by their work session, impressed by the agency's flexibility, and confident this agency would and could do a great job. Many sales teams couldn't communicate with a prospect for two hours without the help of a suitcase full of charts, slides, and electronic equipment. Bottom line: Make technology a support, not a crutch.

(Taken from Go-To-Market Strategies website )

1.  

Ideas for business promotion for SMEs

Borrowed from Neil Patel 
 

Comment on blogs : Leave comments on blogs that are related to your website and the comments you leave have to be insightful. Then people will not only read you but also head to your website.

Leverage message boards : There are millions of message boards on the net and if you give people good advice, it can drive a lot of traffic to your website.

Optimize your website for search engines : Through search engine optimization you can get more visitors to your website. You employ a search marketing firm or do it yourself by  reading the Beginner’s Guide to SEO and by following these link building tactics .

Start a blog : If you are going to create a blog for your company, host it on your domain name, write a good content and don’t constantly pitch your company in your posts. Create a community by responding to each blog comment.

Google local :  I decided to claim the Hyatt Hotel in Seattle (I live there) as my business location and when you search for the Hyatt Hotel in Seattle, my business comes up.

Leverage Social Networks : By sharing good content that you find while surfing the web and participating on the social web, you’ll quickly be able to build up your profiles. The key is to be patient as it can take 6 months to a year before your social profiles really become popular.

Become a guest author :  Write guest blog posts on other blogs. All of these blogs want is more content. If you write guest blog posts you will not only get traffic but also branding and the  links will help your SEO efforts.

Case Studies : If you already have happy customers, why not get a case study from them? Get them to talk about your product or service, how they used it, and the results they got.Case studies can help build credibility for your company, and get you new customers.

Write Beginner’s Guides : Do you remember when companies used to write White Papers? Although they are still effective, the new version of them are “beginner’s guides”. These guides vary in length, but the one thing they have in common is that they are thorough. By writing good content and giving it away for free, not only will you get a ton of traffic, but you’ll also get a lot of links.

Speak at conferences :  All you have to do is find these events and apply to speak.

Start an affiliate program : If you don’t have the money to spend on marketing, you can always get people to market for you for free. The only thing you have to do is pay people for each sale they bring to you. Think of it as performance based marketing.

Answer questions :  From forums to question and answer sites, people need help. If you can answer questions related to the products and services your company provides, you can get new customers. You can find these potential customers on forums on question and answer sites like Yahoo Answers.

Go to networking events : Some of the people you will meet will be useless, but a small percentage of the people you meet will turn into business relationships and friendships.

Talk shit :  The good part about having a blog is that it gives you an audience that you can communicate with. And when you tell them something, it will start spreading virally on the web.With my first company ACS, we provided marketing services. And when I saw companies that could use our help, I wouldn’t just reach out to them, but I would write a blog post on how they are messing up.

Give away the farm:  email companies and tell them in a step by step format of everything they need to change. Don’t be afraid to email companies and potential customers that you think you can help. What’s the worst thing that they can do… ignore your email?

Ask for referrals : Do you already have customers? If so, have you asked them for referrals? It’s a pretty effective approach as long as your current customers are happy with you. You’ll be shocked, only a very small percentage of your customers will not be willing to make an introduction. If a large portion tell you no, it means that you could be doing a better job making them happy.

Leverage You Tube : Not only do videos now appear in search results, but you also can use them to show how good your products actually are.

Offer steep discounts : A buddy of mine launched a concept called Tomato Battle, in which thousands of people get together and throw tomatoes at each other. When he launched the event he was charging 59 dollars for a ticket and his goal was to get a bit more than 2000 attendees. Within days he sold over 1000 tickets on these group buying sites and after the deal closed the people who bought tickets told their friends and those friends went directly to the Tomato Battle site and bought more tickets at the regular price. If you can come up with a price point that benefits you as well as the group buying companies, you can make a lot of money and gain access to a whole new set of customers.

Have exceptionally great customer service: One of the easiest ways to increase the lifetime value of your customers is to offer exceptionally great customer service. For example, Zappos will automatically upgrade your shipping to next day air every once in a while. And they also offer a 1 year return policy with little to no questions asked. By providing exceptionally great customer service, customers will not only be happy with you, but they’ll continue to come back. In the short run this may end up costing your company a bit more money, but in the long run you’ll see the benefit because each customer will not only spend more money with you, but they’ll tell their friends about the great experience they had with your company.

Get press : The more people that talk about your company in a positive way, the more people will come to your website and check out what you are offering. The hard part about press is that it’s not easy to get the attention of the major news outlets. But it is easy to get the attention of blogs. One way that I like to get press is to email bloggers asking if they would like to interview me. Although that sounds silly, a small percentage of the bloggers you email will say yes.Don’t be shy; ask bloggers if they would be interested in interviewing you. What’s the worse thing that can happen… they’ll say no?

Pay with a tweet : If you want more customers, then entice people to promote your company. Simply Measured does a great job of this by letting you signup for free if you tweet about their product. And as more people tweet, more people come to their website and signup. And once you are in their system, they get you hooked onto their software and they upsell you into paid plans. Start thinking outside of the box. Free users can market your company for you with a tweet, a plug on Facebook or any other social site. You just have to be willing to ask them for a plug on these social sites or else you won’t receive them.

Selling High End, Complex, Intangible B2B products

I am referring a  sales  situation  where  many,  and  very senior,  people are  involved  in  either making  or  influencing  the  decision. They are making this type of decision  probably for the first time because what  is  on  offer  is expensive,  complex,  and  intangible.  The  benefits  offered  by  competitors  are   complex  to  understand  and  compare. The  customers  do not clearly have an idea of what  they  really  need. Each person  from  the  buying  side brings  his  own  functional  and  experiential  perspective  to the  table.  If  the  sale  goes  through,  it  will  involve  a  long  association where  several  people  from  the  buying  and  selling  organization  will  be  engaged  during  widely  and  deeply  during  pre-sales,  during-sale  and  post-sales  periods.     

Examples  of  such  products / situations

«  ERP  system.

«  Idea  of  making  a  chemical  manufacturer to  change raw  material  / process.

«  Agency   pitching for  a  major  new  account.

«  Trying  to  sell  a  new  fighter  plane  to  a  country’s  air  force.

«  Selling  water  treatment  plant  to  a  municipal  corporation.

«  Trying  to  convince  a  patient  to  undergo  a  certain  heart  surgical  procedure.

«  Trying  to  sell  a  new  medical  imaging  system  to  a  hospital. 

In  such  situations,  it  is  not about the product and price  alone. Under  these  circumstances  the  customer  does  not  even  understand  his  own  problem and needs  clearly;  let  alone  know  the  right  product  and  price  for  it.  A  successful  salesperson  in  this  situation,  helps the  customer  to create a solution  that he  could not have been able to come up on his  own. In  other  words  it  is  the  expertise  of  the  salesperson  that  makes  a  big  difference.  It  is  this  ability to collaborate with the  customer,  stimulate his thinking and create revenue-building solutions that a  customer  does  not  have  the time or the wherewithal to create for himself. They  work  “with  the  customer”. They don’t sit across the desk from a customer  spewing information and hoping for a commission. They actually become an integral part of the  customer’s  business, making his  life easier and contributing to his measurable success. The sales process is not done “to the  customer” but “with the  customer”.  There  are  four phases involved:

 Discover: The sales and marketing professional researches, prepares and sets the stage for a compelling engagement and a continuing relationship based on trust and respect.

Diagnose: An in-depth determination of the existence, extent and financial impact of the customer’s current situation is pursued. Diagnosis is meant to maximize customers’ objective awareness of their dissatisfaction and determine whether that dissatisfaction corresponds to the salesperson’s offerings.

Design: The goal is to get the marketing professional and customer working together to identify the optimal solution to the problems that were uncovered and quantified in the Diagnose phase—even if it involves alternative solutions offered by competitors. This phase is the “dress rehearsal” before the final presentation is made. It is here that many salespeople make the mistake of giving away valuable information and becoming an unpaid consultant.

Deploy/Deliver: This phase begins with the presentation of a formal proposal and the customer’s subsequent formal acceptance of the solution. Implementation and support of the solution are next, followed by maintaining and growing the relationship with the customer.  

Traits  of  successful  sales  professionals   

They diagnose your problem. When a sales professional launches into a description of his “solution” without first establishing a clear understanding of your situation, be wary. A great salesperson never assumes that they or you understand the very real, very complex problems you face. Instead, like a good psychiatrist, he methodically questions and diagnoses until he uncovers those problems and expands your awareness. Once you both clearly understand your problem—and you perceive all the ramifications of that problem—then he is justified in making recommendations.  After all, if you’re not feeling any pain, why would you want to change? Diagnosis takes time and hard work. A credible salesperson proves that he is willing to provide both.

They ask questions, rather than tell stories. Conventional salespeople tell stories about their solutions, not to mention proclaiming the superiority of their company’s brand, history and reputation. Prospective customers expect to hear these stories and rarely take them seriously.  Chances are you will take a salesperson seriously when she displays concern for the problems you may have and the expertise to solve them. This is demonstrated by asking questions, questions that you would not have thought to ask yourself. The true professional’s activity is additive to your knowledge as well as her own. How else could a sales professional acquire the raw information she needs to make an accurate diagnosis and design an efficient solution?

They let you set the pace. If a salesperson is truly there to serve you, he will not rush you, pressure you or manipulate you. The last thing he will want to do is create mistrust or a confrontational atmosphere. Therefore he will let you discover, understand the impact of and take ownership of problems before he discusses solution options. This will take a while. You will know you have a great salesperson if you find yourself feeling emotionally comfortable and communicating openly. This state of being is the only way to do mutually beneficial business.

They help you calculate the cost of your problem. It’s not enough for a salesperson to say, “You have a problem and it’s costing you money.” She must say, “We need to determine how much this is costing you and see if it make sense to pursue a solution.”  Vagueness is a red flag. If a salesperson shies away from establishing an accurate cost, it’s either because she doesn’t know the cost (or is too lazy to do the work to find out), or she’s afraid the cost will be too low to justify the solution she’s offering. Generally, the second reason is the most likely one. And maybe your problem isn’t significant enough to justify the expense—and a great salesperson will suggest that to you and respect that outcome.

They don’t let you fall into the “creeping elegance” trap. Let’s say that you become so enthusiastic about the potential value of the solution a salesperson is offering that you drop into the “as long as we’re going to do this we might as well also do that” mode of thinking.  A conventional salesperson might let you run up your wish list, all the time counting up the extra commissions in his head. A great salesperson will ensure that his sales do not expand beyond reasonable financial parameters. He knows that because complex sales inherently involve more than one decision maker, if you unnecessarily expand the scope of a solution one of your colleagues will shoot the whole project down. Thus, he loses your business—and you lose the benefit of the solution.  A truly good sales professional is worth his or her weight in gold. He will function as a consultant for you, a strategic partner, even an advocate. He will give you a competitive advantage. Instead of reluctantly dealing with a high-pressure adversary, you’ll be forming a partnership based on mutual trust and respect.  

The  right   sales   process  here  is  actually  opposite  to  what  is  taught  in  conventional selling. In conventional selling  a  salesperson  starts  with  a  product  which is already designed for a known target  market and his task is  to present the  product interactively - in the light of the need of the customer- so that an order can be obtained. In  short,  the  emphasis  of  the  traditional  selling  is  on  salesmanship.  On  the  other hand,  a  sale  of  the  kind  we  are  talking  about  is  a  combination  of  marketing  and  sales  put  together :  it  is  first  understanding  the  need  of  the  customer,  figure  out  what  he  wants,  configure  it  for  him  and  only  then   begin  selling  it. 

To avoid pitfalls  the  sales  force  involved  needs  to  go  through  the  following ideas:   

Avoid Premature Presentations. Discuss this question: why should we present a solution to customers’ problems before they clearly understand what those problems are—and, more to the point, before a customer fully comprehends the problem and recognizes that you do too? While most salespeople devote the majority of their face-to-face time presenting and handling objections, the most successful salespeople spend the majority of their time collaborating with customers, diagnosing their situation, designing or creating a desired solution, and building their resolve to actively solve the problem.

Let  customer  take  the  ownership : Don’t lead him. The traditional sales or marketing representative draws conclusions for the customer—often prematurely—and presents them to the customer before the customer is prepared to hear them. It is important that the customer discover and take ownership of the problem before deciding to seek a solution. If the rep moves ahead of the customer, the customer is likely to interpret the rep’s actions as pushy or manipulative. This leads to a lack of trust and creates a confrontational rather than cooperative atmosphere.

Motivate the customer to change. No pain, no change, no sale. Dissatisfaction is the most basic human motivator for change. It is the natural defence mechanism that tells people that if they don’t change and deal with a problem, they will face consequences. Change itself is painful. As a result, change will not occur until an individual or company recognizes that it would be more painful not to change. This is why it’s critical that your reps conduct a thorough diagnosis that uncovers the pain of the current situation and the lack of the future outcome. As you know, nothing less will motivate the customer to change.

Quickly  identify  if  there is nn urgent reason/resources to change. Only  20% - 30% prospects  have  both;  for  the  rest   get  ready  to  accept “No”  and  move  on.  The  traditional  mindset  is  that  a  good  salesman  does  not  take “no” for an answer  and  they  think that “no” equates to personal failure.  For  the  kind  of  sale  we  are  talking  about,  coach your reps in  asking “Is there someplace better I could be  instead  of  a  customer  who  neither  has  reason  nor  resources?” It  is  not  bad  to  go for the “no.” One advantage of a thorough diagnosis is that it allows the salesperson to quickly identify the 20-30% of prospects who have the immediate reason and resources to make a change.  A thorough diagnosis is the difference between an intellectual conversation about a desirable future and an objective observation and measurement of real indicators of an unacceptable present.

Detailed  Description  of  7  Steps

1.   Planning And/Or Preparation

2.   Introduction Or Opening

3.   Questioning

4.   Presentation

5.   Overcoming Objections/Negotiating

6.   Close Or Closing

7.   After-Sales Follow-Up

Planning / Preparation

•  Generally, the larger the prospect organization, the more research you should do before any sales call at which you will be expected, or are likely, to present you company's products or services.
• Ensure know your own product/service extremely well - especially features, advantages and benefits that will be relevant to the prospect you will be meeting
• Ascertain as far as you can the main or unique perceived organizational benefit that your product or service would give to your prospect
• Discover what current supply arrangements exist or are likely to exist for the product/service in question, and assess what the present supplier's reaction is likely to be if their business is at threat
• Understand what other competitors are able and likely to offer, and which ones are being considered if any
• Identify as many of the prospect organization's decision-makers and influencers as you can, and assess as much as far as you can what their needs, motives and relationships are
• Try to get a feel for what the organizational politics are
• What are the prospect's organizational decision-making process and financial parameters (budgets, year-end date)
• What are your prospect's strategic issues, aims, priorities and problems, or if you can't discover these pre-meeting, what are they generally for the market sector in which the prospect operates?
• Prepare your opening statements and practice your sales presentation
• Prepare your presentation in the format in which you are to give it (eg., MS Powerpoint slides for laptop or projected presentation) plus all materials, samples, hand-outs, brochures, etc., and always have spares - allow for more than the planned numbers as extra people often appear at the last minute - see the presentation section for more detailed guidance on designing formal sales presentations
• Prepare a checklist of questions or headings that will ensure you gather all the information you need from the meeting
• Think carefully about what you want to get from the meeting and organise your planning to achieve it

Opening  

• Smile - be professional, and take confidence from the fact that you are well-prepared
• Introduce yourself - first and last name, what your job is and the company you represent, and what the your company does (ensure this is orientated to appeal to the prospect's strategic issues)
• Set the scene - explain the purpose of your visit, again orientate around your prospect not yourself, eg "I'd like to learn about your situation and priorities in this area, and then if appropriate, to explain how we (your own company) approach these issues. Then if there looks as though there might be some common ground, to agree how we could move to the next stage."
• Ask how much time your prospect has and agree a time to finish
• Ask if it's okay to take notes (it's polite to ask - also, all business information is potentially sensitive, and asking shows you realise this)
• Ask if it's okay to start by asking a few questions or whether your prospect would prefer a quick overview of your own company first (this will depend on how strongly known and credible your own company is - if only a little you should plan to give a quick credibility-building overview in your introduction)

Questioning

• The main purpose of questioning is to confirm or discover the strongest or unique perceived organizational benefit that would accrue to the prospect from the product/service - it may be one (usually) or two (occasionally) or three (rarely) key things, which may be obvious to seller and buyer, or not obvious to either, in which case questioning expertise is critical
• Questioning must also discover how best to develop the sale with the organization - how they decide, when, people and procedures involved, competitor pressures, etc.
• Good empathic questioning also builds relationships, trust and rapport - nobody wants to buy anything from a sales person who's only interested in their own product or company - we all want to buy from somebody who gives the time and skill to interpreting and properly meeting our own personal needs
• You will have prepared a list of questions or headings - now use it
• Use open questions to gather information - for example, questions beginning with Who, What, Why, Where, When, How
• When training or learning the skills of using open questions it helps to refer to the Rudyard Kipling rhyme: "I keep six honest serving men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who.." - from Just So Stories, 1902, The Elephant's Child.)
• Use "can you tell me about how..." if you are questioning a senior-level contact - generally the more senior the contact, the bigger the open questions you can ask, and the more the other person will be comfortable and able to give you the information you need in a big explanation
• 'what...? and 'how...?' are the best words to use in open questions because they provoke thinking and responses about facts and feelings in a non-threatening way
• Use 'why?' to find out reasons and motives beneath the initial answers given, but be very careful and sparing in using 'why' because the word 'why?' is threatening to most people - it causes the other person to feel they have to defend or justify themselves, and as such will not bring out the true situation and feelings, especially in early discussions with people when trust and rapport is at a low level
• Listen carefully and empathically, maintain good eye-contact, understand, and show that you understand - especially understand what is meant and felt, not just what is said, particularly when you probe motives and personal aspects
• Interpret and reflect back and confirm you have understood what is being explained, and if relevant the feelings behind it
• Use closed questions to qualify and confirm your interpretation - a closed question is one that can be answered with a yes or no, eg., "Do you mean that when this type of equipment goes down then all production ceases?", or "Are you saying that if a new contract is not put in place by end-March then the existing one automatically renews for another year?"
• When you've asked a question, SHUT UP - do not interrupt
• Your prospect should be doing 80-99% of the talking during this stage of the sales call; if you are talking for a third or half of the time you are not asking the right sort of questions
• Do not jump onto an opportunity and start explaining how you can solve the problem until you have asked all your questions and gathered all the information you need (in any event never be seen to 'jump' onto any issue)
• All the time try to find out the strategic issues affected or implicated by the product/service in question - these are where the ultimate decision-making and buying motives lie.
• If during the questioning you think of a new important question to ask note it down or you'll forget it
• When you have all the information you need, acknowledge the fact and say thanks, then take a few moments to think about, discuss and summarise the key issues/requirements/priorities from your prospect's organizational (and personal if applicable) perspective
• Questioning is traditionally treated by conventional sales people and conventional sales training as a process to gather information to assist the sales person's process, and this is how it is typically positioned in the old-style 'Seven Steps of the Sale'; however, modern sales methodology treats questioning in a radically different way - as an essential part of a facilitative process whose purpose is to help the buyer decide 

Presentation

• The sales presentation should focus on a central proposition, which should be the unique perceived benefit that the prospect gains from the product/service
• During the questioning phase the sales person will have refined the understanding (and ideally gained agreement) as to what this is - the presentation must now focus on 'matching' the benefits of the product with the needs of the prospect so that the prospect is entirely satisfied that the proposition
• The sales person therefore needs an excellent understanding of the many different organizational benefits that accrue to customers, and why, from the product/service - these perceived benefits will vary according to the type of customer organization (size, structure, market sector, strategy, general economic health, culture, etc)
• The sales presentation must demonstrate that the product/service meets the prospect's needs, priorities, constraints and motives, or the prospect will not even consider buying or moving to the next stage; this is why establishing the prospect's situation and priorities during the questioning phase is so vital
• The above point is especially important to consider when the sales person has to present on more than one occasion to different people or groups, who will each have different personal and organizational needs, and will therefore respond to different benefits (even though the central proposition and main perceived benefit remains constant)
• All sales presentations, whether impromptu (off the cuff) or the result of significant preparation, must be well structured, clear and concise, professionally delivered, and have lots of integrity - the quality and integrity of the presentation is always regarded as a direct indication as to the quality and integrity of the product/service
• It follows then that the sales person must avoid simply talking about technical features from the seller's point of view, without linking the features clearly to organizational context and benefit for the prospect - also avoid using any jargon which the prospect may not understand
• Sales presentations must always meet the expectations of the listener in terms of the level of information and relevance to the prospect's own situation, which is another reason for proper preparation - a vague or poorly prepared sales presentation sticks out like a sore thumb, and it will be disowned immediately
• When presenting to influencers, which is necessary on occasions, it is important to recognise that the sales person is effectively asking the influencers to personally endorse the proposition and the credibility of the selling organization and the sales person, so the influencers' needs in these areas are actually part of the organizational needs of the prospect company
• The presentation must include relevant evidence of success, references from similar sectors and applications, facts and figures - all backing up the central proposition
• Business decision-makers buy when they become satisfied that the decision will either make them money, or save them money or time; they also need to be certain that the new product/service will be sustainable and reliable; therefore the presentation must be convincing in these areas
• Private consumer buyers ultimately buy for similar reasons, but for more personal ones as well, eg., image, security, ego, etc., which may need to feature in these type of presentations if they form part of the main perceived benefit
• While the presentation must always focus on the main perceived benefit, it is important to show that all the other incidental requirements and constraints are met - but do not over-emphasise or attempt to 'pile high' loads of incidental benefits as this simply detracts from the central proposition
• Presentations should use the language and style of the audience - eg., technical people need technical evidence; sales and marketing people like to see flair and competitive advantage accruing for their own sales organization; managing directors and finance directors want clear, concise benefits to costs, profits and operating efficiency; and generally the more senior the contact, the less time you will have to make your point - no-nonsense, no frills, but plenty of relevant hard facts and evidence.
• If the sales person is required to present to a large group and in great depth, then it's extremely advisable to enlist the help of one or two suitably experienced colleagues, from the appropriate functions, eg., technical, customer service, distribution, etc., in which case the sales person must ensure that these people are properly briefed and prepared, and the prospect notified of their attendance.
• Keep control of the presentation, but do so in a relaxed way; if you don't know the answer to a question don't waffle - say you don't know and promise to get back with an answer later, and make sure you do.
• Never knock the competition - it undermines your credibility and integrity - don't even imply anything derogatory about the competition
• If appropriate issue notes, or a copy of your presentation
• Use props and samples and demonstrations if relevant and helpful, and make sure it all works properly
• During the presentation seek feedback, confirmation and agreement as to the relevance of what you are saying, but don't be put off if people stay quiet
• Invite questions at the end, and if your are comfortable, at the outset invite questions at any time - it depends on how confident you feel in controlling things
• Whether presenting one-to-one or to a stern group, relax and be friendly - let your personality and natural enthusiasm shine through - people buy from people who love and have faith in their products and companies

Overcoming objections/Negotiating  

• Decades ago it was assumed that at this stage lots of objections could appear, and this would tend to happen, because the selling process was more prescriptive, one-way, and less empathic; however, successful modern selling now demands more initial understanding from the sales person, even to get as far as presenting, so the need to overcome objections is not such a prevalent feature of the selling process
• Nevertheless objections do arise, and they can often be handled constructively, which is the key
• If objections arise, firstly the sales person should qualify each one by reflecting back to the person who raised it, to establish the precise nature of the objection - "why do you say that?" is usually a good start
• It may be necessary to probe deeper to get to the real issue, by asking why to a series of answers - some objections result from misunderstandings, and some are used to veil other misgivings which the sales person needs to expose
• Lots of objections are simply a request for more information, so definitely avoid responding by trying to re-sell the benefit - simply ask and probe instead; the best standard response is something like "I understand why that could be an issue, can I ask you to tell me more about why it is and what's important for you here?.."
• Try to avoid altogether the use of the word 'but' - it's inherently confrontational
• An old-style technique was to reflect back the objection as a re-phrased question, but in a form that the sales person is confident of being able to answer positively, for example: the prospect says he thinks it's too expensive; the sales person reflects back: "I think what you're really saying is that you have no problem with giving us the contract, but you'd prefer the payments staged over three years rather than two? - well I think we could probably do something about that..."
• Another old-style technique used to be to isolate the objection (confirm that other than that sticking point everything else was fine), then to overcome the objection by drawing up a list of pro's and con's, or analysing to death all the hidden costs of not going for the deal, or re-selling the benefits even harder, and then to close powerfully, but these days such a contrived approach to objection handling is likely to insult the prospect and blow the sales person's credibility
• It is important to flush out all of the objections, and in so doing, the sales person is effectively isolating them as the only reasons why the prospect should not proceed, but then the more modern approach is to work with the prospect in first understanding what lies beneath each objection, and then working with the prospect to shape the proposition so that it fits more acceptably with what is required. See the section on negotiating.
• Avoid head-to-head arguments - even if you win them you'll destroy the relationship you'll go no further - instead the sales person must enable a constructive discussion so that he and the prospect are both working at the problem together; provided the basic proposition is sound most objections are usually overcome by both the seller and the buyer adjusting their positions slightly; for large prospects and contracts this process can go on for weeks, which is why this is often more in the negotiating arena than objection handling
• You've handled all the objections when you've covered everything that you've noted down - it's therefore important to keep notes and show that you're doing it
• By this stage you may have seen some signs that the prospect is clearly visualising or imagining the sale proceeding, or even talking in terms of your working together as supplier and customer; this is sometimes called buying warmth. Certain questions and comments from prospects are described as buying signals because they indicate that the prospect may be visualising buying or having the product/service. In the old days, sales people were taught to respond to early buying signals with a 'trial close', but this widely perceived as clumsy and insulting nowadays. Instead respond to early buying signals (ie those received before you've completed the presentation to the prospect's satisfaction, and answered all possible queries) by asking why the question is important, and then by answering as helpfully as possible 

 Closing

• In modern selling, even using the traditional Seven Steps process, every sales person's aim should be to prepare and conduct the selling process so well that there are few if any objections, and no need for a close
• The best close these days is something like "Are you happy that we've covered everything and would you like to go ahead?", or simply "Would you like to go ahead?"
• In many cases, if the sales person conducts the sale properly, the prospect will close the deal himself, and this should be the another aim for the sales person - it's civilised, respectful, and actually implies and requires a high level of sales professionalism
• The manner in which a sale is concluded depends on the style of the decision-maker - watch out for the signs: no-nonsense high-achievers are likely to decide very quickly and may be a little irritated if you leave matters hanging after they've indicated they're happy; cautious technical people will want every detail covered and may need time to think, so don't push them, but do stay in touch and make sure they have all the information they need; very friendly types may actually say yes before they're ready, in which case you need to ensure that everything is suitably covered so nothing can rebound later
• For the record here are some closes from the bad old days - the traditional golden rule was always to shut up after asking a closing question, even if the silence became embarrassingly long - (a who-talks-first-loses kind of thing) - use them at your peril:
• the pen close: "Do you want to use your pen or mine?" (while producing the contract and pen)
•  the alternative close: for example - "Would you like it delivered next Tuesday or next Friday?", or "We can do the T50 model in silver, and we have a T52 in white - which one would you prefer?"
• the challenge close: "I know most men wouldn't be able to buy something of this value without consulting their wives - do you need to get your wife's permission on this?.." or "Most business people in your position need to refer this kind of decision to their boss, do you need to refer it?"
•  the ego close: "We generally find that only the people who appreciate and are prepared to pay for the best quality go for this service - I don't know how you feel about it?..."
•  the negative close: "I'm sorry but due to the holidays we can't deliver in the three weeks after the 15th, so we can only do it next week, is that okay?"
• the guilt close: "Over three years it might seem a lot of money, but we find that most responsible people decide they simply have no choice but to go for it when it's less than a pound/dollar a day to protect your.../safeguard your..../improve your... (whatever)."
•  the sympathy close: "I know you have some reservations that we can't overcome right now, but I've got to admit that I'm pretty desperate for this sale - my manager says he'll sack me if I don't get an order this week, and you're my last chance - I'd be ever so grateful if you'd go ahead - and I promise you we'd be able to sort out the extra features once I speak to our production people..." (How could anyone live with themselves using that one?....)
• the puppy dog close/puppy dog sale: "Let me leave it with you and you see how you get on with it..."
•  the last ditch close: (sales person packs case and goes to leave, but stops at the door) "Just one last thing - would you tell me where I went wrong - you see I just know this is right for you, and I feel almost guilty that I've not sold it to you properly, as if I've let you down....."
• the pro's and con's list: "I can appreciate this is a tough decision - what normally works is to write down a list of all the pro's and con's - two separate columns - and then we can both see clearly if overall it's the right thing to do..."
• the elimination close: "I can see I've not explained this properly - can we take a moment to go through all the benefits and see which one is holding us back from proceeding?" (At which the sales person lists all the benefits - the positives, and runs through each one to confirm it's not that one which is causing the problem, crossing a line through each as he goes. When he crosses the last one out he can claim that there really seems to be no reason for not going ahead...)

Follow-up

• After-sales follow-up depends on the type of product and service, but generally for every sale the sales person must carry out a number of important processes:
• All relevant paperwork must be completed and copies provided to the customer - paperwork is will cover the processing of the order, the confirmation of the order and its details to the customer, possibly the completion of installation and delivery specification and instructions
• Sales reporting by the sales person is also necessary, generally on a pro-forma or computer screen, typically detailing the order value, product type and quantity, and details about the customer such as industrial sector - each sales organization stipulates the sales person's reporting requirements, and often these are linked to sales commissions and bonuses, etc.
• The sales person should also make follow-up contact with the customer - as often as necessary - to confirm that the customer is happy with the way the order is being progressed; this helps reduce possible confusion and misunderstood expectations, which are a big cause of customer dissatisfaction or order cancellation if left to fester unresolved 
•  Customer follow-up and problem resolution must always be the responsibility for the sales person, who should consider themselves the 'guardian' of that customer, even if a well-organised customer service exists for general after-sales care
• Customers rightly hold sales people responsible for what happens after the sale is made, and good conscientious follow-up will usually be rewarded with referrals to other customers
• Follow-up is an important indicator of integrity; when a sales person makes a sale he is personally endorsing the product and the company, so ensuring that value and satisfaction are fulfilled is an integral part of the modern sales function.