SELLING DEFINED

In the THE COMPLETE EDEBISSS SALES TRAINING COURSE under the section "Selling Defined" we go through the process of asking the salesmen, "what is selling?" We come out with things like: "Engineering Agreement", "Convincing People", "Persuading other people to accept your ideas," "Demonstrating your product", and many other ways that are TRUE … AS FAR AS THEY GO.

We finally end up with this:

"Selling is persuading other people to accept your ideas, products, and services and then take the recommended action." Not bad, in fact, this definition is really …

PRETTY GOOD?  DARN GOOD.

Why, because, where those first phrases sound very simple, and accurate, they are leaving it unfinished.

They are the Mona Lisa without her smile, a ship with no rudder, a car without wheels. Too many people define the selling process up to the point of completion and then leave it incomplete. A sale is not complete until the need is SATISFIED … COMPLETELY!

That is , until the decision is made to accept the idea, product, or service as the answer and then the ACTION TAKEN TO SATISFY THE NEED! That means that …

SELLING IS A PROCESS!  Regardless of which definition you select or feel appropriate, SELLING IS A PROCESS.

Only the professional salesman and the people who sell "On Purpose" are cognizant of this. And, THEY constantly study it, to refine the various steps in accomplishing the process.

THERE IS NO WAY TO STRESS THIS ENOUGH!   

Far too long, people have been teaching salesmen to sell, and tried to simplify the process.  

Many feel that all you have to do is develop an exciting and convincing presentation and present it.

Others feel that all you have to do is go see the people and tell your story.  

All of these are true but they don’t go far enough.  

Therefore, the sales training course that implements these various concepts or parts of them are in themselves incomplete. 

The Selling Process is a complete process of satisfying needs and wants.  

ANYTHING LESS IS INCOMPLETE.

A couple of comparisons may be helpful. Let’s say that a surgical procedure by a surgeon is a process. It is of course. While I’m not a surgeon, I still understand, that it is a process. It goes something like this.

Presumably, a patient comes to a physician with a problem. May be this problem is a pain, a paralysis or a lack of mobility. Therefore, comparing this to the selling process the patient (prospect or customer) has a need or a want. And yes, in medicine, like in selling, there is a difference.

Many people have a need. Maybe they have a malignant tumor which needs to be removed. Others have a want. Maybe they feel they are not very pretty so they need to go to a plastic surgeon and have their eyes fixed, etc.

In the first case, we are satisfying a need and in the second, place we are satisfying a want. Be that as it may, ( we dig deeply into this in the EDEBISSS course), the surgeon first diagnoses the situation ( a salesman should do the same thing).

So, let’s take the first place of the malignant tumor. The doctor goes through his various tests and determines that, indeed, this patient has a sizeable tumor on his brain. After the diagnosis, the surgeon studies all aspects of the situation. He looks at the kind of tumor, its location and how to approach the removal. These are the analyzing and planning steps, much as the salesman analyzes the needs and wants of his customers.

Once the analysis is complete, the patient is prepare for the operation and all of the necessary steps to perform the operation are planned, laid out, and take place. The anesthesia is applied, the incisions made, the tumor removed, the incisions closed, and the patient sent to recovery. After the operation there may be continuous monitoring to make sure that the patient fully recovers. In some cases there will be therapy recommended and performed.

Not until the tumor (the need) is successfully removed, the incision closed, any recovery steps taken and in some cases, therapy completed and the patient is back to normal—is the operation a complete success.

In the same fashion, a sale is not complete until: 

• the salesman analyzes the prospect or customer, and their circumstances, discovers a need or a want, 
• makes sure the customer recognizes the same need and want, 
• presents his answer, (whether it be ideas, products or services), as the best answer to the need or want, 
• convinces the prospect or customer to take the action he recommends (which is to sign the contract, or to order the product, service, or idea then, 
• take whatever follow-up steps are necessary, to assure complete satisfaction.

When all of this is done, the selling process has been completed; a want or need has been satisfied; or we have engineered agreement.

Now all of this sounds like a very simple process. It isn’t. When people and emotions are involved, and when people interact with other people with their feelings, thoughts and emotions, the process has to be complex to say the least.

Selling will be a relatively simple thing in prosperous times like the ones we presently enjoy. On the other hand, during recessions or depressions, selling can be a lot more difficult.

Selling complex products will vary from selling a simple tie, or perfume over a counter in a retail store. Regardless of the circumstances, the selling process takes place.

Buying and selling are two different sides of the same coin. We discuss in that section OF THE EDEBISSS SALES TRAINING COURSE, the fact that when a person recognizes a need or want on their own, go out to seek the best possible answer and come home with the answer, they have in fact BOUGHT the product.

On the other hand when they have a need or a want and don’t recognize it, we flip the coin over and go to the SELLING PROCESS.

Selling takes place then the salesman causes the prospect to become aware of a need or a want discovered by the salesman. Then after the salesman has persuaded the prospect or convinced the prospect that his product, idea or service is the one that best answers that need or want—AND THE ACTION IS TAKEN TO SATISFY THE NEED, THE SELLING PROCESS IS COMPLETED … SO THERE.

While this, to many, might sound like a play on words, it isn’t. In many cases, retail sales stores could explode the amount of business they do by making sure that each one of their sales people or "clerks" recognizes the difference and performs the selling process with the product the customer came to buy, or additional products.

In the Professional Selling Game the difference must also be recognized. There is absolutely no sense in proceeding with the entire selling process when a person is ready to buy. When the prospect or customer recognizes a need or want, all the salesman has to do is learn that particular need and want, make sure it is the same as the prospect sees, then present his proposition as the best answer, call for the action, and complete the sale. EASY TO SAY… (In many cases ... yes), but many cases, EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO DO.

It is imperative for the professional salesman to understand that this process exists, then, become skillful and proficient in performing it and constantly refine the process and improve the results. Very few—very few—people in the selling game understand and master this process.

I over-simplify the matter by saying professional sales people sell on purpose.

It’s one of many ways I try to emphasize to students the importance of this recognition and the need for constant awareness. For example, the professional salesman is studying the selling process before he comes face-to-face with his prospects. He studies the process while he’s in the process of selling. He becomes proficient (automatic) at recognizing where he is in the selling process. He constantly studies how to recover when the selling process is breaking down.

In Sales Classes, I like to compare the Salesman’s recovery process to that of the astronauts. I read somewhere that at least 95% or better of their training deals, not with getting the rocket off the ground, and to the target, but it deals with how to handle circumstances when things go wrong. The vast majority of their training deals with recovering from situations when the process breaks down. The same is true for the salesman.

If the salesman has not studied the process and become skillful at every aspect of it, and especially become skillful at recovering from failures, he’ll never become the salesman he could be.

With all of this in mind, may I encourage the reader to make the decision to become the professional salesman. That is, the one who understands that selling is a process and then devotes his time, attention, and care to perfecting that process and improving it on a day-by-day basis. The way to do that is Click Here to order THE COMPLETE EDEBISSS SALES TRAINING COURSE.  ARE YOU KIDDIN ME? … SOLID GOLD FOR $95.00 …

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