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D. Murali

ONE normally expects a book on selling to endlessly extol the profession, but Roy Chitwood is forthright: "Four out of every five salespeople a customer meets are mediocre, incompetent or downright ineffective. Even some of those in the upper 20 per cent are borderline mediocre." Quite differently, again, his book World Class Selling, from Jaico (www.jaicobooks.com) , emphasises not on `closing the sale' but on `ethics, caring and service' as the foundation of selling. "If the customer doesn't benefit from a sale, the sale shouldn't take place," declares the intro. So, don't sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo.

Buying is not one but a bunch of five decisions, Roy would say. First, the customer weighs your integrity and judgment, wondering if "you're there to take or give." Second, she wants to be convinced that your company is dependable, and is good at after-sale; "you may make a distinction between yourself and your company, but your prospect doesn't." Third comes the product or service, plus questions of quality, installation, delivery and so on. The fourth decision is about price; "buyers want more than a good price, they want value for their investment." And fifth is to decide `when,' because "no one wants to spend money before it's necessary."

Every sales call costs the company "between $99 and $452," says Roy citing an estimate. Though you may have differences with those numbers, you'd agree that most of the activities in any organisation don't bring in money, and that sales will have to bring in the money to meet the costs and make profits. A rough-and-ready method, therefore, to compute cost per sales call can be to divide your total expenses by the number of calls.

A common complaint about salespeople is that they talk too much. "People prefer talking to listening," instructs Roy. "Think about the people whom you might cross the street to avoid. Aren't they so full of themselves they bombard you with their news, their opinions, and their concerns?" Remember, nobody complains about "a person who listens too much." An insight worth listening to.

Also, ask questions. Open-ended posers, usually starting with what, how, when, why, where and who, are better than the closed ones, because they keep "the conversation ball in your prospect's hands." So, try rephrasing closed-ended questions into the open type. Thus, `Is anyone else involved in this buying decision?' can become `Who else will be involved in this buying decision?' Similarly, `Do you understand all this?' can become `what is your understanding of all this?'

Questions can seek to find both facts and feelings, but don't let your prospects feel they're getting `third degree'! A common trap is to follow an open-ended question with a closed one. To avoid this, use the FSQS technique, advises Roy. `Friendly, Silent, Questioning Stare' developed by Jack Berman. So, after a `good' open-ended question, "Stop, remain silent, and look at your prospect with warmth and genuine interest."

It may shock many, but the truth according to the author is that people buy emotionally and then justify their purchases logically. "Once the sale has been made, people stop responding emotionally and begin concentrating on the sound, practical, rational, business reasons why the purchase was made." Your sale, therefore, has to stand the test of scrutiny then. It may sound funny, but most people do not remember their emotional motives that drove them to buy, though they may be quick to list logical reasons.

What's the greatest weakness of salespeople? Being product-centred. So, in a chapter titled `You're in the people business,' Roy writes: "It is your people skills that will make your product knowledge pay off ... People buy not because they understand your product or service, but because they feel you understand them."

A book that can make a world of difference to your sales efforts!

BookMark@thehindu.co.in

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