Relationship Selling Course
Stop Selling! –
How to Listen, Learn, and Build Loyal Customer Relationships
All else being equal, people buy from people they like to work with. It’s that simple. We’ve all been treated as if we were a number. And not surprisingly, few of us like this uncaring approach. This course teaches participants how to partner with customers, listen, and to build lasting, profitable, business relationships.
Program Objectives
At this program's conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Describe the philosophy of “salesperson as partner” and the benefits of building and retaining client/customer relationships.
- Articulate the features and benefits of their products, services, and organization.
- Recognize “needs language.”
- Explain the four phases of the sales process.
- Use the prospecting process to identify qualified leads.
- Comfortably introduce themselves, others, and their organization.
- Describe professional dress, business manners, and networking basics.
- Plan a client meeting.
- Demonstrate the salesperson’s role in the opening phase of the sales process.
- Effectively use probes to uncover client/customer needs.
- Answer client/customer objections.
- Close sales with customers who are ready to partner with their organization.
- Leave the door open when sales do not occur.
- Follow up with clients and customers to enhance relationships.
The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of participant materials prior to the session(s).
Course Outline
You’re not a Pest; You’re a Partner: Getting into the Sales Mindset
We are all annoyed by telemarketers, stereotypical used car salesmen, and other salespeople who through their dishonesty and pushiness have caused many of us to view sales and salespeople as irritating nuisances--the last thing we want to be. Sales? Not me! Never! This introductory discussion challenges the traditional view of selling and those who sell. At its conclusion, participants should come to view themselves as partners in a business relationship and be able to provide clients/customers with information, products, and services to best meet their needs.
To Get Where You’re Going, You Need to Know Where You Are: What Differentiates Your Product and Services
Now you’re in a sales mindset, but are you really ready to sell? No! Before you can begin selling anything, you need to understand its features, benefits, and any weaknesses (actual or perceived). In this preparatory unit, participants will spend time articulating what their particular product or service is, what its benefits are, and which market segments are desirable targets.
What Is it That You Needed?: Understanding Relationship and Needs-Based Selling
Section three explores needs-based selling: what it is, what it’s not, and why it is essential for steady, sustainable business growth. Emphasis and activities focus on questioning and listening skills, recognizing the language of needs such as, “I’d like” or “I hope”, and verifying customer objectives. At the conclusion, participants should have a solid understanding of the difference between meeting a customer’s needs and simply offering or forcing a menu of products and services.
Exactly How Does This Work?: A Look at the Sales Process
Another portion of the training introduces four phases of the sales process: opening, probing, supporting, and commitment. Skills taught in the previous lesson are reinforced throughout this unit with case studies and role plays.
First Steps: Where and How to Start
Cold calling is scary, time consuming, and in many cases ineffective. Thank goodness there is a better way: networking. Another segment introduces techniques for building relationships with current clients and customers, along with finding the very clients and customers they are trying to attract by joining professional organizations and community groups, as well as by volunteering for the right opportunities. Participants should be able to map their business network, see where improvement is needed, and generate a list of organizations and people to get to know better.
Look and Sound the Part: Networking and Professional Basics
You’ve found the client/customer with whom you wish to build a relationship. How do you introduce yourself? How do you introduce others? Uh oh, you forgot a name. Now what? In this instance, participants will learn the answers to these questions and how to make a solid first impression that says poised and polished.
Making the Call: What to Say and How to Say It
A follow-up component explores the opening phase of the sales call. From the mechanics of planning the call to the first words said, this practical unit provides a framework for taking the first steps in developing relationships with customers and clients.
Now What?: Beyond Introductions
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in the probing and exploring phases of the sales process. Using case studies and role plays, they will practice their questioning skills and ability to think quickly and logically to solve customer and client needs.
But…: Overcoming Objections
Often during the sales process, customers have objections or concerns. In this module, participants will look at techniques for responding to objections and develop situation specific responses in order to prepare for real-life objections they will encounter on the job.
Wrap It Up: Getting to the Close
You’ve done a great job breaking the ice, asking and answering questions, responding to objections, and now it’s time for your client/customer to commit. A subsequent lesson provides a structure for effectively moving through the commitment stage of the sales process: how to ask for commitment, how to respond to “no” and leave the door open, and how to help customers avoid buyer’s remorse.
Remember Me?: Servicing Customers After the Sale
Great! You got the client/customer. What do you have to do to keep this person happy and still working with you and your organization? How do you know when a customer is happy? Unhappy? What do you do to get past problems caused by you or the client? In this discussion, participants will discover how to service relationships for business longevity.
Keep Them Coming Back: Enhancing Customer Relationships
How do you up-sell when you have had a customer for months or years? What techniques are available to move them to the next level of products and services? How do you introduce other members of your team when and if you are unable to personally service the customer in the future? This final lesson introduces participants to a follow-up framework that shows them how to use techniques learned throughout the program to enhance the customer/client experience.
By the program’s conclusion, participants will be able to identify the steps in the relationship-selling process, understand the importance of entering a partnership with their customers/clients, and know how to apply the information presented in the program to their own situations.
Download Pricing Sheet, Trainer Bios, and Previous Client List at www.businesstrainingworks.com
Call 301.934.3250
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