In order to present your company as the ideal partner it is best to know your customer's needs to ensure that your offering may be tailor made to suit them. To achieve this you'll need to discover on which point they're more flexible to think about you as a supplier. In sales training courses trainers usually use four 'Ps' to describe the four key issues which form the most important criteria, at least in the area of business, in decision making.
The very 1st P stands for Profit. Under this heading comes everything to do with setting goals on turnover, desired contributions to costs, discount rates, duration of negotiations etc. The customer desires evidence of everything you can contribute to the partnership by carrying out your side of the bargain in order that their profit and turnover are increased and the costs are decreased.
The 2nd P stands for Peace. Your clients want security in the business relationship. Reliability and staying true to the deadlines set in the contract are crucial to them. In short, they've peace and no problems during the lifetime of the business relationship.
The third P stands for Pleasure. Without saying so, the client would like you to value and respect them, and to see their company and products as something special. They furthermore want to experience fun, pleasure and enthusiasm with their dealings with you.
The fourth P stands for Pride. Who does not need to be proud of their supplier and be able to say, we work with the company ABC whose products, for example, have the ultimate in quality and technical levels?
The sales person who asks the correct questions in the course of the sales meeting and who proves they are really excellent listeners will discover the four Ps in varying amounts of intensity in each of their customers. This is why asking questions and listening skills are key sales training elements.
Now it's down to you to present your organization as the 'superior partner' available in the market. In doing this it's not crucial that you always be one step ahead in each and every aspect of the marketing mix elements; it's more important that you manage to make clear to the client that you'll be their ideal partner taken as a whole across each of the individual areas.
Along with your sales colleagues and employees you'll want to consistently examine what strengths you have in your total performance package. It is best to carefully work out your distinctive attributes as 'Joker Cards' and make a connection between these advantages and the customer's identified motives.
After you have documented the performance indicators, that's everything which your company is in a position to supply, it is a question of pointedly directing the argument toward the motives of the negotiation partner.
In presenting your argument about the advantages of partnering with you, look out for the following issues:
The value of your products stands in direct correlation with one of the customer's needs.
The value is shored up by one of several product features, which likewise relate to your customer's need.
The value of your product consists of an important advantage which the customer gets when they apply the feature(s) of your product.
Taken together these elements first of all offer the client with the real value of working with you. Individual elements of this have little sense for the customer.
Finally, do not overlook that customers are likely to demand evidence which shows the customer that they definitely will achieve an advantage from your product. It's therefore beneficial to work out the advantages of your products with your field sales people at their next sales training session to make sure the whole sales team totally understands these advantages.
Richard Stone is a Company director for Spearhead Training Group Limited, an organization that runs a full range of management training and sales training courses designed for increasing business and individual effectiveness. It's possible to view more articles at http://www.spearhead-training.co.uk