“Diagnose Before You Prescribe. It can be dangerous to prescribe without an accurate diagnosis. An effective salesperson seeks to understand the needs, concerns and situation of the customer. An amateur sells product, the professional sells solutions. This is a common denominator principle with its greatest power in interpersonal relationships.” Steven Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Sales is a process. The buy/sell process through which a prospect travels through goes from unawareness to purchase. There are stages along the way. The most common descriptor of the buying process is AIDA. Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action.
As a seller, you have to be the process leader. The Sherpa. The seller: through a number of activities such as Marketing campaigns and sales rep prospecting techniques has to create Awareness, Interest, then Desire for the prospect to take Action. Throughout the process there are different behaviors that both you (the seller) and the buyer travel through toward the final stage in the process – The Purchase.
The most important step for the sales rep in the process is discovery. Discovery provides the foundation of the relationship and is the determining factor in your sales success.
Questions are a sales reps number 1 tool.
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