Today I took a course on "Selling in The Tough Times", it was the first Business orientated course I have taken in a few years, or so I remember, so it was refreshing in that regard.
The course was a condense 4hrs, comprising mental focus and positivity, communication with clients and proposed clients, selling techniques, personally tailored advise and more. There were 10 of us, business owners and consultants taking the course, all from various backgrounds; from gymnastics instructors to caterers to artists to window cleaners. The course was presented by Eugene Daly in a much more inclusive fashion then the usual business sales rubbish in courses most people are used to. Thankfully NO POWERPOINT! The following being referenced in the course itself...
The overall aim of the course being detailed by this info sheet; Selling in Tough Times Training Info. Some of the standard sales topics were addressed such as Interpersonal Communication Skills but more importantly how it relates to meeting clients face-to-face. The percentage break-down of Words, Tone and Body Language in terms of importance within Interpersonal Communication; Words 7%, Tone 48% and Body Language 55%. However this is something I disagree with slightly, possibly due to working in a technical field, I feel Words are of greater then 7% importance. The Law of Expectation was covered, basically stating that whatever one confidently expects, will influence or be the resulting outcome. Therefore be results focused in a positive and confident manner! Risk Reversal was also discussed, along with the SMARTIE Goal Setting Technique, Progressing the Sale, Addressing the Validity of Client Objection and the Glenngarry GlenRoss "Closing the Sale". The topic I found the most refreshing yet somewhat the most obvious; Benefit Selling, selling to the customer not by feature but by benefit to the customer. I had read this on a blog before but had never fully endorsed the use of it or even thought to use it in client proposals and meetings. This also ticks the box of "Don't get too technical!" which I find myself doing at times in meetings and client documents. A great exercise for Benefit Selling, list out all the features you are trying to sell on the left, these mean something to you, now, work out what they mean to the client on the right, e.g.
| Feature | which means | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook Integration on your site | which means | When you update your site's blog your Companies' Facebook page will get this update with a link to the blog post on your site automatically |
As Eugene said during his talk, although people like myself would much prefer to be in the office working away on a project or researching emerging technologies, the business skills required to make money are of utmost importance and you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone to embrace and perfect them in order to succeed!
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