Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

I received a call from an ex-student this week, who is designing an induction programme for new recruits about to embark on a career in sales. He asked that if one had to create “twelve golden principles of selling”, what would I come up with.

Clearly, this is not only a very subjective view, but also, I found it terribly difficult to reduce my initial list to just twelve. However, mindful of the fact that this exercise is designed to provide guidance to salespeople just starting on the first rung of the ladder, this is what I came up with – I would be very interested in your comments.

Principle 1: – Always Sell To People

• People are different
• No two sales are the same
• Aim at becoming a people expert
• Professional sales people actually like people
• People buy from people - they always will

Principle 2: – You Have To Sell Yourself

• Be interesting
• Develop ‘intellect’
• Never be arrogant - never talk ‘up’ or ‘down’
• Respect the buyer and they will respect you
• Develop your empathy levels
• Learn to develop rapport
• Control Your Ego Levels

Principle 3: – You Must Ask Questions

• Develop your questioning techniques
• Remember What? Where? When? Which? Why? Who? And How?
• Continually ‘test your understanding’

Principle 4: – Listen To Understand

• God has given us two ears and one mouth, we should use them in that order
• Successful sales professionals talk for 20% of the time and listen for 80% of the time
• Develop your active listening skills

Principle 5: – Features Must Be Linked To Benefits

Remember:

• Features are common - benefits are personal and specific
• Use the ‘link phrases’ - ‘which means that……’
• Be specific

Principle 6: – Sell The Results – ‘Paint A Picture’

• Discover ‘prime desires’
• Personalise benefits
• Describe end results

Principle 7: – You Cannot Rely On Logic

• 84% of all buying decisions are based upon emotion - not logic
• What are the chief buying emotions? - Ego - Security - Pride Of Ownership - Greed - Health - Prestige – Status - Ambition - Fear Of Loss

Principle 8: –Selective Product Knowledge Is The Key

• Buyers buy solutions and results they do not buy products or services

Principle 9: – Aim To Be Unique – ‘Me First’ Rather Than ‘Me Too’

• Every business, every company, every product has something that is unique
• Look outside the square
• Identify the uniqueness of: - your product - your service - your company - yourself

Principle 10: – Don’t Sell On Price

• It is a ‘cop out’
• Value your expertise - your products - your service and price accordingly
• Always keep the ‘bottom line’ firmly in your mind
• Anyone can give business away
• Selling on price means we do not need sales people

Principle 11: – Present Your Solutions – Don’t Tell

• When we present our proposals rather than post / fax/e-mail them we increase the likelihood of a sale by…..a factor of ten

Principle 12: – And Finally: Be Professional At all Times

• The greatest compliment a customer can pay you is to describe you as “professional”
• Don’t worry about being liked –be respected
• Being professional is not one thing it is three:
• It is what you do, what you say and how you present yourself

“When I see a bird that looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck; then I call that bird, a duck” Rudyard Kipling

The team had a lot of fun designing Christmas messages for both sites this week and I think they have done a superb job – great stuff guys, well done and thank you!

As we near the end of the year, many of us will be fine-tuning our strategies for 2007, as well as reviewing performance against plan for 2006. With this in mind, I will be posting articles designed to both provoke and assist the thought processes…

This week on the Group site www.thejfagroup.com the feature is: “The Five Main Drivers For Improvement” and on the JF site, www.jonathanfarrington.com “Are You Fully Prepared For A Fresh Set Of Challenges - A Management Checklist“

This week’s site recommendation is Best Management Articles: www.bestmanagementarticles.com It is, as the name suggests, a business specific site that attracts some very good authors. The categories have been well chosen and you can opt in to their mailing service and receive articles daily that are of particular interest to you.

I also want to recommend a marketing consultancy in the UK – Blueberry Marketing – www.blueberrymarketing.co.uk They are a relatively new outfit, but I have been hearing great things about them and if you are looking for a highly professional and experienced marketing team, do check them out, I think you will be very impressed.

OK, well just two blogging weeks to Christmas! Have a great weekend - JF

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