The more effective your selling process, the better your business will be. As an owner or manager, you should be effectively selling your ideas, as well as your products and/or services. Following a simple process gives you consistency. A standard selling process for your entire sales team will give your company a common language when discussing sales opportunities or challenges.
The READ sales process is an effective communication tool. The process will not only help you in your selling, but it can also be used as a communications model for customer service, problem resolution, employee management, etc. Before you try to sell someone or solve any problem with a customer or employee, be sure to READ the situation properly: Relate, Establish the Need, Advance a Solution and Develop a Commitment.
Relate. People buy from those they know, like and trust. Take the time to develop rapport with a prospect or client. Establish commonality and engage in small talk. Be interested in them and their needs by asking questions about their world. Don’t sell and tell. Focus on building relationships and solving problems, not pushing products or services.
Establish the Need. The quality of your selling comes down to the quality of the questions you ask your prospects and clients. Uncover their pains and their problems. Discover their opportunities and excitement. Get to the emotions, wants, fears and dreams before you position your product or service as a solution. Your best tools are the open-ended questions you ask. Stop talking and start asking questions. You should be talking only 30 percent of the time at this stage.
Advance Tailored Solutions. If you have taken the time to Relate, and ask very effective questions to Establish the Need, you then must tailor your services/products to satisfy those needs. Let your clients know you understand their needs and can help. Be prepared to back up any solutions with statistics, testimonials and client references. Sell the product or service benefits, not the features. For example, sell piece of mind rather than tax services.
Develop a Commitment. Don’t leave the scene of a potential sale by merely leaving your business card and a brochure. Never end with “I’ll be in touch” or “I’ll send a proposal.” Establish a clear next step, such as a next date to talk or meet if you are not able to close the sale on the spot. If you have related well, asked effective questions and proposed tailored solutions, the close (getting commitment) should be much easier. Here are a few closing questions:
What else, if anything, do I need to address before we get started?
- How do you want to proceed?
- When can we get started?
Never stop the process. Ask for the business, a small project, more documents or another appointment. Always schedule a follow-up meeting. If you don’t advance through all the stages of the READ process in your initial meeting, don’t fret. Keep track of where you are in the READ process with potential customers/clients and continue the next meeting based upon the last stage of the process. It may take time to get people to open up and share their emotions, wants and fears to establish the need. This is especially true in more complex selling situations.
How will you incorporate the READ process into your business? When was the last time you provided sales coaching for your team? Consider using this process for ongoing sales coaching and accountability.
