Sales Techniques & Engagement

Sales Techniques & Engagement

• These notes pertain to sales techniques and engagement, relevant for April to June 2025.
• ITE College Central, East, and West compiled the information.

Unit 1: Identify Sales Prospect

• Selling involves a transaction between a seller and prospective buyers, exchanging money for goods or services.
• Selling addresses customer problems and satisfies needs/wants.
• The sales department collaborates with other departments to function effectively.
• Senior management sets sales targets and incentives for the sales department.
• Marketing instills initial customer interest, and the sales department encourages purchases.
• Customer service maintains existing customers and provides after-sales support.
• The sales department needs to be aware of required sales figures and understand company products/services.
• There are five steps in consumer buying decisions; arousal, information collection, information evaluation, the purchase decision, and then the post-purchase stage.
• Buyers can source information from personal, commercial and public sources.
• During information evaluation, customers assess products/services based on attributes, importance, and brand belief.
• The customer's attitude and involvement heavily influence the information evaluation stage.
• A purchase decision can be disrupted by negative feedback or unforeseen personal situations.
• In the post-purchase stage, customers compare products/services to expectations, influencing brand loyalty.
• Transactional sales professionals are guided by self interest and selfishness.
• Customer-oriented professionals provide solutions and care, checking satisfaction and future needs after sales.
• Partners (B2B) work continually to improve customers' operations, sales, and profits.
• Sales professionals' income depends on effort, performance, and rewards like commissions, bonuses, and trips.
• Ethics means adhering to principles and values of right and wrong.
• Ethical guidelines include providing excellent products/services, doing what is right, and not compromising beliefs.
• Unethical sales include bribes, misrepresentation, price discrimination, tie-in sales, and reciprocity.
• A sales cycle involves all activities associated with closing a sale.

Unit 2: Handle Sales Enquiry

• A sales enquiry represents the initial response from possible customers following an advertisement or sales campaign.
• Organizations can receive sales enquiries face-to-face, by telephone, and online.
• Organizations should welcome customers warmly, use positive gestures and smiling during face-to-face interactions.
• Providing assistance to customers in a personal manner requires customers to come to your location.
• Customer service requires the customer and a sales representative to be physically present at the same location.
• Making the companys website easy to use will likely encourage users to stay on your pages to boost enquiries and sales.
• Knowing what customers need is important, including price, availability, features, services, discounts, and warranties.
• Product availability matches item availability with customer need.
• Price is the value the customer sees in a product/service and is willing to pay.
• Retailers commonly accept cash and card, but should pursue as many payments as possible
• 50% of customers will abandon a purchase if they can't use their preferred payment method
• Style, function, experience, and quality are all important product features
• Product benefits can be actual or perceived, and can exist on three levels; physical, logical, and emotional.
• It’s important to emphasize benefits to increase sales.
• Key directional signals and knowledge of key attractions enhances service.
• Sales promotions increase sales, acquire new customers, and take advantage of opportunities.
• Common sales promotions include flash sales, “buy one get one”, discounts, and free shipping.
• Post-sales customer support involves a guarantee, warranty, upgrade, or repair service.

Unit 3: Sell Products and Services

• The sales process involves establishing needs, matching the product, overcoming objections, providing options, anticipating questions, and confirming sales.
• Key to establishing customer needs is to ask the right questions and listen.
• Objections can include concerns about prices, products, company, time or competition.
• Prepare answers for questions such as “Does this come in another color?” and “Is there a warranty?”
• Confirming the sale involves gaining commitment to buy.
• Suggestive selling involves offering products/services similar to the customer's initial interest.
• Offering extended warranties or add-ons enhances the initial purchase.
• Cross-selling involves offering related or complementary products/services.
• Bundling related products/services or discounted prices on bundled items helps cross-selling.
• Upselling involves persuading customers to buy upgraded or premium versions.
• Side-by-side comparisons or mentioning time-sensitive sales can encourage upselling.
• The main goal of sales presentations is to present a product or business opportunity and persuade purchase.
• Convincing sales presentations must introduce a business, create rapport, explain unique advantages, and motivate action.
• An elevator pitch presents your product or service persuasively in less than 2 minutes.
• Cold calls and emails allow sales teams to customize their pitch and gather information about the prospect.
• Canned presentations are memorized scripts while planned presentations are more conversational.
• Webinars are online presentations that allow sales teams to speak directly to hundreds of prospects.
• A sales professional should pause, understand the question, acknowledge merit, answer professionally, and check with customers when handling questions.
• Key is to understand why customers objects and handle them to make sales.
• Common factors for customers objections involve product knowledge, specific concerns and/or perceived problems.
• Show gratitude, empathize, discover what is going on through the use of open-ended questions and probe to confirm
• Verbal skills involve using words to share information, convey messages, and express ideas.
• Non-verbal communication includes body language and posture reflecting interests.

Communication Techniques

• Six points vital to communication in sales include assertiveness, authenticity, open-mindedness, empathy, clarity and listening.
• Effective communication helps earn loyalty; failure leads to dissatisfaction.
• Asking questions, displaying interest, adjusting style and avoiding bias are important.
• Non-communications involves non-verbal messages, facial expressions, and body language.
• Maintain non-verbal listening by looking interested, nodding, and attentive.
• Three questioning skills are closed, background, and probing.

Unit 4: Closing the Sale

• Closing a sale occurs when the prospect is committed to the purchase.
• Recognition of these behavioural cues increases the ability to close a sale.
• Buying signals present themselves in a variety of ways that include verbal and non-verbal communication.
• Methods for closing a sale include assumptive, minor point, alternative choice, direct, others including combination.
• Common closing mistakes include a bad attitude, poor preparation, not listening, lack of customization, remaining uncertain and talking too much even after the prospect has committed.

Unit 5: Build/Retain Sales Relationship

• Sales retention and relationship building encompass actions by a company to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Relationship building nurtures existing customer relationships to maximize lifetime value.
• It costs 5-25 times more to acquire a customer than it does to retain one.
• Customer retention refers to a brand's ability to gain repeat business from a customer rather than simply being retained.
• Customer loyalty happens when the customer buys from a brand consistently and encourages others to do so.
• Loyalty and retention is increased through relationship building, building rapport and exceeding expectations.
• Strategies for maintaining customers include building relationships, building rapport, being perceived as valuable by exceeding expectations and loyalty programs.
• To discover why customer are loyal, look at questions relating to attitudinal (how much you love the brand and behavioural (how many do you buy).
• With great rewards those with a high attitudinal and behavioural are considers true advocates, willing to refer to others.
• Companies want loyal customers for repeat business and lower costs, and minimize the threat of customers taking their business elsewhere.
• Customer loyalty also result in expansion, serving as a valuable source for new customers.
• Communication must be meaningful and consistent, and communication must be open both ways and the companies must keep their promises.
• Companies can strengthen customer retention if customers continue to perceive value after the initial sale.
• Types of perceived values include reliability, responsiveness, compassion and knowledge/assurance.
• To win customer loyalty, businesses should show that they have a personal touch, care about the environment etc
• Loyalty programs can provide unique value through exclusive rewards and personalized interactions.