by Lorri Kelley
Here’s a five-step sales process that’s easy to understand. It’s a common sense approach that leads to a “YES” and leaves everybody happy.
So, here’s my question to Furniture World readers… Is the following statement True or False from YOUR experience and perspective? “Successfully executing a selling process CONSISTENTLY is very challenging for me.”
If your answer is “TRUE,” you are clearly not alone! So many sales professionals struggle to find the right path and a process they can repeatedly follow to get customers to say “YES, I will buy.” I believe this happens when we attempt to follow hard-to-remember processes and steps but don’t necessarily execute them in the prescribed order. Also, developing the discipline to consistently implement sales processes—with all the external pressures and policy requirements of those we sell for—can be too much to manage.
I have been fortunate to have worked for some amazing companies and inspirational leaders while meeting incredibly smart furniture retailers along the way. No matter my title, be it in direct sales or top leadership roles, I’ve focused my efforts on developing and mastering a process that continues to work well for me and is flexible enough to handle any specific situation or selling effort.
Many very smart people and sales training companies tout processes they believe are the best to follow. They usually point out the successes their clients have enjoyed. While my process is most likely not a lot different than perhaps one you may follow or have heard of, I am pleased to share it here, along with the ONE step crucial to successfully execute every single time. And what is that desired result? It’s getting the YES, of course!
Here is the process I follow:
1. Initiate: Discover the opportunity and develop the relationship.
2. Qualify: Ask the right questions in the right manner to determine the need.
3. Solution: Provide the best options to solve a problem.
4. Complete: Successfully address any concerns and get the YES!
5. Satisfy: Ensure complete satisfaction and ask for additional referrals.
Easy to understand, right? No fancy terminology, procedures, or paperwork is needed to support it. It is just a common-sense approach to identifying, connecting, listening, presenting solutions and asking for the YES without forgetting to ensure a “happy ending.”
Which of these five steps is the MOST important of them all?
It’s Qualify!
People rarely decide to visit a store because they have extra time on their hands and have nothing better to do. They visit because they have a NEED TO SATISFY or a PROBLEM TO SOLVE. The most successful sales professionals work diligently to uncover exactly what these needs and problems are to provide solutions and execute a successful result for their customers and themselves!
Asking the right questions during the Qualify stage of the selling process is a crucial step for sales professionals to do the following:
Understand Customer Needs: By asking the right questions, sales professionals gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ desires, needs and pain points. This allows them to tailor their approach and pitch to address these specific concerns, increasing the chances of successfully closing a sale.
Customize Solutions: Each customer is unique, so asking the right questions helps sales professionals uncover specific challenges or goals. This enables salespeople to offer the best options available with personalized and tailored solutions most likely to meet their customers’ expectations.
Build Rapport and Trust: By asking questions and actively listening to responses, sales professionals can better engage with customers, showing them that they genuinely care about their needs. This helps to build rapport and trust, which are crucial for establishing long-term relationships and repeat business. One meaningful way to demonstrate this is to take detailed notes as customers explain their preferences or what they are looking for. This serves two critical purposes. Writing down what customers say makes it easy to reference all of the information provided and sends a message to customers that what they say is being taken seriously. When it comes time to provide customized solutions, sales professionals can refer back to their notes, which should beautifully support what they present in the next stage.
Demonstrate the Desire to LISTEN Effectively: Let’s face it, we all like to talk! Often, when someone is speaking, salespeople may focus less on what is being said and more on their next response so they can get back to TALKING! However, listening is much more important during the Qualify step than speaking. Listening closely to shoppers’ answers enables salespeople to offer better ways to continue the selling discussion.
Prioritize the Validity of the Opportunity: Effective questioning techniques during the Qualify process enable sales professionals to quickly assess if they can provide the correct solutions or products based on what they have available to sell. Even if they can't, it’s actually a good result for shoppers as it demonstrates a desire not to waste their time should it become apparent that a solution is unlikely to be found. It also helps sales professionals move on more quickly to their next sales opportunity without wasting too much time when the likelihood of reaching a YES is minimal.
Overcome Objections: By asking the right questions, sales professionals can uncover any objections or concerns their customers may have. This allows them to address problems directly, provide reassurance—a different solution, product or information to alleviate worries or challenges—and move the sales process forward. Purchasing furniture can seem expensive and intimidating to customers, so handling objections during this part of the process is very important. It also demonstrates that sales professionals are clearly committed to providing exceptional solutions to shoppers’ needs and desires, ensuring a satisfying and genuine experience.
Questions to Ask
Most successful sales professionals have a standard list of questions they ask to get the information they need so that they can present solutions. These can be modified as required for each situation. I suggest using the starter words Who, What, When, Where, and Why, and the starter phrases:
- Tell me about…
- Show me...
- Give me more info on…
Asking such open-ended questions stops customers from providing “Yes” or “No” answers and allows them to provide more comprehensive answers. As long as the dialog continues, there is always a chance to make the sale!
Example
While consulting on a retail project, I recently had an opportunity to shadow one of the company’s sales professionals. Let’s call her Jane. Jane’s team members described her as knowledgeable about the products she sold and were impressed by her natural ability to engage with customers. Jane’s sales manager, however, was concerned that her sales numbers weren’t higher and asked me to observe her in action on the sales floor.
Jane was friendly and built natural relationships toward the beginning of each customer engagement. On the plus side, Jane asked shoppers what brought them into the store and had excellent product presentation skills. Clearly, she had spent a lot of time learning about the store’s lines and understood all the features and benefits. The biggest negative was that she took shoppers on wonderful store tours! She consistently failed to gear her presentations to address exactly what her customers wanted and needed.
Once this was pointed out and she was given guidelines to follow, Jane created a list of questions and fit them into her selling process. As a result, over the next six months, she doubled her closing rate to 60%.
The first important takeaway from this story is to make sure you take time to observe and coach your team to sales success. Without helpful observations and feedback, they may never know how they can improve!
Asking the right questions during this Qualify stage empowers sales professionals to understand their customers better, tailor solutions offered to meet their specific needs, build trust and rapport, prioritize their time and energy, and overcome objections, all of which contribute to a higher likelihood of getting the YES and making more sales. THAT is why it is the most important part of the process!
HIGHLIGHTS:
'If your answer is 'TRUE,' you are clearly not alone! So many sales professionals struggle to find the right path and a process they can repeatedly follow to get customers to say 'YES,
I will buy.'"
“The biggest negative was that she took shoppers on wonderful store tours! She consistently failed to gear her presentations to address exactly what her customers wanted and needed.”
“Asking open-ended questions stops customers from providing ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers and allows them to provide more comprehensive answers.”
