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Sales Information |
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Prepare to Sell!
Sales is a critical part of any business, including non-profits. Sales is not complicated or difficult, but requires preparation, consistent action and a plan. Before completing any preparatory work in sales, consider asking yourself some tough questions. When you believe in your product and understand why you're doing what you're doing, the rest of the sales process is much easier. The first step in the plan is for the salesperson to know the features and benefits of the product or service (let's say product). For example, let's say your product is office furniture. Describing the features of your product and your company might look like this:
While features are very important, it's even more important to identify the benefits of your product. This process involves more thought - you need to put your feet in your customers' shoes and ask, "What's in it for me? (wiifm)" For example, "Why should I care if you've been in business 18 years? How does that help me?" To fully understand the benefits of your product, first list the features, and then answer the wiifm question for every feature. There are no rules for this exercise and there will likely be more than one benefit for some features. Getting back to our office furniture example, here are some benefits:
If you get stuck determining the benefits, ask your customers! Why did you buy from us? If the answer is vague, be willing to go deeper and deeper until you get something tangible. For example:
This may be stressful for you, and you may feel like you're bugging your customers. Again, put your feet in your customers' shoes - do you think your customers want you to succeed? If your vendors called to ask you to help them, would you? If you're still uncomfortable, offer an incentive or gift to customers who help you to do this research. Another way to define benefits that are important to your prospects is to determine their needs and define their problems. By fully understanding your potential customers' needs and problems, you can better give them what they want. Sometimes your prospects don't fully understand their needs and problems, so doing this research in advance and being prepared with this information, you can help them even more. Now you can talk to anyone about your product! About The Author Audrey Burton, Business and Life Coach. Audrey is a caring, but no-nonsense coach. Audrey's ultimate goal is to help women to be happy with their work and life. She keeps you focused and motivated by helping you set priorities according to only your agenda. To sign up for her free, monthly email newsletter and to better understand how she works, visit her website at http://www.audreyburton.com. You only live once - love your life today! coachaudrey@audreyburton.com
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