Effective product presentation leads to a dramatic increase in sales and maximum customer satisfaction. In order to increase sales, you need to know the motives that drive a potential buyer. It is known that each product is produced for a specific target audience.
Their age, gender, and education are taken into account. However, it is better to find out the client’s intentions based on a slightly different classification - motives. There are five main ones that guide a person when making purchases. The first of them is practically unaccountable. called desire. He is one of the strongest. Therefore, when a person really wants to have some product or commodity, he will agree to the price and other conditions. Often this motive is combined with others.
The second motive that effective sales technology should take into account is prestige. It is his thirst that is often combined with the first stimulus - desire. When presenting a product to such a client, under no circumstances should you say that the product has a low price. Here it is extremely important to show the uniqueness of the product, to say that it is exclusive. You can even mention that the product is very expensive. Usually clients of this kind are not afraid of the price. They are only truly afraid of mediocrity.
The third motive is the opposite of the second. It lies in the benefits. This is where it is worth mentioning that the product is inexpensive, high-quality and can bring benefits. Here you can mention various promotions in which the buyer will participate, as well as discounts. Often the product presentation in this case includes various gifts.
The fourth motive that guides many clients is: During the sale, you need to tell the buyer how comfortable he will be in a new car with advanced functions, how comfortable this particular chair is, or how good he will feel in this model of jacket. The desire for comfort is inherent in many people. These can be people of different positions, from different social strata.
The fifth motive is for most people. Of course, they can acquire based on the other four, but this one is the most ancient. It's called a sense of security. When presenting a product to a client, you can mention the environmental friendliness of the purchase and its safety. It can be emphasized that the product will serve for protection. It all depends on what kind of product we are talking about. During the presentation, it is important to find out what is truly important to the client. People don't buy things or products, every good salesman knows that. People buy emotions, a sense of security, comfort, prestige. Each of the consumers has his own motive, and some of the buyers are not aware of it. An experienced, qualified trader will intuitively see the lever that will cause a purchase.
Physically, most people see that the purchase is made when the client has paid the money. However, the act of exchange does not occur at this moment, but when the buyer is satisfied. He receives what will give him the necessary sensations, and the seller receives compensation in the form of cash.
Each client has his own interests. Therefore, to sell effectively, you need to know psychology. Despite the fact that people do not have many incentives to purchase things, each individual is unique. His needs may be much more complex than he himself realizes. Sometimes the motive for status may be a desire for security. After all, something that is expensive must undoubtedly have excellent characteristics. Motives can also be combined. For example, the desire for comfort may be an extension of the desire for security. All this must be taken into account when presenting a product.
13 Aug Sales presentation. 9 tips that will make your presentation selling. Sales techniques and techniques
Hello, dear colleagues and friends. In this article I want to work with you on a very relevant and interesting topic in sales. This theme -.
When you talk about your product, it's all a presentation. But very often managers, and even heads of the sales department, talk about their product so unconvincingly that the client no longer has any desire to buy it. And managers, especially inexperienced ones, often do this - they go to the boss and say: “You know, our product is not selling. The price is not the same, the conditions are not the same, the terms are not the same, and so on.”
There have been cases when we followed managers' lead and we made the product better. They lowered prices, organized some promotions, and the like. Do you think sales have changed?
Often - haven't changed at all. Because it wasn't about the product, it was about presentation skills.
How to make a presentation selling and interesting? How to motivate a client to take a targeted action?
Sales presentation. Chip 1. Red button
What does the red button mean? Every client you talk to has something in your specific offering -most important, most significant, most valuablefor him. This is the red button.
When you communicate with a client, you must understand what is most important and significant for this particular client.
Yes, other characteristics matter too. But there is a certain core, the most important thing. And, if you are a good salesman, if you learn to grasp what this red button is for the client, you will have a truly selling presentation.
Don’t present everything, but only the most important things.. Your presentation should revolve around this red button.
How do you understand when you communicate with a client what is most meaningful to him?
If you read the article , then you know Linda Richardson's advice: learn to listen. The most important thing you must do islisten to the client. Listen and hear.
This is often where the error occurs. A manager, when he listens to some information from a client, and understands that for him, for the manager, it is not significant - he concludes that the client just voiced it and does not pay much attention to it. And herein lies the big mistake.
If the client said it, said it out loud, it means it matters to him.Record the words and phrases that the client says - and then use them in the presentation. This is a foolproof way to build your sales presentation around the red button.
Sales presentation. Chip 2. We are you
Inexperienced managers oftenbuild a presentation around themselves. They come to the client or call him, or correspond on social networks - it doesn’t matter. And they say: how good we are - we, we, we...
Sometimes this is given an apt name - "Mooing". That is, to say “We” all the time, to talk all the time about us, about the company. “We are so wonderful.” “We have a good product, it is in great demand.” “We have a very long history as a company.” And so on.
Translate all phrases into the “language of BENEFIT” - that is, say “You”, talk about the client.Not “We have 100 types of products in stock,” but “You can receive more than 100 types of products at any time.”
This is the simplest trick. It may even be obvious to you, but, unfortunately, many managers do not know or do not use this trick.
Check your presentation. Translate it into the “language of BENEFIT”. Get rid of the "Mooing". And you will have a strong, selling presentation.
Do the same with your scripts, sales on social networks - wherever possible, say and write “You”.
Sales presentation. Chip 3. Characteristics - benefits - emotions
A good sales presentation should be built in an ascending line.
First you saycharacteristicssome kind of product.
Then you addbenefit.
And you finish emotions.
How it works? For example, I need to sell you one of my webinars. Perhaps even free - that is, not to sell, but to invite you. I periodically conduct such free webinars - you can find out when the next one will be by going to .
Features and Benefits
One of the characteristics of a webinar is its duration. I can tell you: “The duration of the webinar is 1 hour.” This -characteristic.
How can this characteristic be used to makebenefit? I can say: “The duration of the webinar is 1 hour.During this hour, we will analyze in detail the step-by-step plan for developing a commercial proposal. You will learn 1, 2, 3 steps that will help you create a commercial proposal ". Do you feel how I moved from characteristics to benefits? I’m talking about you, what you will receive, and sharing some specifics.
How to add emotion? Often even advanced managers have no emotions in their presentations. They listed the features, added the benefits, and that was it.
Emotion and call to action
If I were to addemotionin inviting you to a webinar, it would sound something like this: “The duration of the webinar is 1 hour. During this hour, we will analyze in detail the step-by-step plan for developing a commercial proposal. You will learn 1, 2, 3 steps that will help you create a commercial proposal.And at the end of the webinar, you may have a desire to take your old commercial proposal and either throw it away altogether or radically rework it. Because you will have a complete understanding of how to write a truly catchy and selling commercial proposal. In just 60 minutes. Register for the webinar and you will find out «.
You can see how the presentation was carried out - progressively, from characteristic to benefit, and from benefit to emotion. And please noteAdded a call to action at the very end.
Many people lack a call to action in their presentation. Also, instead of calling, you can use involving the client in a conversation and asking a question. But after emotions, it is the call to action that works well.
See if you have this transition in increasing order: characteristic - benefit - emotion. If not, be sure to think about what emotions you can evoke in the client. And then your sales presentation will become really good.
Sales presentation. Chip 4. “Tee” technique
If you are interested in fishing, or have at least seen fishing hooks, you have an idea of what a “tee” is - a treble hook.
The Tee technique means that your sales presentation should address the interests of at least three parties - we're talking about B2B sales. This:
- Benefits for the company (business)
- Benefits for the decision maker with whom you communicate
- Benefits for other company employees
This is especially true if you present your product to the top officials of the company - managers, owners. In addition to the benefits for business, you must indicate some benefit personally for the decision maker - I’m not talking about kickbacks, bribes, and the like. No, you must show that the decision maker also personally receives something. For example, this could be some convenient functionality specifically for management. This could be removing some routine tasks. These may be some additional guarantees. And so on - depending on what you are selling.
What does the decision maker get? What do other company employees receive, how does your product affect them? What does the business as a whole get?
If your sales presentation answers all three of these questions, if your presentation has bait for all three of these hooks, it will become more convincing, more interesting for the client. And all this will be taken into account when making a decision.
Sales presentation. Tip 5. More feedback!
Very often, when managers present their product - especially over the phone - they simply conduct their monologue, trying to tell everything about the product.
But there is absolutely no need to tell everything. First, you remember that the presentation needs to be built around the “red button” - the most important thing for the client.
Secondly, if you tell the client everything,it loads and stops receiving information.
Therefore, do not burden the client with a monologue. Ask more engaging questions.
For example, let's return to the webinar presentation. I say: “You will learn a step-by-step plan for drawing up a commercial proposal. By the way, Ivan Ivanovich, do you use commercial offers?”
That is, I ask an engaging question. The client is engaged, and after that I move on to the next part of the presentation - and then ask for feedback again.
Unfortunately, in my experience, it is very common for managers to not ask for feedback at all. They simply present and at the end ask: “Well, how do you like it?” And the client answers: “Well, I don’t know. Need to think". And this is where the presentation ends.
Check your presentation. Think about how often you ask for feedback. When you tell a client something, ask a question, ask for feedback. And your presentation will become selling.
Sales presentation. Tip 6. Social proof - social proof
If you are involved in marketing, then most likely you are familiar with this concept. In the article I talked about the power of social proof.
To enhance your presentation -show that your product is already being used.
Unfortunately, here in Russia, the sales profession initially has a bad reputation - I won’t say it’s undeserved. And when customers communicate with sellers, they initiallysellers are not trusted.
If the seller says: “Ivan Ivanovich, our product is the best on the market!” How will the client react to this? Of course, he will think: “I see, praise your product, it’s your job.”
Or the seller will say: “Ivan Ivanovich, there are a lot of products on the market, I myself monitor the ratings. By the way, our product was recognized by such and such a rating as one of the best.” Agree, in this casethere will be more trust in these words.
As you can see, the same idea - “our product is the best” - was said in different words. But in the second case the sellerreferred to available evidence.
So be sure to check what social proof you are using. These may be links to reviews, articles, expert opinions, ratings, and the like. Your sales presentation will be much better using social proof.
Sales presentation. Tip 7. Reducing client fears
Your sales presentation must be sure to alleviate the client's fears. In my course There is a lesson called “4 client fears that prevent you from closing a deal.”
It is not customary to talk about fears.And clients very often do not voice these fears to you. Most of the time, they don't talk about it.But that doesn't mean clients don't think about it..
What is the point of this feature? Think about what stops clients, what are they afraid of? Write these fears down on a separate piece of paper - and dispel these fears in your presentation.
Let me give you a simple example: there is one travel company with which we built sales. They were recruiting a group for a tour - a trip around the world.
When we analyzed successful and unsuccessful transactions, we saw one interesting thing. Some clients refused to buy a round the world tour because they thought the group would be mostly young people. Clients wanted their travel companions to be older, quieter people - and thought that they would not fit into the group.
This became clear later, after listening to calls and making follow-up calls. And the manager lost this client because he did not recognize this fear and could not overcome it. If a representative of a travel agency had caught this fear, this doubt that the client would not fit into the group, then he could have reflected in the presentation: that their groups are different, that the participants are absolutely not attached to each other, they can plan their own day, and so on .
As a result, because this fear was not addressed, the company lost tens of thousands of dollars on such clients.
Therefore, at the preparation stage, think -what fears does the client have, and how can they be dispelled?in your sales presentation.
Sales presentation. Tip 8. Use visualization
Be sure to use visualization - photographs, images, diagrams - anything that can illustrate your product.
Visual materials for a sales presentation are bestprepare in advance, before meeting with the client. As a last resort -draw during a meeting.
If you are subscribed to myInstagram , You saw how many books I recently ordered.
And among them was “Draw to Win” by Dan Roem, just on the topic of visualization. There is a whole chapter in it about selling with the help of drawings. A well-known fact that few people think about isWe receive 90% of information through vision. And our brain is best suited for processing visual images.
Remember now how you convey thoughts visually?
It happens that the client is simply sent a commercial proposal in the form of text in Word. No diagrams, no drawings, no photographs. That is, in general, there is nothing visual in such a commercial proposal. And the same bare text is brought to the meeting.
At one time, I developed a formula for creating an effective commercial proposal - you can read about it in the article One very important component is visual design. It is important to beautifully package your ideas and meanings, your selling text. After all, this significantly increases not only the likelihood of reading your commercial, but also, according to the results of our experiments, allows you to increase the average transaction bill.
Therefore, your sales presentation should be illustrated. Show the client diagrams, graphs, images and photographs of your product. Draw yourself during the presentation - even simple circles, squares and triangles with arrows will enliven your communication with the client.
Sales presentation. Tip 9. Simple and easy step
Divide your purchasing process into several simple steps. Often we try to sell global cooperation right away - andyou need to sell a simple and easy step.I regularly talk about this in various videos on myYoutube channel , in articles on my blog on the Time to Grow website - so, most likely, you are already familiar with this method and apply it. But if you don’t use it, then do it.
Sometimes, in the comments under mineReal calls , they write - “Well, of course, you’re offering such delicious freebies that it’s stupid to refuse.” But this is the sales trick.Offer something that the client would be foolish to refuse.
You have something that you can offer the client. It could be:
- “Let’s just do the math to compare...”
- “Let’s make a rough layout with you...”
- “Let me now send you such and such useful materials...”
Etc.
Thus, You can make progress - forward to the deal - with a simple and easy step at the end of the presentation.
Even if you already want to conclude an agreement, you can say: “Ivan Ivanovich, let’s take your details now, we will prepare a draft agreement and agree with you.”
This is a less stressful step for the client. You can say: “If you are not satisfied with some conditions, you can always reconsider them. Let's start now."
With this approachprobability of deal closingand success of your presentationincreases by multiples.
Lead magnets
Now I often work with clients within the framework of the MRP program - . We are building sales departments and we are approaching sales in a completely new way, including cold calling.
How do you usually make calls? They call and offer some kind of cooperation. We do things differently now. We have developed a line of lead magnets. This is something free - but at the same time, useful and valuable for the client.
And this works very well in cold calling. That is, you are calling with the goal of sending this lead magnet to the client. Some useful selection of materials. Some diagrams. Some interesting ideas for his business with your products. And so on, there can be many options here.
And, under this pretext, you qualify the client and build further sales with him.
As you can see, the “Simple and Easy Step” feature works both in the presentation itself, directly in the communication process, and in general, in the sales system.
Sales presentation. Conclusion
Dear friends,I prepared for you . Many readers and viewers from myYoutube channel They collect such cheat sheets and mind maps. Download and use in your work when communicating with clients.
I thank you for your attention to this article. I hope you learned something useful from it, and with the help of these tips your sales presentation will become stronger and more effective.
Write your questions and suggestions in the comments on my pages
Let's talk about when the time comes conducting a product presentation. After you have selected 2 - 3 products that you think best suit our client and satisfy his needs.
Now, during the presentation, you must tell the client everything you know about each product using. And then unobtrusively guide the client in the right direction and help him make the only right purchase decision.
Advice:, never exaggerate the merits of the product you are selling. It’s better to tell us about its properties and the benefits that the buyer will receive from its use:
- “This carpet cleans well, which means you'll spend less time and effort cleaning. This is important to you, isn't it?"
- “This chair has several height adjustments, which will allow you to take a comfortable position at the table. This is significant for you, isn’t it?”
Believe me, the “properties - benefits” technique is appropriate when selling any product - from a light bulb to a car.
At first, it is difficult to come up with benefits from using a product, but over time, literally on the go, translate the properties of any product into benefits for the buyer. Practice. Look around, select any object (pencil, notebook, keyboard), name 3-4 characteristics and translate it into benefits for yourself.
Remember, at stage 3 of the sale - - you found out what our client wants? Now your task is to offer the client exactly the product whose properties best solve his problems.
Let's look at examples of what phrases will help you have a great product presentation and bring the client closer to making a purchase.
Important: present exactly the product that meets the client’s needs! There is no point in telling the client about something that does not interest him.
When building phrases, follow this sequence:
product property - advantage - connecting phrase - benefit.
Linking phrase:
- “For you this means...”
- "Thanks to this, you will be able to..."
- “Due to this, you will save yourself from the need...”
- “This will reduce your costs...”
- "This makes it possible..."
- "It shortens..."
- "What is the guarantee..."
- "It minimizes (it reduces, increases, provides)..."
- "This will allow you..."
Start your presentation with:
- “The main advantages of this product...”,
- "Obvious advantages...",
- “The special feature of this product is...”
List the characteristics through connecting conjunctions:
- "besides",
- "wherein",
- "moreover",
- "By the way",
- "Besides".
When concluding your presentation, use a summary technique:
- “That’s all the main advantages of this product. Are you satisfied with everything?”
To make it clearer, let's look at an example:
Wallpaper on a non-woven basis (property) does not deform when pasted, the joints are perfectly smooth.
This will allow you (connecting phrase) to make repairs quickly and efficiently.
In addition, the glue is applied only to the wall (property), this saves your time and money.
Non-woven wallpaper can withstand up to 8 dyeing cycles (property), while maintaining its structure. Due to this, you will save yourself from the need to remove wallpaper during the next repair. You can simply paint the walls the color you want.
By the way, non-woven fabric is a non-woven base (property), an environmentally friendly material, which guarantees the health of your family members. An excellent option for children's rooms.
That's all the main advantages of this wallpaper. Are you satisfied with everything?
If you get a positive response, congratulations!
The deal was almost done. If the client has doubts, it’s time to move on to the next stage of effective sales technology - working with objections.
The “big” online business has long had a proven scheme for increasing sales: mechanisms for personal recommendations, “smart” search results that adapt to the user or stimulate sales of a hand-selected product. They try not only to sell the product itself, but also to additionally offer related or similar ones.
Such systems usually do not work with “small” online stores - for example, in a designer handbag store there is unlikely to be anything to recommend “for the load”, thereby increasing the amount in the cart. But in terms of selling the product itself and its “delicious” presentation, there are much more opportunities.
Today we’ll look at what techniques you can use when creating a small ecommerce website. And so as not to get bored, we will choose the most striking and original examples as illustrations.
Method one: win the heart
This method seems to us the least reliable, since the sale must occur strictly at the moment while the user is impressed. Very fast and impulsive. If the price of the issue is more than the user is willing to pay without thinking, he will most likely begin to doubt, and this will cool his emotions.
Example: melanie-f.com/en, A fantastically beautiful shoe site in terms of effects. Music plays in the background as we slowly immerse ourselves in beauty. Ten seconds - and the target user already wants to become part of this beauty.
Example: mrsketch.com, website for markers with fruit scents. The site ostensibly appeals to thoughtful adults by formally showing the production process. However, he does this in a “childish” manner, with the help of bright illustrations and fancy drawn mechanisms.
Method two: create the illusion of ownership
The good old gaming mechanism: if you want someone to buy something from you, let them play for free. A sort of virtual demo version of the product. All kinds of online product designers are very suitable for this purpose. They fulfill two goals at once: the user models his own product design and quietly gets used to the idea that this thing already belongs to him.
Example: myownbike.de/singlespeed-und-fixie-configurator offers to paint your future bike. The creative process is fascinating: you can repaint everything down to the seat and knitting needles.
Example: customizer.pennyskateboardsonline.eu/ - a skateboard designer that is simply fantastic in beauty and functionality. In the center is a user-rotated 3D model.
Method three: show the product “in real life”
One of the main problems of online stores is the inability to try on the product right away. And we’re not just talking about clothes: for example, we all want to know 100% that the sofa will fit into the interior of the room, because most likely it cannot be easily and quickly returned to the store. You can do expensive online fitting rooms, or you can do a high-quality photo shoot with the product. Remember, by the way, these super-stylish IKEA catalogs - this is where you can simultaneously demonstrate the product “in real life” and cross-sell through photo content.
Example: helbak.com/ — a store of designer items for the kitchen. You can see excellent photos with examples of how the thing looks in a real environment. Another find: “boring” data like dimensions and materials are displayed in a non-trivial way (click on “show details” in the catalog) and you will see something like this:
Example: http://www.beoplay.com/ — there is a separate promo for each headphone model. Distinctive feature: in addition to the excellent display of materials, the product is shown as part of the image. Each model has its own mood and style.
Method four: identify the user and the lyrical hero
Storytelling, which everyone loves to talk about, but for some reason no one really uses on e-commerce sites and in digital product campaigns. The main criterion for success here: a powerful story with a hero at the center. The hero, of course, uses the promoted product. By the way, the previous example with headphones also applies here.
Example: http://hondatheotherside.com/ — probably one of the most powerful storytelling projects in recent times. Honda Civic Type R offers an interactive video on YouTube (by the way, also a trend). By pressing the R key on the keyboard, the user can switch between alternative stories: about an exemplary citizen and a hooligan. Of course, they both drive Hondas.
Example: http://www.andy-wolf.com/awe/#/ — promo of fashionable glasses. At the center of the action are models of different types, who have one thing in common: impeccable style. The line of glasses is even called the special term “eyewear,” emphasizing that the product belongs to fashion accessories, and not just glasses.
Method five: kill doubts
When we order a product online, there are always doubts in terms of “will I really get what is in the picture?”, “Are they really making it from the declared eco-friendly materials?” To neutralize such doubts, a demonstration of the work process (for designer items) and a demonstration of the device (for complex mechanisms/gadgets) are excellent.
Example: http://sassiholford.com/ — the wedding dress atelier demonstrates in detail the entire production process using video. The video conveys the love that the creators put into the dresses and evokes warm feelings in those who watch it.
Example: http://www.piaget.com/watches/900p is one of the most impressive watch websites. Scrolling activates a great story: we see the history of the brand, as well as a detailed demonstration of the workings of the watch movement.
And further
Nobody forbids combining methods. You just need to keep in mind the only correct attitude: a product website or a small e-commerce site should take advantage of its advantages over its “big” brothers. Play on emotions, and not just seduce with favorable prices and promotions.
After reading this article, you can teach consultants to demonstrate genuine interest in what they sell, instill in salespeople a love for their work, and offer additional products without annoying clients.
Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, presented the results of a six-year study of companies that made breakthroughs in their field. When the author met with Philip Morris executives, he noted the passion with which the staff sold cigarettes, beer and high-fat cheese. Jim Collins writes that employee passion for the company and product is one of the key factors that helps achieve success.
We came to a similar conclusion: a product that employees enjoy sells three to seven times faster than one that evokes less emotion. For example, a store where consultants love chocolate shows 3–5% higher turnover of goods in this category. Therefore, during interviews and internships, we look to see whether a person is interested in the product. If a consultant does not like coffee or tea, it will be difficult for him to present the product in a “tasty” manner. However, you still need to be able to express your love. I'll tell you how to present a product, so as not to leave customers indifferent.
Train sellers on how to properly present a product
So that the consultant can express his love for the product, we teach presentation skills. The training includes three blocks: diagrams and rules of presentation; expansion of vocabulary; the ability to compare products with each other.
Schemes and rules of presentation. We teach not to convince the client to buy, but to present the product so that the guest understands why the consultant is offering this product. The salesperson's job is to provide information that will help make a decision. The presentation includes three steps:
- product description;
- answer to the question why the product suits the client’s request;
- providing additional information.
In practice it looks like this. If a guest says: “I want black strong tea,” the consultant uses the phrase “This is black strong tea” in the presentation. This way he shows that he has heard the customer and offers a product that meets his needs. Additional information may include recommendations on how to brew tea, information about the characteristics of the leaf.
Expanding vocabulary. We strive to expand the vocabulary of employees so that sellers use epithets that describe the taste of coffee or tea (drawing). For example, if you ask a person to describe coffee, he will immediately name three or four definitions. It is advisable for the seller to know 10–16 adjectives. We regularly work to increase the vocabulary of sellers - at tastings, product trainings.
If the company does not work in the food industry, then words describing taste are unlikely to be suitable. Use other epithets. If you offer clothes or shoes, sellers can describe the quality of the fabric and the comfort of the items. After all, customers do not buy a product, but a “feeling of happiness.” And everyone has their own happiness - you need to describe it differently.
Ability to compare products with each other. Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice. Why “more” means “less”, conducted an experiment with jam. Some visitors were given a choice of six types of jam, others from 24. Sales were higher when the choice was limited, although the variety of options should attract more buyers. Schwartz came to the conclusion: a large assortment makes a person unhappy. As a result, he tends to avoid choice and purchase. That's why we teach consultants to help clients make choices.
It is important that when comparing products, the seller focuses on the request of the potential buyer. Therefore, we emphasize that you should not convince the client to purchase a product, especially an expensive one. Instead, you should talk about the product in such a way that the person understands how this purchase will make him happy.
Let me give you an example. I recently bought a travel hair dryer from a large retail chain. I chose from two options. I told the store consultant that size is important: the hairdryer should fit in a small suitcase. The seller gave two reasons why I should have bought a more expensive product - he talked about quality, about “the absence of a plastic smell when used.” However, none of this met my needs. Let the hair dryer smell like plastic - the main thing is that it fits into your suitcase. I bought a hair dryer, but I didn’t remember the store as a place where they solved my problem.
Conclusions. You need to present the product as sincerely as possible so that the client feels the seller’s love for the product. It should make it clear how this product will make the buyer happy.
Presentation elements that scare away or attract the client: checklist
Together with experts, the editors of the Commercial Director magazine analyzed the mistakes that companies make when preparing product presentations and prepared recommendations that will help create the perfect document.
Organize a product tasting for managers
The seller must know what he is selling, so we conduct tastings for consultants. An employee tries from 10 to 30 products per month. Tastings take place in the store, in the training center during product training, during monthly meetings of store administrators, on excursions to the confectionery factory (Table 1). Up to 200 people can participate in tastings at trainings, 20–50 at meetings with suppliers and producers, and 10–15 on excursions. Excursions to the factory - events such as “meeting with suppliers or manufacturers”.
If you can show staff how a product is made, do so. This will influence your sales. The consultant will confidently answer questions about the product and share his personal opinion. One day I was choosing bread and doubted the quality of the ingredients. The seller said: “Don’t doubt it! I saw how they make it, there’s nothing wrong with it.” I believed it and now I only buy bread there.
In order for tasting to influence sales, it must be carried out according to a certain algorithm. It includes four steps.
- Explain the importance of a taste test or test. Tell employees how valuable their opinions are to customers. Show that they are becoming pros by learning and testing the product. Demonstrate how this translates into sales.
- Teach how to taste or test a product correctly. We want sellers to like the product. Therefore, we teach them how to taste the product correctly.
- Create a report or record template. The effect of the tasting (test) will be greater if the consultant takes notes during the “experiments”. For us, the format of the recordings is determined by the coach or mentor. For example, every spring four or five varieties of collectible tea arrive, which are similar in appearance and taste. Consultants in stores study information about tea, then try varieties and fill out a special table indicating the characteristics of each type (table 2).
4. Control the result. A mentor or trainer monitors how the tasting notes are completed. It is important that information about the product is uniform across the network. Control allows you to show the consultant the importance of tasting in professional development. In addition, you can understand what impressions the seller received from the product.
Conclusions. Not everything can be tasted. If you are selling an inedible product, then:
- conduct product demonstrations;
- let sellers test the product themselves;
- create conditions in which the seller can take the goods home.
Be sure to invite employees to fill out the impression table and monitor this process.
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Flexible work algorithms for sales managers
People feel when they are being talked to according to a pattern. Therefore, let consultants be flexible in communication, then the client will feel special. How to ensure that sellers comply with service standards and maintain an individual approach to the buyer? Before teaching standards, it is necessary to explain the principles of attitude towards clients. We say it's important to sell in a way that makes the guest want to come back. This principle helps consultants make decisions when communicating with a buyer.
In our company, 90% of scripts are flexible. The consultant has a sequence of words or actions that he can change. Flexible algorithms are developed for situations when the client says “Thank you, I’m just looking”, for offering additional products, etc. There are also hard algorithms - this is working with customer complaints.
Sales algorithm. When communicating with each guest, we recommend going through seven stages of sales.
- Meeting: greeting and establishing contact.
- Identifying needs.
- Offer of goods (main, additional) and description of promotions.
- Work with objections.
- Deal.
- Parting.
- Dealing with complaints.
Let me explain how flexibility manifests itself. The consultant has such rights.
- Do not talk about promotions or offer additional products if the client is not interested in this or is inappropriate now. It's a risky approach, but it's even more risky to talk about additional products and promotions to customers who don't want to hear about it.
- Offer an additional item after the guest has paid, if appropriate. For example, the seller decided to show a product “for the future” and made a detailed presentation, explaining to the guest what would suit him and why.
- Use the story about the promotion at the meeting stage to establish contact with the guest. For example: “Good afternoon! Today is our first Chocolate Day. By the way, how do you feel about sweets?” If the seller strictly followed the algorithm, he would tell about the promotion only after offering the main product.
Upsell algorithm. Every person is a client of some company, and we often hear formal proposals: “Would you like some socks on sale?”, “Let’s pick up a phone case.” I recently bought beach shoes at a popular sports store and was surprised when at the checkout they asked me to take socks. I said: “No, thank you,” and showed the shoes I bought. However, the seller asked again: “Exactly?” This approach influenced the purchase experience.
The offer of an additional product must be individual. We provide only basic diagrams, and the consultant independently decides which product to offer and what to tell about it.
Here are a few basic phrases you can use to start a conversation. They are suitable for any type of business.
- “Now on sale... and it’s worth paying attention to, because...”
- “Relevant for this time of year because...”
- “This product will go great with that because...”
- “I recommend you try this product because...”
Please note: there is a phrase “because” everywhere. It can be replaced with a synonym, but it is necessary to explain why this product is needed. Robert Cialdini, in his book The Psychology of Influence, describes an experiment with a photocopier and a queue. In the first case, a person approached the photocopier and said: “Excuse me, can I skip the line? I only have five pages.” 60% of people agreed to skip it. In the second case, the stranger added a reason to the request: “Can I skip the line because I’m in a hurry?” 94% of people agreed to give in to him. The author explored further and in the third case asked a stranger to give a meaningless reason using the conjunction “because”: “Can I skip the line because I need to make copies?” The result is comparable to the previous one - 93%. This study proves the unique impact of the words “because.”
Since you don’t just need to “sell and forget,” but to ensure that the client returns, then after the words “because,” give a reasonable reason. Offering an additional product does not always lead to a purchase now. However, the quality of the offering affects the overall impression of the brand. Let me give you an example. I bought sneakers at the Super Step store, and they offered me additional products in a reasonable and logical manner. First the laces - “because laces radically change the appearance of the sneakers”, then the socks - “because when you buy socks you can get more points on the card.” I didn’t buy either one, but I will definitely return to the store and recommend it to my friends.
Conclusions. Explain to sales managers why they need to follow work algorithms. Divide them into hard and flexible. When developing sales algorithms, remember the importance of an individual approach.
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Trust in employees
Our consultants can give the guest a product, treat them with candy or make tea. The employee also has the right to accept back quality food products. This approach allows you to offer a higher level of service and increases sales.
A friend told this story. One day she came into our store. The seller said: “I really want to cheer you up. Let me treat you to some candy." There were no tastings at that time. And although the consultant’s action did not increase sales that day, an acquaintance - a famous trainer - still talks about it in her classes. But this affects sales.
All stores have a monthly amount (the amount depends on traffic) for which you can treat customers. The manager controls expenses. We do not determine the amount for which a refund can be made. It may seem that with this approach costs cannot be predicted. Customers will return an unpredictable amount of goods, and sellers will begin to “give away” products in order to win the favor of guests. But this does not happen due to the correct approach to the work of the “right” consultants.
Result
We do a lot to maintain relationships with regular guests. Training salespeople in presentation and upselling skills is part of a comprehensive work. In some stores, the share of regular customers increased to 80% of the total number of visitors after managers learned how to properly present the product.
