The 5 Phases of Selling - Part 1

Making contact with a new customer is much like starting a car. And if you sell new methods or processes, or new technologies, or new ways of doing things - moving too fast stalls the process. Even if you are not selling anything new, you still need to follow these steps to ensure success, and to save yourself a lot of time and stress.

These are the steps for a successful B2B sale.

Phase One: The customer must agree with you that he has a problem. If for example, you sell inventory management software; your customer must acknowledge that he's got an inventory management problem.

For most sales people, this is the most difficult step in the process. Almost all sales people, who are looking for new prospects, spend most of their time in phase one. However, instead of asking what the problem is, these sales people try to sell a solution first, by trying to tell the prospect what business they are in. They then leave it up to the prospect to figure out if they need their help or not. This is not only the wrong approach. This is also a terrible waste of a salesperson's time!

Let's look at the process here for a minute. The sales person receives, or builds, a list of prospects to call. Many have had no training on how to approach a prospective customer. Most have been taught by the "Stuff against the wall method". This method stated that the more calls you make, the more sales you will make. This outdated and incorrect methodology has been used for too long. It was a method invented by uninformed sales people who didn't know any other way of calling prospects.

So, they pick up the phone and start calling. Most sales people are terrified of this process. They know that over 95% of the people they call will not be receptive or hospitable to their call. The sales call will receive rejection, and most of these sales will people take it personally. I know, I've been there, done that!

We need to educate sales people on what they should be doing when they first approach a prospect. Many companies do not know how to do this properly. This is a subject for another time. But, if your sales people are struggling with this exercise, then do not blame them. Get them the proper training and coaching on how to perform this important part of the selling process.

In actual fact, phase one is a marketing issue, not a sales issue. It is marketing's responsibility to build leads. Depending on the size of your organization, you need to ensure that marketing and sales work together, to make this the driving force behind your revenue generation machine.

Now let's have a look and see what you need to do as you move into phase two.

Phase Two: The customer agrees that there is a problem. Now, he has to agree that he "wants to solve" his problem. This can be a very difficult phase to overcome. However, again, this should be a marketing issue, not a sales issue.

You have to convince the prospect that he will only gain by solving his problem. As you know, some people realize there is a problem, but they believe the solution will be more hassle to them than the problem.

As an example, a controller knows that budgeting software will help him in his budgeting process. He also knows that he will have to train all of his staff on the software, and more importantly, how to do their job differently. In the short term, it will be very disruptive to the whole organization, and he does not want to get involved. He has heard the horror stories from friends in other companies.

You need to show him that you are interested in solving his problem, and that if he doesn't solve his problem, he will be much worse off than he is now. You do not want to make the mistake of trying to sell him something in this phase of the selling process.

What you have to do here is show the prospect that you are knowledgeable about the problem. You can best demonstrate this knowledge in two fashions. An excellent way to show your expertise in this area is through a white paper, a newsletter, or a technical review you or your company has written.

If you (your company) have a white paper describing how to fix this problem through sound business practices, you will start to build trust with the prospect. Remember that someone will not buy from you if you have not developed a certain degree of trust with him or her.

They want to know that they are buying from someone reputable. The best way to demonstrate your reputation is through your knowledge of your prospect's business, and consequently the problems they have been experiencing.

The other, and better, way to show him that you can solve his problem, with the minimum amount of disruption to his business, is by a referral or through references. In fact, referral selling is the best way to sell.

Phases three to five will appear next time in "The 5 Phases of Selling - Part 2."

You already know that the B2B sales cycle can be anywhere from 2 months to 9 months. What if you could cut that time in half? Discover how you can do just that and at the same time stop chasing non-productive leads.

My name is Ian Dainty and I have written a book entitled "A Fast Track to Success in B2B Sales". Visit my web site at http://www.hitechsalescoach.com/ and get your copy now. You can also contact me at ian@hitechsalescoach.com at any time for any questions you have about selling and marketing. I look forward to working with you to help increase your income.