How do you sell?

When most installation companies still rely on advertising and referrals to promote their business, it is as well for you to consider a similar investment in making the way your sales people sell as big an advantage as what they sell.

This will increase your ratio of business won to that lost … currently averaging as one order to every four quotes.

Buyers love to buy but hate to feel ‘sold’ to. In many ways the easiest option for a surveyor or salesperson is to bore customers, sometimes without knowing it.

For example:

Customer: “I need to protect my computer room”.

Surveyor: “Ah, you need a ceiling mount Twintec, that combines PIR and microwave, providing up to 16m, 360-degree coverage at a height of 4.6m!”

Most customers will become confused by this and other similar responses and refrain from additional questions for fear of more jargon and the feeling of being sold to. While this dialogue is taking place the surveyor believes he’s impressed or won over the customer with his detailed technical knowledge, but in reality he is losing, or has lost ground. (Think of a time you have attempted to purchase your first computer or hi-fi system….did you understand all the jargon? And how boring was the experience?)

Try not to use jargon

Before I suggest a new method of making the way you sell as big an advantage as what you sell, I would like to reflect on some of the jargon that is normal ‘sales-talk’ in the industry such as:

Refresh rate, Time Lapse, Auto Iris, LED, Multiplexer, Micro Controller, PCB, PIR, Active Beams, Proximity Tokens, Lux, Auto White Balance, and so on … and not forgetting Internal & External Synchronisation Capability!

It’s not surprising that people in the industry talk in such a stereotypical manner. Technical descriptions are written by manufacturers for engineering use and, as many sales surveyors were once engineers, it’s understandable how a technical approached has emerged.

I am distinctly aware of the need for such technical styles at the high value ‘tender’ level, but when average order values still remain at around £1,000, it is vital to get your message across to potential customers…and maybe the surveyor could have said: “Specifically what are your concerns in this room?” He would then find out what the customer wants to achieve. If for some reason the customer doesn’t respond immediately to the question … i.e. they don’t know … this will give the surveyors an opportunity to suggest capabilities biased to their own products.

The three key stages

Surveyors and salespeople alike can achieve this by adopting a three-stage process, which is, briefly:

• Diagnosing (The reason for problem)

• Exploring (Who else is affected?)

• Visualising (What capabilities are required?)

  In each stage you should begin with an Open Question, continue with a Control Question and finish with a Confirmation (or summary) Question.

For example, when diagnosing the reasons for a security system:

• Open: Specifically, what are your concerns in this room?

• Control: Is it because…?

• Confirmation: So the reason for your (repeat the problem) are …?

Follow the same process for Exploring and Visualising.

You or your salesperson will remain in control of the sales cycle without the customer feeling ‘sold’ and it will build a stronger customer-supplier relationship. Once the questions become more important than the answers the solutions will emerge. Salespeople must make themselves equal before making themselves different.

Scantronic has launched an Installer’s Pack to help raise awareness of radio alarms for the domestic market. Research has shown that one reason for home owners not choosing to have an alarm is the upheaval perceived to be involved in installing an alarm system.

Based on the 5 series product the pack is designed to help in selling radio products in competitive situations. It includes sales material to leave with potential customers, spec sheets, case studies and sales advice sheets and a list of answers to frequently asked questions. To order your pack phone Scantronic on 01594 545444.