Introduction to Technical Sales

IntroductiontoTechnicalSales

Sales is a Process
SalesisaProcess
1 Establisharapport
1.
Establish a rapport
2. Clarifyexpectations
3 Understandtheissues
3.
U d t d th i
4. Qualifytheclient
1. Decisionmaking
2. Financial

5. Presentsolution
6. Wrapup
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Sales is a Process (cont.)

SalesisaProcess
(cont )
AtANYstageoftheprocess,youcandecideto
At ANY stage of the process you can decide to
pulloutoftheprocess
Youdonthavetowaituntiltheendofthe
process

Establish a Rapport
EstablishaRapport
Thefunpartofsales
The fun part of sales
Gettingtoknowyourclient
Inonemeeting,or
Overseveralmeetings

Thisisthepartofthesalesprocessthatyou
establishifyouandtheclientcangetalong
Ifyouthinktheclientisajerkthisisthetime
to bail
tobail
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Establish a Rapport (cont.)

EstablishaRapport
(cont )
Showinterestintheclient
Show interest in the clientsshobbies,his/her
hobbies his/her
family,thecompany,etc
Askalotofquestions(8020ruleapplies)
Ak l t f
ti
(80 20 l
li )
Youhavetorevealalittleaboutyourself too
Theclientisalsoestablishingifyoureajerk?

Don
Donttsell
sell you
youre
rereallyjustestablishingthe
really just establishing the
groundworkforalongrelationship;noneedto
rush into a sales pitch
rushintoasalespitch
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Clarify Expectations
ClarifyExpectations
Confirmhowmuchtimetheclienthasforyou
Confirm how much time the client has for you
Doweenoughtimewithanhour?Ordoyou
need to go somewhere soon?
needtogosomewheresoon?

Dontallowtheclienttoslipoutfora
meeting

Clarify Expectations (cont.)

ClarifyExpectations
(cont )
Findoutwhattheclientexpectsfromthe
Find out what the client expects from the
meeting
IIcameheretotalktoyouaboutthe,butis
came here to talk to you about the but is
theresomethingyoudliketodiscuss?

StateYOURexpectationstoo
State YOUR expectations too
OneofthethingsIdliketofindout:doesyour
company ever hire engineering firms without
companyeverhireengineeringfirmswithout
competition?

Setupthegroundrules
S t
th
d l
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Clarify Expectations (cont.)

ClarifyExpectations
(cont )
Trytogettheclienttocommittoa
Try to get the client to commit to a next
nextstep
step
Letssayyoulikewhatmyfirmcandoforyou,
how would we proceed from here?
howwouldweproceedfromhere?

Dontbetoopushy,butbefirm:thisisnota
contractualheadlock
l h dl k
Youwilladjusttherestofyoursalesprocess
j
y
p
basedonthenextstepanswer.
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Understand the Issues

UnderstandtheIssues
Gettheclienttalking
Get the client talking
Dontinterrupt
Askopenendedquestions;avoidyesno
questions
Takenotes(youmaywanttoaskifitsOKto
takenotessomepeopleareweirdaboutthat)
k
l
id b
h )

Understand the Issues (cont.)

UnderstandtheIssues
(cont )
Ifyou
If youre
retheretoaddressaspecificissue,you
there to address a specific issue you
maywanttosummarizeyourunderstandingof
the issue then let the client clarify your
theissue,thenlettheclientclarifyyour
understanding.
IIunderstandyouhavehadseveralchillerfailures
understand you have had several chiller failures
lastsummerandyouhadtoclosedownthe
facility,canyoutellmemoreaboutwhat
y,
y
happened?

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Understand the Issues (cont.)

UnderstandtheIssues
(cont )
Showempathy
Show empathy
OK/notOK

11

Understand the Issues (cont.)

UnderstandtheIssues
(cont )
Exposethepains
Expose the pains
Makeitpersonalifyouhavetoandyou
probablywill

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Qualify the Client

QualifytheClient
Decisionmaking:
Decision making:
Isthepersonwithwhomyourespeakingthe
decision maker?
decisionmaker?
Willyouhavetorepeattheprocesswithsomeone
else?
Willyoubethepersonwiththefinalsay?
AssumingyoulikewhatIhavetosay,howcanI
helpyouconvinceyoursupervisor?
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Qualify the Client (cont.)

QualifytheClient
(cont )
Financially
Youneedtofindoutiftheprojectisproperly
funded
Istheclientwaitingforabudgetapproval?
Doestheprojectdependonagrant/incentive?
Whatrolewillyouhavetoplayinthefinancing?
Willyouhavetoprovidecostestimating,goafter
incentivesorprovideadditionalenergymodeling
t
tosatisfytheincentiverequirement?
ti f th i
ti
i
t?
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Money
How
Howmuchwillitcost?
much will it cost?
Bepreparedtoanswerthisquestiononeway
ortheotherbuthaveananswer!
Gettheissueoffthetable,bystatingthatyour
Get the issue off the table, by stating that your
feeproposalsareverydetailedandtransparent
Dontbeuncomfortabletalkingaboutmoney
D b
f
bl
lki
b

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Present the Solution

PresenttheSolution
Thepresentationwilllikelynotoccuratthe
The presentation will likely not occur at the
firstvisit;youmayhavetosetupanother
meeting
Prepareapresentationthat:
Isspecifictothisclient
Isspecifictothisissue
Addressesalloftheconcernsraised

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The Presentation
ThePresentation
Pickamainmessageorathemetoyour
g
y
presentationandsticktoit
Thethemeshouldbecustomizedforthisclient
The theme should be customized for this client
Reinforcethethemeasmuchasyoucan:
stickinessofmessageisimportant
Pausefrequentlyandaskforcomments
Pause frequently and ask for comments
Presenttheessential,bringeverything
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Wrap up
Wrapup
Ifyouestablishedthe
If you established the next
nextsteps
stepswellwhen
well when
youwereclarifyingexpectations,thewrapup
is easy
iseasy
Bealittlepushyifneeded
Onceyougetacommitmentorapurchase
order stop selling!!!
orderstopselling!!!

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Questions?

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