The salesperson should have said; “Mr. Smith, the open concept of your office building really makes the rooms look bigger.” The buyer could now respond that it certainly makes the rooms appear bigger, but he dislikes it because there is no privacy and the rooms are too noisy.
Survey Approach
The survey approach uses gathering information as an attention-getting statement. The salesperson approaches clients and offers to survey their business in a particular functional area. For instance, a computer salesperson might survey all the departments to determine whether all their data processing needs are being met. This approach is time-consuming, and the salesperson runs the risk of doing a lot of work with no guarantee of an order. Some organizations provide the survey approach as a service to promote goodwill and build the relationship with the customer.
Assessing the Situation and Discovering
Needs through ADAPT
One of the most important communication skills for salesperson is questioning skills. Asking the right questions at the right time helps salespeople identify needed information about the organization’s buying process. This ensures that the buyer understands what the salesperson is communicating. Developing and asking effective questions requires planning and practice. Planning a general questioning strategy can be an effective approach to actively engage a buyer during a sales interaction. The ADAPT process, as covered in Module 4, is one approach that ca be used in many selling situations. The acronym ADAPT is appropriate for this questioning process because, as the name implies, it is flexible and can be made to apply to almost any situation.
SUMMARY
1. Discuss the different types of sales presentations and what goes into their planning. The three types of presentations most organizations use are canned presentations, organized presentations, and written sales proposals. Canned presentations include scripted sales calls, memorized presentations, and automated presentations. Most canned presentations have been tested for effectiveness with real