Persuasive communication

Persuasive communication is at the heart of the selling process, and the gross revenue insertion/demonstration is the critical center stage or Showtime for salespeople. After asking the customer qualifying questions to uncover special(prenominal) needs, the salesperson present tenses the products and services that will best satisfy those needs highlights their features, advantages, and benefits and stimulates desire for the offerings with a skillful demonstration. Prospects are primarily interested in the benefits being offered them.Product features and advantages are important only if hey can be tied directly to a specific benefit the persuasion is seeking. For instance, pointing out a flat-screen monitor feature when demonstrating a new desktop computer does not mean much to a opportunity unless the salesperson explains the related benefits of taking up less desk space, reducing eye strain, and increasing employee productivity. Success in this stage requires development of c arefully tailored and ripe strategies, including a convincing product demonstration.Its been said that a picture Is worth a thousand words, and a demonstration Is worth a thousand pictures. mavin successful sales representative always carried a hammer ND a plate of his companys unbreakable glass with him to demonstrate Its strength. One day, Instead of collision the glass with the hammer himself, he let the prospect do it. From then on, his sales soared as he continued letting customers swing the hammer. Salespeople should always return to get their prospects involved in demonstrating the product or trying it out, so they can gain confidence in using it.A dog-and-pony show, no matter how elaborate, rarely succeeds because prospects usually see its focus as selling the product instead of solving their problems. Salespeople who use skillful questioning and reactive listening while prospects scrivener their needs can often adjust their sales presentation and demonstration on the f ly to provide the best customer solutions. Various sales presentation strategies are presented In Table 4. 6, but most professional BIB salespeople find the consultative professional strategy to be most effective, along with maneuver that anticipate likely Interactions between buyer and seller.Like an actor or athlete, the salesperson needs to diligently practice the sales presentation with a sales lad or friend. Some salespeople enroll in sales presentation training programs offered by impasses like Empowerment Group (www. Empowerments. Com/ presentation_training. HTML) as a way to provided develop their proficiency (Figure 4. 3). Adaptive versus Canned Sales Presentations. Traditional salespeople tend to make relatively standard sales presentations that dont vary much from one prospect to another.Top-performing salespeople try instead to oblige each presentation to the particular prospect and selling situation. 16 Salespeople who modify their presentations according to specific prospect or customer needs and behaviors are more effective than those who do not. 7 This point may seem obvious, but only salespeople who are Inclined to adjust their sales presentation to the customer are likely to do so during the sales call-1 8 Successful salespeople regularly practice adapting their sales presentation to different customer feedback during the presentation.For example, if the purchasing manager for Hertz (womb. Hertz. Com) shows more interest in safety than in gas mileage, then an observant salesperson for General Motors (womb. GM. Com) can promptly adapt the sales presentation by emphasizing the safety benefits of GM cars. Although adaptive ailing is generally best, canned (or programmed) selling can be countenance for some types of prospects, selling situations, and salespeople.In fact, the most effective sales presentations often blend the canned and adaptive approaches. 19 Many professional salespeople use programmed multimedia to present general informati on efficiently and effectively and to enliven their sales presentations. During the multimedia presentation, salespeople are able to closely observe the prospects reaction and accordingly better adapt later stages of the sales presentation. To gauge how adaptive you are as a salesperson, take the test in Table 4. 7.