SITUATIONAL SELLING
Increasing Sales Effectiveness
By Tan Joo Seet
PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SELLING
When salespeople are trained as professionals, they behave as professionals. They diagnose situations and adapt behaviors so that customers respond positively, establishing ongoing long-term relationship. The problem so often is that salespeople don't feel professional. Most salespeople are trained in terms of a specific way to sell. This is similar to snake oil being sold from the medicine wagon: “…regardless of what you want, regardless of your problem, here's the cure – snake oil”. The tragedy is that this type of training doesn't treat sales as the true profession that it is.
Before you can decide how to act, you should diagnose the buying readiness . Like a doctor or lawyer, you should determine the symptoms, the conditions, and the problem. Only with these insights can you begin to look for appropriate solution. Just as the doctor changes prescriptions and therapy when the patient begins to respond, professional salespeople need to adapt their professional selling behaviors …as the customer begins to change and respond.
DIAGNOSING BUYING READINESS
When diagnosing buying readiness you should take into consideration two key variables: knowledge and commitment.
Buying readiness is the degree of knowledge and commitment that a prospect or customer has at the given time, resulting in different levels of buying readiness. Knowledge and commitment are impacted by the following factors:
- The product or service
- The company or organization
- The brand or model
- The salesperson
BUYING READINESS =
PROFESSIONAL SELLING BEHAVIORS
In professional selling there are two dimensions of selling behaviors that make up selling styles: product (or service) guidance and supportive behavior.
- Product guidance represents t he extent to which a salesperson provides the what, when, where, who and how to the customers.
- Supportive behavior re pre sents the extent to which a salesperson engages in two-way or multi-way communication. The behaviors include facilitating, encouraging and problem solving.
Each dimension is a continuum from low to high. The different combinations of product guidance and supportive behavior represent the different professional selling styles or competencies in the sales process.
MATCHING AND MOVING
Selling styles should be appropriate to the buying readiness levels of the prospect or customer to maximize effectiveness. As sales professional you should be matching your selling behaviors to the buying readiness of the prospect or customer, and moving them toward a buying decision and long-term commitment.
The three steps in matching and moving are:
- Identifying the specific transaction that brings the customer or prospect into contact with you.
- Diagnosing the customer's or prospect's buying readiness for that specific transaction – here and now.
- Matching your own selling style to best meet the needs to ensure the customer or prospect is knowledgeable and committed
CONCLUSION
Your ability to influence customers and prospects is central to your success and effectiveness as a sales professional. Situational Selling ® applies the tried and true principles of behavioral science to the process of successful and effective selling.
To make the most of today's market place, and maintain your competitive edge, it is essential that you view your role in the context of leading and developing prospects into customers for life. Situational Selling ® will equip you with the new tools needed to grow more successful through increased sales. It will also enhance your effectiveness with increased customer trust and loyalty; satisfied customers, sustained relationships and more referrals.
Tan Joo Seet (jooseet@situational-international.com) is the Area Partner & Managing Director of Center for Leadership Studies ( Asia ) Pte Ltd ( www.situational-international.com ). Situational Selling® is a registered trademark of the Center for Leadership Studies and is not to be used without authorization or permission. © Center for Leadership Studies ( Asia ) Pte Ltd. All Rights
