The 5 Step Sales Process

The 5-Step Sales process

This is a process used in face to face sales in which there is no intention of building an ongoing relationship with the customer. Your job is simply to get the sale done and move on. This is normally done in a much more pushy fashion than any of the more consultative sales conversation structures as there is no need to worry about the relationship. Your job is to get a signature or a sale and then move onto the next customer without any thought of this customer ever again.

1. Introduction

This is exactly as it sounds. You have just made contact with potential customer and you need to explain quickly why you have stopped them or why you have knocked on their door. Remember, first impressions count, so smile and make a lot of eye contact. Good eye contact helps to generate trust from the outset. You need to generate a bit of rapport to make a sale, so this is the part where you have to be the most friendly.

2. Initial presentation

Once you have introduced yourself, state something about the product or service you are selling. This section of the sales patter should be used to gauge interest on the potential customers part. Watch their body language and if they seem completely disinterested by what you’re saying, it probably isn’t worth spending too much time with them. Ask questions about them that may have relevance when explaining the product further.

3. Further Presentation

If the customer responds positively to your short story, elaborate. Give them more information about the product or service but try and do it in a way that brings in the details gained in step 2. This will make it more relevant to the customer and much more likely they will say yes. Introduce yes threading to lead the customer to where you want them to go. Get them to agree that it is a good product or service, that it is useful and that they can afford it.

4. Close

The key here is to be assumptive. Never ask if they want to go ahead with the deal, they should have already agreed that it is a useful product and they can afford it, so assume they want to go ahead. Use assumptive terminlology, instructions rather than questions. If any paperwork needs to be filled out, look at the paper and start righting, rather than asking if it's ok to proceed. The customer will tell you if they have any strong objections and if they don't, you'll get the sale!

5. Other opportunities

After you have made the first deal, always look around for other opportunities. This could simply be in the form of getting the same customer to buy more, or simply by speaking to someone who is standing with them using the same pitch and getting a sale from them too. It will be much easier than finding a new customer from scratch.