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Sales Skills  >  1-Day Courses

Essential Sales Skills

Training course in essential sales skills

Learn the fundamentals of good salesmanship

One-Day Course

Course Brochure Download
Essential Sales Skills brochure
  • Acquire methods for identifying customers’ needs, wants and desires
  • Learn how to make a good first impression
  • Discover how to ‘close’ a sale

Overview

This fast paced, interactive one-day workshop is intended to give people who are new to sales, a solid grounding in the key concepts involved in being a professional salesperson. It covers fundamental sales principles, including the theory of selling benefits, the importance of the ‘sales pipeline’ and the power of questions. The workshop also uses the Boulden ‘core’ sales system known as the APPR sales meeting process™ to manage the face-to-face sales meeting. This method places particular emphasis on identifying the factors that affect customer buying decisions and how to influence these factors favourably.

Learning objectives

By attending this highly interactive one-day course you will:

  • Acquire methods for identifying customers’ needs, wants and desires
  • Learn how to make a good first impression
  • Discover how to ‘close’ a sale

Who should attend?

People who are new to the profession or those with one to two year’s experience in sales but who have not had any formal training in the art of selling.




Day 1

The golden rules of selling

Here we consider the beliefs, values and attitudes of expert sales people. We review the “mindset” that is associated with efficient and effect selling skills, so that you can start to think like a professional sales person.

  • Examining your current beliefs
  • Reviewing expert sales beliefs
  • Making changes that you feel are appropriate for you

Pairs exercise: applying the ‘affirmation’ technique

The sales pipeline

To win business the sales person will have to guide the customer through a number of steps or stages. These steps or stages are called the ‘sales pipeline’. At any one of these stages the prospect could decide that they don’t want to proceed with the process and so end the relationship. For this reason there will need to be several prospects at each stage in the pipeline in order to ensure that the signed contracts reach the desired monthly total.

Group exercise: designing a sales pipeline

First impressions

It is vitally important that the sales person makes a positive first impression on the prospect because within ten seconds of meeting any individual, people tend to make an unconscious decision about whether they like/trust them or not.

Group exercise: planning to make a good impression

Uncovering customers’ needs - Logical Levels Diagrams

This set of tools is concerned with asking high quality questions that map out precisely the customer or prospect’s needs and requirements.

  • The logical levels concept
  • Moving up logical levels
  • Moving down logical levels
  • Moving across logical levels

Pairs exercise: conducting logical levels interviews

Presenting benefits – the ‘Product Storyboard’

If we are going to offer products and services to our prospects it helps to have a clear understanding about the kinds of things that we can help them with, particularly where we have a clear edge over our competition. One way of doing this is to generate a document known as a Product Storyboard.

  • The storyboard concept
  • Issues, features, advantages and benefits
  • Why benefits matter

Pairs exercise: developing a benefits presentation

Closing Techniques

One of the most demanding things that a sales person has to do is to close the sale; that is to secure the final agreement. Many sales people are nervous about doing this because they fear the sense of rejection that comes from a prospect saying ‘no’ to them. There are, however, some specific techniques that we can use to ‘close’ or end a sales meeting that make this process relatively straightforward.

Pairs exercise: practising closing techniques

The APPR sales meeting process™

An initial overview of the APPR sales meeting process™ which is a highly efficient method for identifying needs, building the motivation to act and getting a commitment to take action. This simple yet powerful process is ideal for people who are new to sales as it captures all the essential elements of good meeting in an easy to remember format.

Making a connection with the prospect

This involves greeting the person, establishing an initial connection and finding out some background information.

  • Rapport building
  • Sales Qualification
  • Analyse the background

Pairs exercise: understanding the sales qualification process

Identifying and developing the need

Working with logical levels diagrams to identify customer needs and then to build the prospects motivation to act to resolve those needs.

  • Problem identification
  • Probe for needs

Pairs exercise: developing needs

Presenting a solution

Presenting a solution to the prospects needs and asking for a commitment to move forward.

  • Recall (the need) and match (with solution)
  • Tie up the deal – closing techniques

Pairs exercise: closing the sale

Case studies and role plays

Practise in moving through all seven stages of the APPR sales meeting process™ in one session.

Group Exercise: role plays

 


Feedback

Feedback is based upon peer review using Boulden assessment checklists. Completing the assessment checklists is not only valuable to the people involved in a given case study, it also helps those completing them to gain an in-depth understanding of the building blocks that make up an excellent sales meeting.


Remote Training

All of our workshops can be delivered as Remote Training via e-learning modules plus Zoom based virtual workshops. Please see our Virtual Training page for more information.


Contact

To talk to us about our range of courses contact
Boulden Management Consultants:
via our Contact form
Tel: 0844 394 8877