Sales' Talk

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	Explanation			We have tried to avoid using colourful sales jargon in these infosheets, but there are a few terms we could not resist. They manage to encapsulate in a few syllables a vivid picture of the meaning they portray.
	The Hook			This is the special offer or motivating incentive for the customer to react to the sales campaign you are devising. The hook may be any of the following: A new feature of the product that can be shown to benefit the buyer. Direct price reductions. Indirect price reductions (buy two for the price of one). Offering favourable credit terms (buy now, pay later). Buy now and enter our competition to win ... Try before you buy (where the customer can either complete the sales or return it without obligation). A hook is an essential part of any advert or sales presentation. It is designed to grab the reader's attention, and hold it.
	Call to action			Having used the advert to catch the reader's attention, it is essential to motivate them to take the next step. You need to provide clear and concise instructions about what you want them to do next. It may be a request to complete and return the attached order form. Perhaps visit a website. Call a sales telephone number. Or request a visit. Preferably all four options should be offered. The prompt to do something after reading the advert is referred to as the call to action. An advert containing one is going to be more successful than one that does not. If you can add some urgency to the call to action, such as "offer ends tomorrow", "whilst stocks last" then you can often increase the response rate. To get a feel for the technique, just take a look through a few papers and magazines. You will soon see the ones that have a 'call to action'. Regrettably they will be in the minority.
	Benefits v. Features			The best way of demonstrating the difference between a benefit and a feature is to consider the impact on the reader of the two following statements: Our new widget now consumes 50% less electricity. You will cut your running costs in half, and save £pounds on your electric bills, if you install our widget today. The fact that the widget halves running costs is addressed in both statements, but which statement conveys this information more effectively? The first statement is just a feature of the widget. The second conveys exactly the same message, but the emphasis is now on stating how the customer will benefit by the application of the feature. Note also how effective personalising the statement can be, by the use of "you" and "your". Everything you write to promote your business should be benefit-driven. Unfortunately it is to just too easy to slip back in to feature-mode writing. You will need to rewrite the same copy many times before you get close to producing an effective advert. To drive home the importance of stressing positive benefits, read the previous paragraph again. You may feel the alternative opening we give next would be better ....... "Your adverts will always be more successful if they include benefit statements instead of just plain features. Unfortunately it is just too easy........ ".
	Closing techniques			The most unforgivable mistake any sales person can make in trying to win a sale, is to forget to ask the customer do they actually want to buy. This question is called the close. How many time have you been in a shop with the intention to buy, discussed the benefits and features of the intended purchase with a very helpful sales assistant, and then just as you are ready to commit the assistant makes their excuses to leave you to make up your own mind. Some people don't want to be pressurised into making a sale. So being left to make up their own mind is precisely what they may want. We would suggest that the salesperson could ask a closing question without causing offence. There are always certain buying-signals a customer will give away when entering into the final stages of the sales cycle. A good sales person will listen for them. "You have two ears and one mouth - use them in that ratio" is so often quoted in sales training material because it is just such good advice. So there is the sales assistant, with a customer before them obviously getting close to making up their minds. The last thing they should do is to leave the customer now. If they are satisfied that the exchange is drawing to a natural close, they must ask a closing question. The question's sole purpose is to ask the customer to commit to completing the sale. Failing to ask one, may allow the customer to walk out of their store and buy exactly the same item down the road. The close could be along the lines of: "We have sold quite a few recently. Would you like to take one now to avoid disappointment?" "We have one ready for immediate delivery. Would you like to take it?" "It's a bulky item to carry around for the rest of the afternoon. If you buy it now, would you like me to keep it until you pick it up on the way home?" Many sales people feel uncomfortable about asking a closing question because it is so confrontational. They feel it is safer to avoid the situation where the customer could say ....... "no". This is the wrong attitude. By asking a closing question, the assistant is focusing the customer's mind on the issue of whether they should buy or not. So what if they say "no". It should just be viewed as another opportunity to briefly explore what is stopping them from buying. After removing any points of resistance, it should be possible to attempt closing the deal again. Of course, there are going to many occasions when the customer is clearly not going to buy. A good salesperson will recognise the fact, but still close in a way that leaves the door open for the customer to return another day. Here are the four golden rules of asking a closing question in a face-to-face encounter: Get the timing right. The close should not be attempted until you are reasonably confident that the customer is prepared to buy. Phrase the closing question so that the customer has to answer either "yes" or "no". Once the closing question has been asked, the sales person should not speak until they receive a reply. Never accept the first "no".
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