The New Model of Selling

How to Sell The Way The Best People Sell

Welcome to the New Model of Selling. This is the most significant and meaningful transformation of basic selling techniques that have ever taken place, and the mastery of this new model is your key to outstanding sales performance for the rest of your career.

In the new model, which is like an upside down triangle, there are four parts of the selling process. The four steps are the process by which all top salespeople sell today.

Build Trust First

The first part of the new model, fully forty percent of the sales process, is building trust. The level of trust between the prospect and the salesperson is the ingredient that makes all the rest of the sales process possible. If for any reason trust has not been thoroughly established at the outset, the sales presentation begins moving out onto thin ice with the very real possibility that it will fall apart. Because customers today are bombarded by so much conflicting information and so many competitive claims, which they can not sort out on their own, the element of trust becomes the indispensable ingredient in all sales decisions.

Identify the Real Needs

The second part of the new model, thirty percent of the process, is the identification of the real needs of the prospect relative to the product or service offering. It is based on asking well-prepared questions and listening carefully to the answers. It requires reading between the lines and feeding back the prospect's words and concerns to check for understanding. Only then do you reach the point where it is clear that the prospect has a clearly definable need that can be satisfied in a cost-effective way by what you are selling.

Present Your Product Professionally

The third part of the sales presentation in the new model, representing only twenty percent of the entire process, is presenting. The presentation part of the sales process is relatively simple if the first two parts of the new model have been thoroughly covered. In the presentation, the salesperson shows the prospect how his or her needs can be ideally satisfied by the product or service offering.
Close the Sale

The final part of the new model of selling is gaining conformation and commitment to action. In gaining a commitment to take action, the salesperson asks such questions as, "Does this make sense to you, so far?" Or, "Is this what you had in mind?" He checks and double checks to make sure that what he is selling and what the customer wants are the same.

Action Exercises

First, practice the Golden Rule in all your sales activities. Focus on building a high level of trust before trying to sell.

Second, ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. There is no better way for you to build trust than to be an excellent listener.