CHAPTER 8

1. CHAPTER 8 Examination

2. “To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation” Francois de La Rochefoucauld

3. The Examination Step • The basic goal of the examination step • To confirm the salesperson’s understanding of the prospect’s/customer’s situation • To uncover the prospect’s/customer’s latent needs

4. If your prospect does not havesome want or need in his mind,you don't have a prospect!

5. Uncovering Wants and Needs • This question-asking/listening step must be psychologically structured to help determine: • The prospect's primary concern • The prospect’s dominant buying urge

6. “If someone speaks and no one listens, there has been no communication” Sometimes our egos get in the way

7. EgoSpeak • Ego speak is the art of boosting our own egos by speaking only about what we want to talk about, and not being sensitive to what the other person wants to say “…few people, other than psychiatrists and women, have had much training in listening.” Dr. S.I. Hayakawa

8. Dominant Buying Urge • That inner urge or drive that motivates your prospect to take the action required to consummate a sale • Dominant - ruling or controlling • Buying - acquiring or purchasing • Urge - motive or impulse

9. A Structure For Examining • Before you can present your solution you must thoroughly understand the prospect’s problem • Ask buyers needs-assessment questions early in the presentation

10. Two General Types of Questions • Open-ended questions • Can’t be answered with a yes or no • Closed-ended questions • Can be answered with a yes or no

11. A general rule of thumb is 80:20 Your prospect speaks 80% of the time You speak 20% of the time

12. Questioning Techniques • Diagnostic and Surgical Inquiries • Inquiring Questions • Satisfied Customer Survey • The “What If” Technique • S*P*I*N (Situation-Problem-Implication, and Need-Payoff)

13. BROAD GENERAL Diagnostic Inquiries Open-ended Questions - OR - Closed-ended Questions Surgical Inquiries NARROW SPECIFIC Figure 8.1Diagnostic and Surgical Inquiries

14. Inquiring Questions • Inquiring questions are depth-probing questions that can be open-ended or closed-ended • Use a questioning sequence • Carefully listen • Evaluate the customer’s answer • Determine the dominant buying urge

15. The "Satisfied Customer Survey" • The satisfied customer survey is an examination that is conducted to poll satisfied customers (not prospects) to determine why they do business with the salesperson • The salesperson reviews the survey and asks the prospect to choose which item he thinks is most important

16. The “What If” Technique • The “what if” technique consists of a series of questions to help salespeople determine exactly what a prospect wants and why • The salesperson prefaces the answer to the prospect’s apparent problem with an “if”

17. Situation Questions • Achieve fact-finding objectives Figure 8.2 The SPIN Questioning Strategy • Problem Questions • Achieve objective of uncovering • Current satisfaction • Implication Questions • Achieve objective of developing and channeling dissatisfaction • Have high selling impact • Need-payoff Questions • Achieve objectives of rehearsing and selectively channeling customer attention • Have high selling impact Source: Rackham, Neil (1989), Major Account Sales Strategy. New York: McGraw Hill

18. Reacting Duringthe Questioning Stage • Question-based presentations are the link between salespeople’s ability to listen and to uncover buyer motivations • Salespeople who are empathetic are better able to understand their prospects’ motives • “Check the pulse” of prospects regularly • Remain alert for any signals that prospects may send

19. Responding to Tough Questions • When your prospect asks you tough questions • Restate the question • Ask • “What do you think?” • “What makes you ask?” • Start with a general reply • Don’t fake it

20. How Well Do We Listen? • People use 1/4 of their listening capacity • People use 1/10 of their memory potential • People forget 1/2 of what they have heard within eight hours • Eventually, people forget 95% of what they have heard unless cued by something later on • People usually distort what little they do remember

21. In a Selling Context • Put in a selling context, if you spend six hours a day with prospects, you might spend three hours listening to them. Then you would... • ... Hear about 90 minutes worth • ... Listen to 45 minutes worth • ... Understand 22 1/2 minutes of it • ... Believe only 11 minutes of it, • ... Remember only 5 5/8 minutes of it

22. Listening • Listening is a trainable skill requiring three things • A sense of how well you listen • Some motivation to improve • Practice

23. Listening Strategies • Good listening is an art • Push something aside • Nod/tilt your head on important points • Take notes • Show your interest without interrupting

24. Table 8.1 lists ninetypes of poor listeners Which one best describes your listening style?

25. Listening versus Hearing • How many people get lost because they only half listen to a set of travel directions? • Although a person must hear in order to listen, a person who is hearing is not necessarily listening

26. Stages in the Listening Process • Sensing • The actual receipt of messages • Processing • Activities that occur in the mind of the listener • Responding • Acknowledgement of the receipt of the message Ramsey, Rosemary P. and Ravipreet S. Sohi (1997), “Listening to Your Customers: The Impact ofPerceived Salesperson Listening Behavior on Relationship Outcomes”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 25 (2), 127-137.

27. Three Levels of Listening • Marginal • Evaluative • Active Alessandra, Anthony J., Phillip S. Wexler, and R. Barrara (1987), Non-manipulative Selling, Reston, VA: Reston Publishing Company.

28. Marginal Listening • The most basic level oflistening • Recipients hear the words but are easily distracted and may allow their minds to wander

29. Evaluative Listening • An improvement over marginal listening • Listeners are concentrating on what is being said but do not sense what is being communicated nonverbally or through more subtle verbal cues

30. Active Listening • A process in which the listener receives messages, processes them, and responds so as to encourage further communication • The listener is using all of her senses Refer to Table 8.2--Habits to Differentiate Good from Poor Listening

31. Listening Attentiveness • Consider how its meaning changes when the accent is placed on different words in the following sentence: • "I never said that I needed this product” • "I never said that I needed this product” • "I never said that I needed this product”

32. Nonverbal Communication • More information is communicated nonverbally than through any other form of communication • Tone of voice and accents • Body language (facial expressions, gestures, and attitudes) • Choice of dress, housing, and cars

33. Body Language • Success in sales requires that the salesperson observe gestures • A perceptive salesperson can read a person’s nonverbal communication and accurately match it to that person’s verbal communication

34. Reading and Reacting to Nonverbal Signals • Nonverbal signals are processed at a sub- conscious level • There are five major nonverbal communication channels • Body Angle • Face • Arms • Hands • Legs Refer to Figure 8.4--Nonverbal signals

35. Is the Prospect Listening? • The salesperson needs to know whether the prospect is listening • Effective salespeople look for “buying signals”

36. Interpret Body Language • Pay close attention to one’s own body language • Set aside at least fifteen minutes a day to read and study the gestures of other people