19 April 2006

Smart Sales Reps

Work hard or smart? Play hard or smart?

Good sales reps don't usualy work hard, but smart.

Let's imagine. Staff A works from 0800 to 2200 every day from Monday to Saturday but produces no results. Staff B works from 0900 to 1800 every day from Monday to Friday but produces impressive results. Which one will an enterprise pick? Needless to say, any rational and profit-making enterprise seeking for long-term growth will pick Staff B. But why? Because Staff A has lower ROI, or "return on investment". Simply put, "less is more" for Staff B.

There are basically 3 levels of selling techniques.*
Level One (L1) - Selling for the sake of Selling
Most sales reps fall into this category. They do not really enjoy selling, and work to live every day.
Level Two (L2) - Selling based on Buyer's Needs
Sales reps at Level Two are willing to spend time identifying the buyer's needs before selling begins. This requires listening skills, which is important during the selling process.

Level Three (L3) - Selling based on Creating Needs
Level Three sales reps are the most aggressive, but this does not necessarily ensure a high probability of sales success. Buyers do not like to be sold, but want to buy what they truly want in order to fulfill their real personal needs.
* I got this idea from Miss Phoebe Tong, my colleague at Training and Development Branch, PCCW Limited.

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