Everything we do to establish a robust selling platform. Rapport building sets the tone for the exploration stage and creates an initial level of understanding and trust to open up the flow of communication. We will be judged at this stage so we do everything we can to make sure the judgement is a positive one. We build rapport by showing empathy and positive intent. We act with a complete lack of self-interest and establish ourselves as a trusted advisor.
We invest all our efforts to completely understand anything which will influence, enhance, impact our ability to sell our product or service, or to understand that our product or service is not right for this prospect and to act accordingly. We probe for factual information and emotional concerns. We are hungry for the root cause of everything. We do not assume or guess and we apply sincere curiosity without self-interest. We explore to understand the person and the need. We do not leave any stone unturned.
At this stage, our aim is to get closer to our prospect and to build a story: an overall summary, a journey to solidifying the need for our product or service. Checking for understanding, paraphrasing for maximum effect, using the prospect language to show understanding (of the person) through repetition of their language choices. Building trust through establishing connection.
Everything we do to use all the information and intelligence we have gathered, enabling us to present a solution to a need or an exploitation of an opportunity. Slavish execution of the NFAB model, using the full cycle for every stated need. At this stage we use as much prospect language choice as possible and we keep things simple. We do not use technical terminology. We simply align each stated need to a relevant feature, advantage and benefit, followed by a request for understanding, agreement and acceptance. We deliver NFAB summaries and an overall NFAB summary and we take huge care to stay close to our prospect to ensure that no gap appears.
We expect prospective purchasers to ask questions, raise queries, make challenges and ultimately to object. This stage is therefore about how we ‘handle objections’. We are happy to receive objections, we want them, we invite them, and we must be prepared for them and prepared to treat them with RESPECT. Slavish execution of the 10 step model will ensure that our opportunity to sell does not stumble at this delicate stage. Most of the skills within the RESPECT model are applied here and great care is needed if we are to move forward into closing the sale.
At this stage we have presented our solution or opportunity. We have handled objections with care, RESPECT and integrity and we are ready to confirm the offering and close the sale. We confirm where we are in the journey, we deliver a final summary of key advantages and benefits using key repetitions from the NFAB model and we ask for the business. This stage is always very telling! It provides us with immediate and harsh feedback on how well we have executed the RESPECT selling model to this point.
The transact stage is hugely important and often rushed or missed altogether. Sales people are often so pleased to have won the business that they rush away leaving the prospect without a clear understanding of “what happens next”. So.. this is the stage where we clarify exactly what happens next. We make it easy to complete the purchase and we look for opportunities to exceed expectations. No shocks, no surprises, just making the prospect feel that they have done the right thing. We want to avoid any sense of “buyers remorse” so we do not “over promise and under deliver”. If handled well, we can be using this final stage to keep the door open for cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. In effect, this is where we cycle around and start the RESPECT journey again by building a new level of rapport and trust and converting customers (transactional) into clients.