One of the topics that we have covered in class is non-sales selling and the importance of it in every business.
What is “non-sales selling?” It is any activity that has the potential to directly or indirectly influence client satisfaction and the customer’s perception of our offerings. It could be as indirect as writing this blog or as direct as returning a call to a sales representative with vital client information. Everyone in a company plays a role in selling whether they know it or not. I discovered 6 great yet simple ways to get your non-sales staff adding to your revenues (thanks to Huffington Post):
1. Educate your team that selling is everyone’s job.
Too many employees have never made the connection between their role and sales for their company. Not only is it your responsibility to help them connect the dots, but you need to also help them see how increasing sales benefits everyone, creating security, opportunity, and stability for them.
2. Teach your team to “recommend” or “share” their favorites.
Ever wonder why the waiter at a good restaurant share’s his favorite appetizer? After all, why should a total stranger’s opinion matter to what you order?
Train your team to recommend a specific product, or service, or solution to any prospect they run into in the course of business.
What’s more, when you frame selling as “recommending” or “sharing”, this dissolves the internal barriers that many non-sales people have with the very idea of sales (and the potential rejection they fear.)
3. Train your team how to spot new sales opportunities.
Every team member in your company should continuously be on the lookout for new sales opportunities. This activity is called, “Lead Spotting”.
4. Train your non-sales staff in how to appealingly and succinctly give your best scripted elevator pitch for what you do when they meet potential customers.
Don’t leave this one to chance. Left to their own, they’ll likely ramble off a mind-numbing description, our mutter an obscure 5 word description of what you do, and a great opportunity will be lost forever.
Here is a powerful formula for an easy and effective “elevator pitch” when meeting a potential customer. Script this out and then repeatedly role play this with your team.
Formula: “You know how __[insert #1 biggest pain point of your target market that you solve]___, what we do is ___[insert your biggest solution and benefit to that pain point]___.”
The most important part to this is to make sure you train your team through actual role play to use the powerful scripting your marketing team has likely already created.
5. Systematize how your non-sales staff can get key customer data and feedback to other parts of your company.
Did a customer make a good suggestion for new features? Make sure this information gets to your product team.
Did your client share a big win they enjoyed based on using your service? Make sure that your sales and marketing teams hear about it. Your marketing team might have a subject for your next case study; your sales team may have a reason to ask for referrals.
6. Help your team learn to ask for prospects to buy.
This is the most important suggestion of all – training your team to get more comfortable and willing to ask for the sale.
BoweryJE22
I feel like number 2, Teach your team to “recommend” or “share” their favorites, is the most important. I was at a restaurant yesterday and my roommate only ordered a certain dish because the waitress recommended it so highly. Word of mouth is a very valuable tool.
I agree that #2 plays a huge role- especially when it’s something I wouldn’t necessarily buy. A recommendation at a restaurant definitely sparks people’s interests, but this goes into anything. I was apartment hunting this weekend, and when the agent stated that he had lived her a few years ago and only moved to get a more family friendly home, it automatically made me think this must be a good place to live.
I believe that #1 is extremely relevant. In Lean Launch Pad, I learned that most startups fail because they use traditional names for roles instead of defining everyone’s role in more modern terms, such as “sales engineer”, etc. If everyone knows that it is there responsibility to do their job and sell, they will be more inclined to sell and perform their job rather than simply perform one facet of their occupation.
I think that the last point is crucial and often misunderstood. People shy away from the “ask” because it feels like they are almost forcing the client to buy their product. If, however, you have gone about the sales call in the right way, the ask is almost more of an “offer” in that the person is ready and willing to buy! Rather than saying would you please buy this, you can say, “so you want to buy this? Of course we can help”
Your fourth point, teaching employees how to give a good elevator pitch, is vital! And I completely agree that they need to be educated and trained in how to do this because it is now extremely natural. Once they do learn this skill, it will help success rates significantly.