Personal selling is all about building relationships. It requires a thorough understanding of both your prospects and your promo solution to cultivate trust and build rapport right out of the gate.
While it can be time-consuming, personal selling brings a lot to the table. For starters, you can customize your approach to each prospect, which is becoming increasingly important. Nearly 3 in 4 customers expect personalized experiences, and 76% feel frustrated when they don’t get them.
Personal selling also puts you in a better position to overcome objections and address questions in real time. Marcus Chan, founder and president of Venli Consulting Group, says that in personal selling, prospect hesitation is one of the biggest roadblocks.
How can you overcome this roadblock? According to Chan, you can use the HEART framework, which stands for hear, elaborate, acknowledge, re-clarify value and transition to close. We discuss Chan’s thoughts on this framework in this issue of PromoPro Daily.
H: Actively listen to – or hear – the prospect’s objections.
E: Ask the prospect to elaborate on the objection. Chan says you could ask, “Can you help me understand what you mean specifically when you say you want to wait a month?” The client might explain that they’re wrapping up another program and that they have a lot on their plate. They suggest that once everything is done in a month, they may sign.
A: Acknowledge the prospect’s concerns. Then, Chan recommends, ask them if there are any other reasons for their reluctance. They might respond with, “Not at all.”
R: Ask them to re-clarify value. Chan advises saying something like, “Remind me again – what did you like most about the program based on what we discussed?”
T: Then, transition to close. Chan suggests wording it like, “Your biggest worry is that you want to wait a month so that you can wrap up this other program. But if it wasn’t for that program, you’d say, ‘Let’s go!’ Is that right?”
It takes a personal touch to keep a sales conversation flowing, especially if the client says something like, “This sounds great and fits in our budget. But we want to hold off until next month.” Follow the HEART framework to move beyond superficial connections and become a trusted promo adviser.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Marcus Chan is the founder and president of Venli Consulting Group. He is an official member on the Forbes Business Council and has also been featured in Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch and others.
