Personal selling and customer service. Positive opening

1. Personal Selling and Customer Service

Positive opening
Emmi Maijanen, [email protected]

2. Selling cycle

Positive
opening
Need
assessment
Closing
Crystallizing
need, offering
solution

3. Structure of the selling cycle

• Same structure can be followed with modification in any service event
• Face-to-face, electronic, sales, product support etc.
• Products, services, total solutions
• B2B, B2C, governmental sector, non-profit organisations etc.
• Structure guides the action
• Logical flow of events
• Sales person is in control of the situation: focus and direction

4. Positive opening

• Goals:
Create the positive atmosphere
Find the customers mood
Create the trust
Make initial customer assesment
Tuning yourself to the same wavelength with the customer

5. Creating positive atmosphere

Verbal communication
• Greeting
• Small and simple thing, yet so often forgotten
• Private vs. Public:
• Birthday, promotion, success of favourite team
• Weather, positive news of the day
• Reference the earlier customer service event
• Data from customer relationship management -systems!

6. Creating positive atmosphere

Non-verbal communication
• Eye-contact
• (Genuine) smile
• Appearance: groomed & smart
Note! We talk much without saying a thing.

7. Finding the customers mood

• Verbal and non-verbal communication of the customer
• Facial expressions, gestures, energy, words
• Mirror neurons!
• We have biological grounds for empathy – use it.
• How Well Do You Read Other People?
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ei_quiz/
• Recognizing own emotions and self-reflection is good for rehearsal!

8. Building the trust

• Adapt to customers mood and energy level
Style and rhythm of the speak
Using pauses in the speak
Facial expressions
Mimicking gestures
• Still be genuine and always honest
• Be interested in customer and show that you listen and note
customer’s thoughts

9. Initial customer assesment

• Event approach
• Routine task: fast, easy, focus on the product, price and availability
• Need for consulting: more time, lot of questions, alternative / tailored
solutions, focus in quality and completeness
• Personality of the customer:
Dominating vs. adaptive
Active vs. passive
Stable vs. thrill-seeking
Disciplined vs. spontaneous

10. How to read people?

Pay attention to:
1. What is the overall appearance of the customer?
2. What are the posture and physical movements like?
3. What is the tone of the voice like?
4. What are the facial expressions like?
And also: TRUST YOUR GUT!

11. Customer personalities

Dominating (vs adaptive)
Wants results and control
Reacts to presented alternatives, direct answers, strengths and weaknesses
Quick decision maker
Interactive (vs passive)
Wants to participate
Reacts to recommendations, reducing efforts and possibilities to discuss
Emotion driven and instinct based decisions

12. Customer personalities

Stable (vs thrill-seeking)
Wants safety
Reacts to assurances of reliability and to personal attention
Decisions after some consideration
Disciplined (vs. spontaneous)
Wants order and precision
Reacts to logical approach, precision and professionalism
Analytical decision making

13. Discussion

• What kind of good and bad experiences you have on openings?
• What happens if opening goes wrong?
• For how long this part of the selling cycle lasts?