The Art & Science of Selling: Customer Interaction Process

A long-running debate is whether “Selling” is an Art or a Science.?My take is that it is both.

Not everyone can be a sales professional. It takes natural talent, the ability to quickly build relationships, empathy, curiosity, creativity, and competitiveness to win a sale. Thus, it is an Art!?

Selling is also a scientific process, which includes the clearly defined steps of building trust, understanding needs, developing solutions, closing the sale, and expanding business! As a process, it can be taught and improved to generate higher sales. Thus, it is Science!

Another way to think about it is that Sales Professionals are very similar to Actors who perform when they are on stage or in front of the camera for their audience the customer.

In addition to natural talent, both Selling and Acting require lots of hard work to learn their trades; preparation prior to their performances; and continual assessment of how they can improve. Top sellers and actors have developed well-defined processes or routines to support their passion to be the best in their professions. They are artists, who leverage the scientific process to become successful superstars.

?The Sales Call / Customer Interaction

?The sales call, which we’ll also refer to as customer interaction, is the most important part of a sales professional’s role to maintain business and grow new sales. I am including the term customer interaction because the same process should be utilized anytime you plan to interact with a customer.?These can include events like video or telephone calls; presentations; lunch, dinner, or coffee; and golf, hunting, or fishing. Each of these interactions is an opportunity to drive the selling process.?

Well planned and prepared customer interactions increase the probability of closing more new business. Unplanned or poorly prepared calls can negatively impact a customer relationship and decrease the potential for winning new business.

?“The purpose of this article is to define the high-level elements to achieve successful customer interactions”

?Sales Calls can be conducted in person or virtually. As discussed, they are like being an actor on stage or in front of the camera. (ie. Video Calls) This is the seller’s time to perform and engage their customer audience to capture their loyalty and attention while winning their hearts for more business.

Planning, preparation, engagement, and continual improvement are the key elements for successful customer sales calls and interactions.

Let’s talk about each of the four (4) parts of the Sales Call Process:

1. Planning
2. Preparation
3. Engagement
4. Improvement

Sales Call Planning

• The first step of the overall sales call process is developing a plan for the customer sales call or interaction, so there is an agreed-to purpose of the meeting.
• A written agenda should be developed around a goal, process, and benefits methodology.

o??Goal - Summary of why you are meeting.

o??Process – Agenda items with follow-up actions.

o??Benefits – Reinforce how this meeting supports the customer.

• The agenda should be written and developed jointly with the customer to align expectations for the meeting.
• Target developing the agenda at least two (2) weeks prior to the meeting to allow for preparation from both parties.?This will also allow the sellers to make any travel arrangements well in advance to minimize costs.

?Example Agenda

Sales Call Preparation

Sales Call Preparation is one of the most important elements for a successful sales call. Professional Sellers (Like Actors) who put in the upfront hard work to prepare for the customer interaction are more successful.

Prior to making the sales call the seller needs to properly prepare, so they are ready to perform in front of the customer. This will include many of the following:

• Reviewing notes from previous sales calls.
• Researching the customer and their recent news/press releases/reports.
• Reviewing financial numbers, target budget, forecasts, and credit status.
• Updating the status of customer projects and sales funnel opportunities with internal resources.
• Reviewing open orders to confirm status.
• Developing written key questions around the SPIN Selling Process. (https://www.huthwaiteinternational.com/blog/complete-guide-to-spin-selling)

o??Situation – Current status of customer’s organization?

o??Problems – What problems are they having?

o??Impact – How are these affecting the customer?

o??Needs Benefit – What needs to be done to fix problems and the financial value to the customer?

• Developing slides, data, reports, and notes… to support the call.
• Practice for the call, to prepare for how it will be run.

Engagement:?Making the Sales Call (Customer Interaction)

?This is where the “Rubber meets the road”. ?The sales professional’s natural talent, skills, and experience allow them to perform (like an actor) on stage in front of the customer audience.

• The stage is set with the agenda.
• The seller has prepared and practiced for the sales call.
• It’s showtime!

?The seller should plan to manage the meeting around the selling process, which includes:

1. Relationship building
2. Understanding customer needs and business status (SPIN Selling)
3. Developing solutions
4. Aligning on actions to maintain, drive and close new business

• ?Ideally, start the meeting with a positive, relaxed, and friendly approach to support relationship building.
• Carefully listen to the customer’s feedback, priorities, and needs as you start the meeting to align the discussion.
• Use the Agenda to make sure you cover all the topics that were agreed to be covered but allow flexibility.
• Run the call as an open discussion, making sure to listen more than you talk.
• Weave in your prepared SPIN questions, as part of the discussion.
• Look for opportunities to align on solutions, quantify the value to the customer, and test closing proposals.
• Capture notes during and after the meeting to support the selling process. This allows you to review past interactions to keep the details documented for clarity. (ie. CRM sales tool)
• Build upon the sales process to get to the point of asking for the business, overcoming objections, and winning new business.
• Align with the customer on specific action items, which include:

o??What actions will be completed?

o??By whom?

o??When?

• Always include an agreed-to action on when you and the customer will re-connect.

?Continual Sales Call Improvement

?Whenever you complete a sales call, make sure you capture thoughts and additional notes to support your future customer interactions. This should include a reflection on:

• How did the call go?
• What could have been done better?
• What do I need to do to better prepare for the next sales call?

Going through this exercise as an individual seller and/or with your sales leader, supports continual improvement as a sales professional. Learning and improving based upon experiences better prepares sellers to address similar situations throughout their careers.

Experienced sellers have seen the same types of situations come up over and over again while interacting with customers. Practicing and improving your responses, will allow you to better respond to similar situations in the future. Following this discipline will help you to become a better seller by continually assessing and improving performance.

?“Great sellers become better at selling, by learning from their mistakes and experiences.”

?The other key element, which should be included in the sales call process is writing a follow-up note to the customer regarding the meeting overview in the form of a “Summary of Understanding.” (SOU)

A Summary of Understanding is a great sales tool to stay aligned with the customer on the details, next steps, and actions agreed to during the customer interaction.?It also provides the customer an opportunity to clarify and re-enforce their buy-in during each step of the selling process.

The SOU should capture the topics and discussions outlined in the agenda, plus anything other important items discussed. It should be written and sent to the customer as quickly as possible, while the meeting is still fresh in everyone’s minds. Key elements include:

1. A positive tone to support trust and relationship building
2. A summary of the meeting’s goals, next steps, and benefits to the customer
3. Specific agreed to actions, which include who, what, and when they will be completed.
4. A call to action for the customer to review the SOU and get back to the seller with any clarifications or additional items.

Incorporating a summary of understanding follow-up notes supports the continual improvement of the selling process, by keeping the customer and seller’s priorities aligned. It is a great methodology to capture and manage agreed-to notes and action items, which supports strengthening the business relationship and closing more new sales.

Summary of Understanding Example

Summary

Remember the sales call and all customer interactions are like being on stage or in front of the camera. Top sellers will perfect their art of selling, by incorporating the science of working a disciplined sales process. ?

This includes proper Planning and Preparation, to support a more successful Engagement (Sales Call / Customer Interaction). Sellers should always seek to learn from their interactions to support the Improvement of future performance.

Combining the elements of Selling Art and Science will result in better customer sales calls and interactions to drive increased sales.