21 August 2008
by Martin Aranovitch

In this business article, I'd like to introduce you to what a "selling system" is, give you an outline of a selling system that always works and point out a fundamental mistake that many businesses make in their sales process which, if rectified, can really send your sales through the roof.

According to Michael Gerber, author of the best-selling business book "The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work And What To Do About It", a selling system is a fully orchestrated interaction between you and your customer that follows six fundamental steps:

1. Identify specific benchmarks (consumer decision points) in your selling process
2. Script the words that will get you to each of those consumer decision points successfully
3. Create all the various materials that will be used with each script
4. Memorize each benchmark's script
5. Deliver each script in identical fashion
6. Allow the system to do its work, while you communicate more effectively by watching, listening, hearing, acknowledging, understanding and engaging fully with the prospect.

Now, until you actually try to build and implement a selling system that follows the exact steps describe above, you won't appreciate just how powerful and effective the system really is or just how much detail is required to make everything work seamlessly.

This is one of the reasons why we have decided to develop a comprehensive 'step-by-step' training program that will show you exactly how to build an e-Myth based selling system like the one outlined by Michael Gerber. We are currently developing this product - called Sales System Pro, and we expect to have it ready for release by the end of 2008 (if you subscribe to our newsletters and updates, you'll receive an email once the product is available).

Sales System Pro will be a comprehensive 'step-by-step' training program that will show business owners exactly how to build not only an effective and professional sales system for their organization, but how to train their sales team to use the system as well.

Okay, moving on ...

Earlier we saw that, according to Michael Gerber's definition, a selling system is a fully orchestrated interaction between you and your customer that follows six fundamental steps.

Now, I'm not going to cover all 6 steps in this article ... that's way beyond the scope of this article (that's why we are specifically developing a sales development tool and sales training system like Sales System Pro!).

What I do want to cover in this article, however, is give you a brief overview of Step 1, which is to identify specific benchmarks (consumer decision points) in your selling process.

There are 4 specific benchmarks, or consumer decision points, in the traditional sales process.

The first benchmark is the Appointment Presentation. The aim of this important phase of the sales process is to get an appointment with a potential new customer for your business, product or service.

Incidentally, this is why we created a product called "Sales Scripts Pro," which is specifically designed to help businesses make more sales appointments using a scripts tool when making sales calls.

The second benchmark, or consumer decision point, is the Needs Analysis Presentation. The aim of this phase of the sales process is to help your sales person identify and understand your prospect's needs. This is done mostly through listening and by using specific tools and processes like a Needs Analysis Questionnaire (which we'll show you how to build in Sales System Pro).

Once you have identified your prospect's needs, you then move on to the next stage of the sales process ... the Solution Presentation.

This is where you present your solution. If you or your sales person has done your job right in the Needs Analysis Presentation, then you should know exactly what your prospect's needs are and how your particular solution can help them meet those needs.

And if you follow the 6-step selling system outlined by Michael Gerber and deliver the right solution presentation using the right tools and scripts that you have developed as part of completing Steps 2 and 3 when building your sales system, then your prospect should move through to the Decision Confirmation stage, where, hopefully, you will have addressed all of their questions, concerns and objections and they are now ready to make a decision to purchase your particular product or service and become your new customer, or recruit (if you are selling a business opportunity, for example).

Now, here's where many businesses make a fundamental mistake that can have a serious impact on their sales results ...

Many businesses ignore the Needs Analysis Presentation and try to go straight from making an Appointment, to presenting the prospect with their solution, without taking the time to fully understand or identify their prospect's underlying needs and buying motives.

A Needs Analysis Presentation is not the same as telling your prospect about your products and services and then trying to make what you sell fit their needs.

In the selling process I'm describing to you here, you don't even TALK about your products and services or business opportunity until you fully understand your prospect's needs and ascertain whether or not they are indeed potential customers for your business.

After building sales systems for clients that follow the six fundamental steps described earlier and the sales process shown here, I can tell you that, unless you actually experience the true power of a Needs Analysis Presentation done correctly and using the right tools, scripts and processes, you probably won't even know that something very important is missing in your sales process.

The Needs Analysis Presentation is the "secret missing" ingredient of a sales system that always works, and when done correctly, can really send your sales through the roof.

The Needs Analysis Presentation helps you create a better “first” meeting, and also helps you build a deeper relationship with your prospect, right from the word go.

Why? Because not only is it a shorter meeting (usually about 10-15 mins) - which busy prospects will really appreciate, it is also completely focused on the prospect and their needs, NOT on you and your selling motivation!

The Needs Analysis Presentation helps you identify and understand your prospect’s needs, problems, dissatisfactions, concerns, etc all upfront, which helps you to not only qualify your prospects better, but, more importantly, it gives you the EXACT strategy to use in your Solution Presentation.

If you think about it, this makes perfect, logical sense and it's the reason why it always works.

If you know exactly what your prospect needs and what is missing in their lives or in their business, then you will have all the right strategic intelligence to either present a solution that is laser-targeted to your prospect's specific needs, or you will know that what you have to offer may not be exactly what they are looking for and you can then either rethink your strategy, rework your solution, or even disqualify your prospect altogether (and save yourself and your business from wasting valuable time by incurring unnecessary costs of taking things further).

As I mentioned earlier, a lot of detail is required to create a comprehensive, integrated selling system that works. If you are interested in learning how to build a fully orchestrated sales system that follows the six fundamental steps mentioned earlier and allows you to move seamlessly between the four customer decision points outlined in this article, then I suggest you consider taking a closer look at our Sales System Pro training program when it becomes available (subscribe to our newsletter updates and we'll inform you when our new products and training programs become available!).

In the meantime, the resource I most strongly recommend you become familiar with if you want to build a systems-driven business, is to grab yourself a copy of "The E-Myth:” by Michael Gerber. If you have never read this best-selling book or heard of Michael Gerber, it's a must read for any business owner. You can find a copy of the book in most book stores, like Amazon.

If you're too busy to read and would prefer to hear the book in your car or mp3 player, then I recommend the unabridged audio book version of the E-Myth. I have a special arrangement with AudioBookOne.net, a leading online audio book retailer, where you can get a 20% discount if you use special coupon code "AUDIOBK1" (without quotes) when you purchase.

And if you're interested in learning how to build and use a powerful scripts tool for making outbound sales calls and getting more sales appointments, or handling inbound sales enquiries, then please check out our Sales Scripts Pro product at www.SalesScriptsPro.com.

I hope you found this article informative. If you have any questions about any of our products, please contact me, or post them on our company blog.

At Sales-Are-Up.com we are committed to helping small business owners sell more products and services through the development of effective and affordable sales systems, sales tools and sales training education materials.