MARKETING AND PROMOTING PRODUCTS

AND SERVICES

Marketing and Promoting Products

and Services Contents

DEVELOPING AND APPLYING PRODUCT/SERVICE KNOWLEDGE. . .4OVERVIEW............................................4DEVELOPING YOUR PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE...................6FEATURES AND BENEFITS...............................7COMPARING PRODUCTS..................................9COMPETITOR’S PRODUCTS..............................10IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER TYPES AND BEHAVIOUR...........11OVERVIEW...........................................11The Business.......................................12Customer Needs – Why Customers Buy.................13Establishing How Customer’s Define Value...........15THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SELLING PROCESS 16Prospecting and qualifying.........................16Pre-approach.......................................17Approach...........................................17Presentation and Demonstration.....................17Handling Objections................................18Closing............................................18Follow Up..........................................18THE IMPORTANCE OF EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE / SELLING SKILLS.....................................19WARMLY GREETING AND APPROACHING THE CUSTOMER.......19ESTABLISHING CUSTOMER NEEDS........................24SELLING THE PRODUCT................................28TRIAL CLOSING AND ADDING ON SALES..................32CLOSING THE SALE...................................34ENCOURAGING AND INVITING FUTURE BUSINESS...........39RECOMMENDED READING................................41

DEVELOPING AND APPLYING PRODUCT/SERVICE

KNOWLEDGE

OVERVIEW

Before discussing the techniques required in the selling

of products, it is important that we understand the

difference between marketing and selling:

Marketing can be defined as commencing with a market,

focusing on customer needs and hence after integrated

marketing, profits are gained through customer

satisfaction. Marketing normally occurs before and after

sales.

On the other hand, selling commences at the manufacturing

point itself, taking existing products and through

selling and promotion, profits are achieved through sales

volume.

With this in mind we can establish a number of concepts

in the way that we can guide the processes of our

marketing and selling. When consumers favour products

that are available at low cost and management concentrate

on improving production efficiency and lowering costs, we

can class this as the production concept. This varies

from the product concept where consumers favour quality

products, and if that product meets high consumer

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standards, little promotion is required. If the

organisation understands the needs and the wants of a

well-defined target market and is making a superior

effort to deliver the desired satisfaction, the

organisation is said to be gaining competitive advantage

through the marketing concept. If, however the

organisation believes in a selling concept, it holds that

consumers will not buy enough of the product unless

stimulated by heavy selling and promotion.

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The nature of the organisation you work in and the

products it sells will directly determine the range of

products that you must develop knowledge in. However,

for people working in organisations that sell lots of

different products, you are not generally required to

develop knowledge about all the products in the

organisation.

Most large organisations are broken up into departments

or divisions that have workers specialising in that area.

For example, whilst Hotels are large and have many

products, these organisations are broken into different

departments with staff working within each department.

This means that staff only needs to develop knowledge on

the products in their area, rather than for the whole

organisation.

As a general rule, the best way to determine which

products you need to develop knowledge on is by asking

yourself the following question:

What products am I required to sell in my position?

You must have adequate product knowledge for any product

that you could reasonably be expected to sell in your

position.

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For each product you regularly sell, the key areas in

which you must develop product knowledge are:

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DEVELOPING YOUR PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

In order to develop your product knowledge, there are

several sources of information you can access:

Training programs: many organisations conduct training

programs when you begin working there to teach you the

relevant product knowledge you will need. This can also

occur on a continual basis whenever your organisation

gets in new products.

Learning from co-workers: an effective method of

developing your product knowledge is by asking the people

you work with about the product whilst you are working.

This utilises the knowledge and skills of the people you

work with and can be done during every shift.

Learning on your own: an alternative to asking other

staff a questions about products is to find the

information yourself whilst you are working. Whenever

you have a spare moment you can go and inspect the

product, handle it, and look at its characteristics. If

you need to, you can then go and ask other staff any

questions that you need to.

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Pamphlets or brochures: these are often distributed at

training programs or product launches and are produced by

the organisation for you to take back to your

organisation or home. They are good because they give

you an opportunity to learn more about the product in

your own time and provide you with a permanent record of

the product’s attributes.

Sales representatives: many organisations employ sales

representatives whose job it is to go out on the road to

organisations. Sales reps are also sent to help educate

organisation workers about the product and are often the

people that help run product launches or seminars.

Internet: many organisations have Internet sites that

you can access to download important product information.

Hence, they are a rich source of product information in

addition to product pamphlets and brochures.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS Every product and service is made up of features and

benefits:

The feature of a product or service is the form that the

product/service takes and the components that make up

that product/service to provide customers with some

benefit.

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The benefits of the product are the result of the

product’s features. That is, what benefits does the

product’s features provide to the customer?

For example, if you were selling a CD player:

Feature of

Product

Benefit to Customer

25 disc CD

changer

Being able to load and play

many discs at once and not have

to change them all the timeRemote control Being able to operate the CD

player from a distanceRadio player Being able to listen and tape

from the radioSub woofer Having greater bass in the

soundSurround sound

speakers

Having greater sound to listen

to music and movies.

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In general, the benefits of a product are what sell the

product, as this is what provides value to the customer,

rather than the features themselves. A product feature

is useless unless it actually does something for the

customer.

For each of the major products or services you sell, it

is important that you identify the major features and

benefits of the product/service

Price

Central to knowing the features and benefits of your

products is recognising the price of the major products

that you are required to sell. Whilst this might be

obvious for most products that have the price included on

them, or huge signs advertising the price, it is still

important that you know the price independently of

reading the price tag.

Doing this ensures that you can give the customer the

correct price when they ask in situations where you don’t

have the product handy, or when the price tag has gone

missing. Knowing this also allows you to better compare

products in your organisation.

Product Availability

Knowing if a product is available helps avoid difficult

situations where you have clinched a sale with a customer

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but you find that you don’t have the right size, colour,

shape etc. This can infuriate customers and they may

take their business elsewhere, rather than waiting for

you to order in another one.

Knowing product availability also serves as a tool during

the sales process as, if you know which products you do

and don’t have, you can direct customers towards the

products that you currently have available. If customers

do still want products that are not available then you

can identify this early and let them know before going to

look for the product – you’ll find that customers are

more understanding when you let them know in advance that

you are out of stock but you can get one ordered in for

them, after all, it’s not your fault that a product may

be out of stock.

COMPARING PRODUCTS

One of the most common questions that you are likely to

get asked by customers when working in industry is, “How

does product X differ to product Y.” Many people

struggle to answer this question and feel uncomfortable

in their product knowledge.

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The key to answering this product and comparing products

is by fully understanding the product characteristics of

each product . This way you can better compare competing

products on important characteristics.

However, even though you may be able to explain the

characteristics of competing products, many customers

will still ask you questions like, “Which one is better?”

or “Why is product x $80 and product y $110?”

Why do some customers knowingly pay more for a product

that is exactly the same as a lesser-priced product?

This is because everybody is different and defines value

in their own way – what makes a product valuable to you

may be totally different to someone else. For example,

some people define value by how a product performs or the

brand name; whilst others define value by the way the

product looks.

The real answer to the question “Which product is

better?” is:

“Which product will provide the customer with the most

value?”

When comparing products, the point is to understand that:

No one product is “best”. Which product is best will

depend on a product’s value in terms of its

features/benefits, price and the customer’s personal

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preferences towards the product. What is “best” for one

person will be different for another because we all have

individual preferences and value money differently.

COMPETITOR’S PRODUCTS

In addition to developing knowledge about the products in

your organisation and comparing the products, you must

also know what products your competitors have. This is

because products in your organisation and the value they

provide for customers are not only being compared with

each other, but also with the value that competitors’

products are providing.

You can access information on the range of products by

physically walking through a competitor’s organisation

and looking at what products they have or by accessing

promotional material such as pamphlets, TV or radio ads,

or the company’s website can be accessed.

It is very important to note how the level of customer

service you provide can affect how customers compare your

organisation with that of a competitor. Even though your

organisation may offer the same product at the same price

as a competitor, customers will more likely purchase from

your organisation if you consistently provide better

customer service than your competitors.

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In fact, many customers will choose to pay more for a product in exchange

for better customer service.

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IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER TYPES AND BEHAVIOUR

OVERVIEW

When we look at our customer types it is necessary

firstly to decide into which market the customer falls:

Consumer market and a consumer buying behaviour

Business market with business buyer behaviour.

Although we are marketing in the area to a number of

customers, they could fall into either of the above

areas. Both have distinctive behaviours that need to be

addressed.

It is also important that we understand the buyer

decision process as well. This process begins with need

recognition and then a search for information on the

products and services that are required to fulfil that

need. The buyer will then evaluate the alternatives and

make a purchase decision. Postpurchase behaviour is then

determined by the level of satisfaction that consumers

have in the product that has been purchased. This to the

marketer is one of the most important points in the buyer

decision process as it is normally where our best

marketing tool, Word of Mouth commences, both good and

bad.

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The Consumer.

The consumer market normally buys goods and services for

personal consumption. It should, however be remembered

that many small business behave as consumers. As with

your clients, consumers vary in age, income, education,

tastes and many other factors. Consumer behaviour is

influenced by the buyer’s characteristics. These can

revolve around two areas;

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Cultural

This is probably the most basic of how a customer

determines wants and behaviour. These include basic

values, perceptions, preferences and the learned

behaviour from family and other institutions. There are

often sub cultures within this area with distinct values

and lifestyles. These all influence the product and brand

preferences when making the buying decision.

Social

The buyers reference group such as family, friends,

social organisations and professional associations will

also strongly affect product and brand choices as will

his/her age, life-cycle stage, economic circumstances,

personality and lifestyle. The consumer’s lifestyle is

also an important influence on buying choice as it

establishes the whole pattern of acting and interacting

in the world.

The Business.

The business market buys goods and services to produce

products and services for sale to others. It has been

suggested that there are three types of Business buying

situations;

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Straight rebuys where the customers re orders a product

or service without modifications, based on past buying

satisfaction,

Modified rebuys when the customers requests variance to

be made with the price, specification terms and

conditions of the product or service, and

New task where a product or service is bought for the

first time. This is probably the sales persons greatest

challenge as he or she has to ensure that the greatest

influence is placed on those making the buying decision,

gaining trust without making the customer feel

pressurised.

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The business buyer can at times be far more complex than

the everyday consumer. In fact a major influence can lie

within the organisation itself, in the buying process,

and the policy and procedures within the organisation. If

a number of individuals are making the buying decision,

interpersonal and individual influences may need to be

taken into account. In fact we can consider a business to

involve a number of consumers in the decision making

process. Also they will take the environment into

account looking at marketing stimuli such as product,

price, place and promotion as well as economic,

technological, political, cultural and competitive

factors when making the buying decision.

It is therefore important that we complete extensive

research on the buyer/s and his/their behaviour before

commencing the selling process.

Customer Needs – Why Customers Buy

Customers have many needs that determine why they are in

your organisation and which products they consider

purchasing:

Performance needs: customers define value as a product

that will provide them with the best performance, i.e.

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the product that works the best regardless of the price.

The type of performance will depend on the product

category in question and the performance characteristics

that the customer finds important.

Aesthetic needs: customers define value as products that

look the best – called aesthetics. The way a product

looks and feels is most important to the customer,

regardless of other factors such as price, performance

and durability. The customer just wants the best looking

product and will define value as any product that they

think is good looking enough for them to buy.

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Social needs: customers define value as products that

provide them with some kind of social benefit – such as

purchasing products that are “cool” or “in” because the

customer thinks other people will like and be envious of

them for having the product. The product may not be the

best looking or the best value, but society looks at it

as socially desirable at the moment.

Safety needs: customers define value as products that

provide them with some kind of feeling of safety. This

feeling does not necessarily mean that customers will

avoid injury from purchasing a product, but, rather, this

means that the product they purchase must have low risk

and give them a feeling of security, such as that the

product wont breakdown, go faulty, or, if it does, comes

with some kind of guarantee or warranty that protects us

from potential loss.

Economy needs: customers define value as products that

provide them with the greatest benefit relative to the

cost of the product. When customers have a need for

products that provide them with the greatest value for

money, the will often seek out “bargains” or “sales” and

may even purchase products they had no intention of

purchasing just because they were on sale.

Durability needs: customers define value as products that

will last the longest. This is similar to the

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Performance Need above but performance in this sense is

purely the durability of the product. The customer will

buy the product that provides them with the greatest

durability but may not necessarily have the highest

performance level during that time.

Customer service needs: customers define value as the

service that they get when purchasing the product, rather

than the product itself. That is not to say that the

product and its characteristics are not important, it’s

just that if they customer is faced with two identical

products at the same price, the one that meets their need

will be the one that comes with the greatest customer

service.

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Establishing How Customer’s Define Value

Now that you recognise and have identified the major

needs that customers can have, the next step for you is

to actually find out what these are for each customer

when you are working on the sales floor.

Your job in this step of the sales process is to use

effective communication techniques that help the customer

explain to you how they define value and products you

have that can fulfill these needs.

This will involve you:

Using effective questioning techniques; and

Looking for non-verbal customer signals.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SELLING PROCESS

The selling process involves a number of steps. These

steps normally focus on the goal of procuring new

customers and obtaining orders from them. However, it is

also important that the relationship with current

customers is maintained.

Prospecting and qualifying

This area is identifying the qualified potential of

customers. Some of the methods that can be used in the

prospecting process are;

Asking current customers for names

Referrals from suppliers, dealers, non-competing

sales people, bankers, financiers etc.

Purchase of mailing lists that contain names of

customers that are likely to buy from your

organisation.

Networking

Reviewing the classified in newspaper.

Reviewing articles and advertising in industry

magazines

Cold calling

Placement of strategic advertisements

Mail outs

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It is important that quality leads are identified by

looking at their financial ability to buy your product,

volume of business, special needs, location and

possibilities for growth.

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Pre-approach

This is where you learn as much as possible about your

potential client. About the organisations and about the

buyer behaviour as mentioned previously. You should

identify the customers needs, who is involved in the

buying process, their characteristics and their buying

style. For this you need once again to complete research.

Possible areas that could be used are;

Newspaper

Industry journals and magazines

Credit agencies

Organizing meetings that could be formal or informal

with the prospective organisation

Sourcing any in-house publications the organisation

may have.

View the organisations web site.

You should then set yourself call objectives and how you

will make the approach before approaching the potential

customer.

Approach

This is the selling process where you meet and greet the

customer.

The outline that follows on customer service skills

outlines this area.

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Presentation and Demonstration

This step in the selling process is where you present

your product to the buyer. You should point out to the

buyer how the product will make or save money for their

business or meet their required needs.

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Handling Objections

This is here you should seek out, clarify and overcome

any customer objections. This area is outlined in more

detail later in the workbook.

Closing

This is the step in the selling process where you ask for

the order. Once again it is outlined in more details

further on.

Follow Up

This is considered the last step in the selling process

and in a lot of cases the most important. You should

contact your customer to ensure that they are happy with

the purchase ensuring total customer satisfaction and

hence establish the footing for repeat business.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE / SELLING SKILLS

This section focuses on developing and expanding your

customer service and selling skills through 7 steps:

Warmly greeting and approaching the customer;

Establishing customer needs;

Selecting Product to present;

Demonstrating and selling the product/service;

Trial closing and adding on sales;

Closing the sale; and

Encouraging and inviting future business.

WARMLY GREETING AND APPROACHING THE CUSTOMER

The way in which you greet and approach customers in your

organisation is very important for two reasons:

The way you present yourself will immediately affect the

customer’s perception of you and your organisation –

first impressions do count ;

and

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Making an excellent greeting with the customer

facilitates you moving into the sales process more

effectively.

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Approaching the Customer

The ultimate goal of you greeting customers for your

organisation is to start up conversation in order to make

customers feel relaxed so that will feel comfortable

buying products from you. But in order to do this you

must approach the customer first.

This can be more difficult than it sounds, as many

workers feel afraid of walking directly into customer

premises, i.e. cold calling and starting conversation.

Also, customers are apprehensive about being charged upon

by salespeople.

However, there are some techniques you can use to take

the pressure out of the situation for you and the

customer:

The Simple Approach

This is where you simply walk up to the customer and

begin a conversation with them using open-ended

questions. This requires you to obey the organisation

policies that dictate when you must approach customers

and how you should do it.

The key to adopting the simple approach is to:

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Approach the customer within the designated time period

(e.g. 30-60 seconds);

Make effective eye contact and smile politely;

Compliment your verbal communication with your non-verbal

communication, making sure to remember the importance of

your personal presentation and body language;

Give a warm greeting using an open-ended question that

gets the customer talking;

Make the initial question non-business related; and

Having begun the conversation, seek to establish why the

customer has come into your organisation by determining

their needs (this is step 2 of the sales process).

The Holding Back Approach

This is where you wait for a short period of time in

order to assess each customer and look for signals as to

why they are in your organisation. Rather than

approaching customers directly and within 30-60 seconds,

you may hold back because you observe particular signals

that indicate this may be a better approach technique.

Holding back effectively allows you to let customers make

themselves feel more comfortable in your organisation and

with the Product before you go and approach them. This

is not the right approach for all customers and you must

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be careful to make sure that customers don’t leave the

organisation before you approach them.

The Magnet Approach

We all are familiar with the magnet approach, even though

we may not know it and sometimes confuse it with poor

customer service. The magnet approach is where you

position yourself at key sales points in your

organisation (e.g. at the cash register or in front of

particular Product displays) and wait for customers to

come to you – you are like a magnet that they are drawn

towards. However, this approach may not be suitable in

all organisations, due to the nature of your

organisation, its products, or your customers.

The Pass-By Approach

This involves you walking by the customer when they first

enter the organisation and simply acknowledging them when

they enter, whether through smiling, raising your

eyebrows, or simply saying “Hi”. You then allow for a

minute to pass before you go and “pass-by” the customer

again, during which time you can Product products, dust

or clean etc.

You then go back up to the customer and begin the

greeting process by asking an open, non-business related

question. This technique helps make the customer feel

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more comfortable as you effectively break the ice when

you first pass them by, and then follow this up a minute

later. There is a feeling of familiarity between you and

the customer – they feel that they have met you before,

making them feel more comfortable in starting a

conversation with you.

The Product Approach

This is where you comment on the Product the customer is

looking at. This is an effective technique, although it

is business related. In order to avoid threatening the

customer, this approach should only be used when it is

very clear that the customer has an interest in a

particular product, such as if they have taken it off the

shelf or are trying it on, rather than when customers are

just “looking” at the Product.

E.g. What do you think of this machine?

The Take-Away Approach

Often you get customers who are resistant to any greeting

you offer them. As soon as you approach them, many

customers feel you are trying to put the hard sell on

them.

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In these situations, you can use the Take Away technique

whereby you simply repeat, as a question, exactly what

the customer has just said to you. This takes away the

customer’s defensive shield and is good at getting the

customer to begin a conversation with you.

Customer: “I’m just looking thanks”

Salesperson: “Terrific, What types of things are you

looking for?

Customer: “I’m just window shopping today”

Salesperson: “That sounds fun. What kinds of things are

you window shopping for?”

Greeting the Customer

The key to greeting customers for your organisation is

to:

Establish eye contact;

Smile;

Observe them, their body language and any signals

they give off;

Time your approach, give them space but don’t ignore

them;

Open with general, non-business related

conversation;

Be natural, avoid being false and fake by using your

own personality; and

Build empathy with them.

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Some tips you could follow when greeting a customer for

your organisation are:

Use Open-Ended Questions: open-ended questions get the

customer to elicit more than a yes or no answer when

responding to what you have asked them – they begin with

How, When, Where, Why and What. Asking an open-ended

question helps get the customer talking, making it easier

to build rapport with them and find out their needs.

e.g. How are you today?

What is the weather like outside?

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Avoid Closed Questions: closed questions receive only a

yes or no answer from the customer. They only get

limited information from the customer and are not good at

building rapport and getting them talking, although they

may be useful on occasions, especially further into the

sales process. In general though, closed questions

should be avoided when making the initial contact with

customers.

e.g. Do you want to buy something?

Can I help you?

Use Positive Body Language: your body language should

make you seem approachable, friendly and helpful.

Don’t Discuss Business: many organisations require you to

never discuss business in the first sentence when

greeting customers. This requires you to avoid any

question aimed at selling products to customers in order

to build rapport and get the customer’s trust before

moving further into the sales process

Time: most organisations have a policy regarding the time

in which you must approach and greet a customer. This

will vary depending on the nature of your organisation

and the products you sell, but the average time that is

generally accepted is between 30-60 seconds before you

approach the customer.

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ESTABLISHING CUSTOMER NEEDS

In an ideal world, every customer that communicates with

your organisation would do so with a particular purchase

in mind. But in the real world this is not the case.

Many customers contact your organisation with no

intention of purchasing, a hidden intention to purchase,

not knowing what they want to buy, or being unable to

decide at all. And vice versa, you contacting the

customer not knowing if he requires your products, unless

you have completed your prospecting fully.

Hence, after the initial greeting and approach to the

customer, just as important is establishing customer

needs to determine if, and how, you can help them. This

step basically involves you gathering as much information

as you can about the customer and their needs.

USING EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES

The right questions asked in a conversation help

customers to identify their needs. The important thing to

remember at this point is that you are finding out as

much as you can about the customer, they are not finding

out about you.

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Hence, you should use questioning techniques that get the

customer to do around 75% of the talking and you only

25%. This way, if the customer is talking 75% of the

time, you are better able to find out more about, how

they define value, and products that will meet their

value needs.

The questioning techniques available to you to establish

customer needs are:

Open-Ended Questions: these get the customer to talk and

express their value needs by getting more than a ‘yes’ or

‘no’ answer from them. These questions should always be

used initially to get the customer talking.

Supportive Responses: after you have asked an open-ended

question, a supportive response shows empathy, care and

understanding of the customer’s concerns. They should

then be followed up with another question that helps

further establish the customer’s needs. For example:

Sales Person (Open Question): “What type of menu are you

looking for?”

Customer (Answer): “I’m not sure really, I have never

bothered to check before. I’m sorry.”

Sales Person (Supportive Response): ‘That’s OK, many

people don’t know the various menus that are available.

What type of menu have you bought in the past?”

Closed Questions: these get only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer,

but, when used effectively, can be quite good at

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establishing a customer’s needs. When used in the right

context, but never in the first question, closed

questions can help confirm information so that you can

narrow down a customer’s needs. For example:

Sales Person (Open Question): “What type of menu are you

after?”

Customer (Answer): “Something that is economical and

tasty.”

Sales Person (Closed Question): “Do you work have a

buffet menu for your organisation?”

Customer (Answer): “Yes.”

Sales Person (Open Question): “What do you think of this

menu, it has a five star rating?”

Paraphrasing/Clarifying Questions: this is where you

summarise what the customer has just said into a question

that gets them to confirm what they have said, rather

than you asking for them to repeat it. This can be

combined with a closed question at the end to confirm the

details.

Sales Person (Paraphrasing/Clarifying Question): “OK, so

you’re after a menu for a function for the office. Is

that right?”

Customer (Answer): “Yes”

Sales Person (Open Question): “What do you think of these

new business menus we have?”

Looking for Non-Verbal Customer Signals

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In addition to verbally communicating with customers in

establishing what the want, it is just as important to

monitor the customer’s non-verbal signals that indicate

their needs.

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You can learn a great deal from customers and their needs

by observing things like:

Facial signals

Body language

Posture

Personal appearance.

SELECTING ITEMS TO PRESENT

Once you have correctly established how the customer

defines value through effective questioning and observing

their non-verbal communication, you can now recognise

which products you sell that will meet the customer’s

needs.

Essentially, you are combining your communication skills

in establishing the customer’s needs with the product

knowledge you have developed earlier. You are mentally

searching through your products to find ones that the

customer will like and want to buy.

Every product can fulfill any one of the customer value

needs that were identified in STEP 2. That is, the one

product provides customers with many attributes, such as

taste and satisfaction.

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What you need to know when selecting which products to

present to customers, is how the features and benefits of

that product can deliver what the customer wants – will

the product meet their needs?

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This requires you to:

Determine the customer’s exact needs (STEP 2) and how

they define value;

Know the features and benefits of every product that

could best provide the customer with their value and meet

their needs; and

Match a product or products to the customer’s needs and

select them to present to customers. This doesn’t have

to be only one product, but can be several products that

match what the customer wants.

SELLING THE PRODUCT

It would be nice, if after picking the product that best

meets the customer’s needs, you simply presented the

product to the customer and they went “I’ll take it.”

However, this will hardly ever happen as most customers

do not buy the first thing that they see. Hence, there

is a need for you to demonstrate and sell the product to

the customer.

F-A-B-G Method of Selling Products

There are many selling techniques that have been

developed. The most commonly used method that is

recognised by most businesses, as being effective is the

F-A-B-G method.

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This method attempts to establish the value of the

product to the customer so that they want or desire to

buy it by increasing the customer’s ownership of the

product – they like it and feel that it is theirs even

before they have bought it. This is done by talking

about the product’s:

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Feature What the product

has – its

attributes and

characteristics

E.g. “These

products have a 5

star energy

rating”Advanta

ge

The bridge between

the feature and

benefit which

describes the

reason why the

product has a

particular feature

– what the feature

does.

E.g. “This makes

the product

extremely

economical in the

production

process”

Benefit What the

feature/advantage

will provide the

customer. This is

where you translate

the product’s

features into the

value it will

provide the

customer

E.g. “This means

that the product

will be more

effective in

helping reduce

energy costs”

Grabber This prompts the

customer to agree

that the benefit is

valuable to them.

E.g. “Nobody wants

product that are

going cost

astronomical

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This can be

restated as a

question to get

their agreement.

amounts in energy

consumption do

they?” or

“You mentioned

that it was very

important to you

that the product

can help you save

on energy costs,

right?”

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Tips for Demonstrating and Selling Product

There are several things you should and shouldn’t do when

selling products to customers:

Get feedback from customers whilst demonstrating products

to qualify what the customer wants and to keep them

talking, e.g. “You were saying how you liked the menu,

right?”;

Be confident in your product knowledge. It is vitally

important that you present your knowledge in a confident

way, as customers will not buy from you if they think you

are trying to bluff your way through the selling process;

If the customer does ask a question that you don’t know

the answer to, take responsibility and find out the

answer to it from another worker;

Use excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills

that you have learnt. Make sure the body language that

you use reinforces what you are saying and makes the

customer feel comfortable;

Don’t use too much jargon when using your F-A-B-Gs as

this may confuse the customer. If you do use jargon then

make sure you explain what it means to them. If you use

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a heap of big words that the customer doesn’t understand

then nothing is gained and you may look like a show-off;

Tell customers only what they need to know, don’t tell

them everything about a product. Make sure you stick to

the MAIN POINTS of a product by only using 2 or 3 F-A-B-

Gs at once. This means that you should use the key

selling points first and avoid bombarding the customer

with too much information that could confuse them;

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The key selling points or features of a product that you

decide to use will depend on how the customer defines

value. For example, if you establish that the customer

wants a medium price ranged product, then open up with F-

A-B-Gs that mention price ranges. Don’t save this

information for later as you may lose the customer before

this.

Sell on the least amount of info possible. This means

that you mention your key selling points first in your 3

F-A-B-Gs, but make sure you keep something in reserve to

clinch the sale later on if the customer hasn’t decided

to buy the product yet. This also helps you stick to the

MAIN POINTS.

Show enthusiasm and interest in the product even if you

don’t like it.

Encourage ownership by getting the customer to inspect

and see the product in use where appropriate. It’s

easier for the customer to appreciate the product if they

can experience it. This way they begin to visualise

themselves as owning it. This way, if they contemplate

not buying it then there may be a sense of having lost

something they once had or owned.

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TRIAL CLOSING AND ADDING ON SALES

Once you have shown a product or several products to a

customer, now comes the part where you trial close the

sale by attempting to add-on other items to the purchase.

This is also called suggestive selling. Note that this

occurs before you close the sale on the product you have

been demonstrating.

Add-on selling is an open wallet opportunity. What this

means is that customers have already made their major

buying decision (or you can reasonably assume they are

going to buy the product) and it is an easy decision to

make to decide whether to buy an add-on product. The

major buying decision has been made – an add-on purchase

appears insignificant to most customers.

Components of the Trial Close

One approach that you can use when adding onto a sale is

this 5-step process:

Step

1

How about This is the best way to begin

your trial close. It’s not

pushy and it assures that your

trial close will begin with a

question that the customer has

to answer by more than saying

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‘yes’ or ‘no’.Ste

p 2

A product

feature of

the add-on

product

Mentioning the key feature of

the add-on product will make

it more desirable to the

customer.Ste

p 3

The add-on

product

itself

This is where you actually

mention the product. This is

deliberately not done first in

order to avoid being too pushy

towards the customer.

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Ste

p 4

Coordinate How the add-on sale will

complement or enhance the main

product. This is the reason

why the customer must have the

accessory item.Ste

p 5

Your Using “You” or “Your” when

referring to the main product

makes the customer feel as

though they own the main

product. This assumes the

customer will buy the product

without sounding like you are

being too assumptive or

counting your chickens before

they’ve hatched.

Examples of the types of add-on sales you can make and

how you could do this are:

Main

Product

Add-On

Product

Question

Mower Catcher “How about this catcher to

go with your mower?”Copier Collator “What do you think of this

collator that attaches to

the copier you are getting?”Burger Fries “Would you like fries with

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that?”

Note how these questions differ from simply asking,

“Would you also like some slippers?” This type of add-on

question is not appropriate for some businesses as it

sounds like you are being dismissive and making an

additional purchase seem trivial and unimportant – e.g.

“Would you like fries with that?”

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Using the above technique, or a similar method that you

are comfortable with, ensures that you sound natural when

adding-on and that the add-on product is valuable and

worth the customer considering because it will provide

them with extra value.

CLOSING THE SALE

Regardless of the outcome of the trial close, you now

come to the step where you must finalise the purchase and

close the sale. This could be for the main product only,

or the main product and an add-on item. Either way, the

process is the same.

Overcoming Objections from Customers

During the trial close, the customer may raise some

objections that they have to finalise before making the

purchase. If these weren’t raised during the trial close

then they may come out now. Objections generally concern

the main product you are trying to sell because, if the

customer doesn’t want the add-on item, they will simply

not purchase it, whereas they may want to purchase the

main item but there are just 1 or 2 factors holding them

back.

Whatever the objection is, the important thing is to

realise that the customer is saying ‘No’ to buying the

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product. It is very important to avoid defending your

position when the customer has an objection – this isn’t

necessarily a slur against you. Successfully handling

and overcoming the objections involves working with the

customer to eliminate the obstacle. This doesn’t involve

convincing the customer to buy or arguing with them.

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Techniques you can use to overcome customer objections in

order to close the sale are:

Make sure to listen: before handling any customer

objections, it is very important to listen to the entire

objection before you respond. Many workers tend to

interrupt and begin defending the Product, the brand, or

themselves before the customer has finished voicing their

objection. Never do this.

Show empathy towards the customer: showing empathy

involves you putting yourself in the customer’s position

and understanding why they have an objection, even if you

don’t agree with it. Showing empathy involves you

acknowledging or agreeing with the customer and letting

them know that you are on their side.

One technique to do this is by restating their objection

by starting your sentences with “I can understand…” or “I

can appreciate…”. These sentences should be followed

with an emphasis on why the customer should buy the

product – how their objections can be overcome by buying

from you. This should be done subtly.

For example:

Customer: “Gee, it’s a lot of money. I want to

think about it for a minute.”

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Worker: “No worries. I can understand why you want to

think about it, as it’s a lot of money to spend. It’s a

good menu though and worth the money should you decide to

spend it.”

Customer: “I might just have a look around.”

Worker: “Go ahead, it’s important to see everything

before you purchase. You should know that not many other

organisations have this product or sell it at this price

though.”

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Types of Customer Objections

Customers can have objections to any number of things

about the product you are trying to sell them. Most

objections seem to fall into 3 categories:

Price objections over the cost of the item

Time objections where the customer does not have

sufficient time to test the product and make a decision

on whether to purchase it

Product objections where the customer is not fully

satisfied with particular aspects of the product you are

offering them.

Closing Techniques

If you have been lucky and had no customer objections,

this step will be easy. If you have had customer

objections and manage to overcome them then you are also

in good shape to close the sale.

The major sales closing techniques that you can use are

shown below:

Close Description ExampleAssumpti

ve Close

You assume the

customer will buy the

Simply completing

the sales form

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product and start to

complete the order

form. This should

only be used when

there has been no

resistance or

objections from the

customer so far.

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Either/

or Close

This applies to

customers who may just

be waiting to be asked

to buy. You provide

them with the

opportunity to say

“yes” when you’re

pretty sure they will

buy the product.

“Will that charge

or credit card?”

“Did you want to

put a deposit on

it?”

Hook

Close

You add something to

the sale to hook or

induce the customer to

buy now and overcome

any last-minute

objections. You

should avoid using

price discounts as the

hook except where

organisation policy

allows you.

Organisation policy

should also be

consulted when

providing any

incentive.

“I can give you

10% off if you

book the function

now”

“I’ll throw in a

free drink for

each guest to go

with the premier

menu”

Penalty

Close

You tell the customer

that they will be

disadvantage or

“I can only give

the discount for

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“penalised" if they

don’t take the product

now. This should only

be used when this is

true, as many workers

use it when it is not

and customers don’t

usually believe it

anyway.

another day.”

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Summary

Close

You summarise the points

you have made about the

product during the

demonstration (the F-A-

B-Gs) to get them to

mentally tick off all

the reasons why they

should buy the product.

This is effective when

time has elapsed between

demonstrating the

product and closing the

sale.

“Remember, the

iron has

automatic cut

out, extra steam

holes, and a non-

stick coat. It’s

a really great

product for a

commercial

laundry. What do

you think you

want to do?”Ask For

It Close

You simply ask the

customer if they would

like to buy the product.

This is used where you

are confident the

customer will buy the

product and they appear

nervous to say so – it

can be uncomfortable for

many customers to close

the sale themselves.

“So, would you

like it but?”

“Did you want to

get this ones?”

3rd Party

Close

You describe how you

sold the product to

another customer in

order to reduce the

customer’s unease and

give them confidence

“I sold the same

menu to a company

yesterday and

they are thrilled

already.”

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that other people have

bough it too. This

makes them feel more

confident. You should

never lie and make up

fictional customers that

you sold to, as this can

often backfire.

Which ever approach you use will depend on your

interaction with the customer and the “gut feel” you get

as to how to best close the sale. Some techniques are

better than others in certain situations.

For example, a penalty close may be better than an

assumptive close to a resistant customer who has been

really difficult and rude to you.

ENCOURAGING AND INVITING FUTURE BUSINESS

Once you have completed the sale, the very last thing you

have to do is encourage and invite the customer to come

back to your organisation in the future and see you

again. But rather than simply saying “Please come

again”, there are better ways to get customers to come

back to your organisation.

There is also another reason why you encourage customers

when leaving your organisation and this is to reduce any

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doubt they have about making the purchase, preventing the

likelihood of them returning it in the future. Leaving

the organisation on a positive rubs off on the customer,

making them feel glad to have bought from you and wanting

to come back again.

The 2 major things you want to cover in your goodbye are:

Offering agreement with what the customer has just

bought, as everyone loves when people agree with them.

This is where you reassure the customer that what they

have bought is excellent and will make them happy. For

example, “Enjoy the product, they look awesome on you.”

Because of your position, you are the first person who

can offer these thoughts to customers so it is vitally

important that you do so.

Encouraging the customer to come back again to your

organisation. This can be a general invitation, such as

“See you next time”, but it’s better to give the customer

a specific reason to come back, e.g. “Next time you’re

here come and see me so I can see how you’re going with

the product.” You should also make sure to tell the

customer to come back and see you, rather than just the

organisation, as this makes it easier to build

relationships with them and sell to them in the future.

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RECOMMENDED READING Marketing an IntroductionPhilip Kotler, Gary Anderson, David Meggs, Elizabeth Bradbury and John GrechPrentice Hall ISBN 0 7248 0690 3

MarketingConcepts and StrategiesJ R McColl-Kennedy, G C Kiel, R F Lusch, V N LuschNelson PressISBN 0 17 008890 1

How to Organise and Operate a Small Business in AustraliaJohn EnglishAllen and UnwinISBN 1 86448 871 9

The Penguin Small Business BookEmma AlbericiPenguin BooksISBN 0 7343 0275 4

101 Ways to Market Your BusinessAndrew GriffithsAllen and UnwinISBN 1 86508 386 0

Who Moved My CheeseDr Spencer JohnsonRandom House AustraliaISBN 0 09 181 697 1

The Balanced ScorecardKaplan and NortonHarvard Business School PressISBN 0 87584 651 3

The Nordstrom WaySpector and McCarthy

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John Wiley and SonsISBN 0 471 19171 XRaving FansKen BlanchardThe Business LibrarySheldon BowlesISBN 1 86350 171 1

Motivate to WinRichard DennyKoagan PageISBN 0 7494 0966 5

Hey, I’m The CustomerRon WillinghamPrentice HallISBN 0 13 388158 X

Entrepreneur Business Centre

http://www.ebc.com.au

Australian Federal Government Business Information Site

http://www.fed.gov.au/index.php?189

Business Victoria

http://www.business.vic.gov.au/

NSW Government Business Site

http://www.nsw.gov.au/business.asp

Pearson Education. This site list numbers of texts for specific Industries

http://www.pearsoned.com.au/

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