Telephone sales scripts - techniques, examples and templates for effective calls. Communication with the client What rules dictate the ethics of communication with clients

Hello! In this article we will talk about such a telephone sales tool as a script.

Today you will learn:

• What is a script for talking with a client on the phone;
• How to write a telephone sales script correctly;
• What types of telephone sales scripts exist? .

What is a telephone sales script?

For a marketer, a telephone is not only a means of communication, it is also an excellent channel for the promotion and distribution of products.

To understand how to sell a product using only a telephone conversation, you need to remember the specifics of communication over the phone:

• Solution. As a rule, a modern person makes calls to find out or agree on something, in other words, to solve a problem;
• Brevity. A conversation on the phone is always shorter than a conversation on the same topic in person;
• Dialogue. A telephone conversation always involves a dialogue between two people.

Not every sales manager is able to briefly describe to the client his proposal to solve a problem that needs to be identified during a telephone dialogue with the client. Therefore, in order for a conversation between a seller and a potential client to turn into sales, it is advisable to use pre-written dialogue scripts or scripts.

Script – a dialogue scenario between a sales manager and a client, designed to increase the efficiency of the former and attract the latter.

You need a telephone sales script if:

• Do you sell over the phone?
• Your office employs at least three managers to implement telephone sales and provide telephone consultations to clients (a smaller number is easier and cheaper to train to work without scripts);
• You want to improve your overall telesales performance. At the same time, the effectiveness of individual managers may decrease.

If you agreed with each point, then we need to move on and decide what types of telephone sales scripts are suitable.

In total, there are four types of scripts, depending on the level of development of the client and the market in which the client is represented. Each type of script involves its own telephone sales technique.

	Warm customer base	Cold customer base
Consumer segment	A “warm” script is used if you call a potential client who has recently performed a targeted action in relation to your company: made a purchase, registered on a website, visited a store, and so on. That is, you know that this client is interested in your product. The manager’s goal is to remind about the company, offer products that may be of interest to this consumer, and convince him of the usefulness of this product	In this case, you are calling “blindly”. Your interlocutor probably doesn’t know about your company or product at all. The manager’s goal is to inform the interlocutor about the company, identify the client’s problems and offer solutions to these problems. That is, the manager must get a completely new client for the company
Industrial segment

Any of these types is based on the following principles:

• Equality. You and your client are partners. You should not persuade the client to take the target action or agree to unfavorable conditions. Your job is to see the client's problem and offer a solution. It is up to the client to refuse or agree. Otherwise, you will lose the client's respect for your company;
• Cooperation. You should not argue with the client, you must prove to him that he really needs your product and the purpose of your call is to help. To do this, you need to ask your potential client questions to which you know the answers in advance. For example, manager: “Do you use a lot of paper per month?”, client: “yes”, manager: “you buy a new pack of paper every week”, client: “yes”, manager: “would you like our company delivered paper to your office every week at a time convenient for you?”

In this example, we propose a solution to the client’s problem and use the law of three “yes”;

• Knowledge. A sales manager must know the specifics of the company and understand its products and services.

Script structure

Now that we have decided on the types of script, let's decide on its structure. Since scripts for the consumer market are significantly different from scripts for the industrial market, we will analyze them separately. Let's start with the consumer segment.

Script structure for the consumer segment

To clearly show what the difference is between scripts for a warm and cold customer base, we will display the structure of the scripts in a small table.

	Warm base	Cold base
Greetings	Introductory phrase: good afternoon (evening, morning)	Introductory phrase: good afternoon (evening, morning)
Performance	“Client name”, my name is “manager name”, I am a representative of the company “company name”	“My name is “manager name”, how can I address you? I am a representative of the company “company name”, we are engaged in ....” There is no need to mention the client's name, even if you know it!
Finding out the circumstances	We find out whether it is convenient for the interlocutor to talk now (if not, then we discuss the time when it will be possible to call back)	We find out whether it is convenient for the interlocutor to talk now (if not, then we discuss the time when it will be possible to call back)
Clarifying questions	We remind the client that he recently purchased our product or performed another targeted action. For example: “last week you purchased our product “name”. Did you like him?	We identify the client’s need: “Are you familiar with the problem...?” “Would you like to get rid of her?”
Purpose of the call	We indicate the purpose of the call: “Yesterday we received a new product that complements the “name of the product that was already purchased earlier.” It will allow you to achieve a double effect and save you from the problem for a long time...” Here the consumer either purchases the product or objects	We offer our product/service to the client. If the client objects, we move on to the next stage
Reply to objection	We use all the positive characteristics of a product or company to convince the consumer of the need for this product	We identify the reason for refusing to purchase the product. We solve the problem for which the consumer refused, as a rule, it is necessary to solve three such problems
We say goodbye	“Thank you for your time, we will be glad to see you in our store. Goodbye"	“Thank you for your time, we will be glad to see you in our store. Goodbye"

Structure of a cold calling script for an industrial client

In this case, it would be advisable to omit the conversation script with the industrial client from the warm base. Typically, it matches the conversation script for the warm base of the consumer segment.

for industrial clients will consist of the following steps:

1. Preliminary. We send your commercial offer to the potential client by email. This must be done half an hour before the call. We write down the goals of the conversation;

1. Finding a contact person, who makes a decision in the client company on your issue;
2. Secretary's rounds. As a rule, the secretary of the responsible person, who has his own script for refusing people like you, will answer you first. You need to get around it. To do this, adhere to the following rules:

• It is necessary to show by intonation and manner of speaking that the person in charge needs this cooperation more than you;
• Clear, correct, confident speech;
• The following phrase should be heard in the conversation: “Who can I talk to about this issue” (“Contact me with the person responsible for this issue”).

1. Conversation with the decision maker. The structure of the script for a conversation with the person in charge of the company will look like this.

Stage	Action
Greetings	Introductory phrase: good afternoon (evening, morning) “Name of interlocutor”
Performance	Say your first and last name
Clarification questions and product introduction	Do you use communication services from our company “name”? Now we have a new offer, for regular customers it will cost half as much. It will allow you to “name those benefits that are of interest to your interlocutor.” For example, for the boss - cost reduction and profit, for ordinary employees - simplification of work
Work with objections	We identify the reason for refusing to purchase the product. We solve the problem for which the consumer refused. Typically, there are three such problems that need to be solved
We say goodbye	Thank you for your time, we will be glad to cooperate / see you / tomorrow our specialist will come to you at the appointed time

An example of working with objections

At the end of the article, I would like to focus on this block, since it is the most dangerous from the point of view of losing a client.

Objection	Answer
We don't need this product	“The product can solve the problem with...”. It doesn’t help, you can offer an alternative product and name its useful qualities for the client
I have no time to talk (after the clarification stage)	“It won't take more than 10 minutes. I can call you back at another time. At your convenience?"
We already have a supplier, he suits us	“We do not propose to replace your current partners, we propose to supplement them so that everyone can work comfortably and problems such as “listing the client’s problems” do not arise.
Expensive	Many of our customers pointed out the high price, but all questions were resolved after they tried our product. Let us give you a 20% discount on your first order so you can be sure of this.

In fact, there may be many more objections; we have given only the most common options. It is important to think through each one and work it out so that the manager can give a clear response and not lose the client.

Sample (example) telephone sales script

Finally, here is a complete telephone sales script. Let's say we sell shampoo for dry hair to a cold customer base.

1. Greetings: Good afternoon
2. Performance: " My name is Anna, how can I contact you? I am a representative of the Volosatik company, we produce natural hair care products. “Customer Name, we have a special offer for you.”
3. Clarification of circumstances:“Are you comfortable talking now?”
4. Clarifying questions:“Are you familiar with the problem of dry and brittle hair?”, “Would you like to get rid of it?”
5. Purpose of the call:“Great, we offer natural shampoo for dry hair. The fact is that licorice, which is included in its composition, retains water, and the absence of sulfates allows you to preserve the structure of the hair. Did you know that 90% of shampoos in stores contain sulfates, which destroy the hair structure, slowing down growth and making it brittle? (No Yes). When making our shampoo, we focused on the absence of harm to hair. At the same time, the price of our shampoo corresponds to the market average and is 500 rubles per 400 ml.”
6. Work with objections: Examples of working with objections are given in the table above.
7. Saying goodbye:“Thank you for your time, we will be glad to see you in our store. Goodbye".

Video about telephone sales scripts

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From this article you will learn:

• What you need to know about proper communication with a client
• How to turn communication with a client into your company's golden fund
• What are the best communication techniques to use with clients?
• What not to do when communicating with a client

Today, business relationships between people around the world are based mainly on trade. This can be not only the sale of goods, but also services, copyrights, etc. Thus, our society is divided into buyers and sellers who are in constant interaction with each other. And the success of all trade transactions depends on how high-quality this cooperation will be, how competent the communication with clients will be. Of course, this is not the only criterion for the success of a trading business; first of all, the quality of the product or service itself is important. But many shortcomings can be compensated with the help of proper communication. A buyer who is satisfied with the service will definitely come back to you again rather than go to competitors. And, conversely, if your staff is not attentive enough to visitors or is rude, the buyer will not cross the threshold of your store again, no matter how high the quality of the product. This article will touch on all the nuances of interaction with consumers, provide examples of correct communication, consider phrases that should not be used, and will also examine various techniques that are successful from a psychological point of view. The article will help you build a competent sequence when communicating with a client and attract new customers.

How to establish proper communication with clients

Regardless of how communication with the client is structured - via telephone or personal contact - it is the first impression that plays a fundamental role and ultimately influences the outcome of the conversation. Here it is important to follow a number of rules, as well as adhere to the sequence of stages when interacting with the consumer. The most important rule is to direct the conversation in the direction you want and guide the interlocutor. You need to not only be able to tell him about the advantages of your product and service and the benefits of cooperation with you, but also ask the right questions in a timely manner in order to identify the client’s needs and preferences.

Communication should be open and friendly: you should not raise your voice, argue, put pressure on the buyer, impose your product on him, or be overly annoying. But it is important to be the leader of the conversation and be able to keep everything under control. It is important to conduct a dialogue, involving the interlocutor in communication, and not just speak a memorized boring speech. You need to interest him in your product or service, as well as gain confidence and persuade him to interact with you.

How to properly clarify customer objections? Find out in the training program

How to behave during a conversation

The correct behavior of staff plays a big role. The likelihood of a purchase will increase significantly if the manager’s cooperation with the client is successful. It is important to show proper and at the same time unobtrusive attention to the buyer, showing him that you are interested in him being satisfied. To do this, you need to be able to win over your interlocutor using a smile and a friendly tone. Emotionality in communication is also very important: the buyer will not show interest in either you or the product if you speak in a monotone. If you use the right emotions during a conversation, this will help interest your interlocutor and make the dialogue more lively and relaxed.

Every salesperson needs to have good diction. It is important not only to know what exactly needs to be said to the buyer, but also to be able to do it clearly and correctly. The manager must not have a speech impediment. The buyer should see in front of him a real professional who knows how to talk about the product, answer all his questions, and with whom it is pleasant to have a conversation. No one is interested in an insecure employee who cannot put two words together. When communicating with a client, it is also important to get to know him and in the future address him by name. This psychological technique helps to win over the interlocutor, giving the communication a more personal character. It is very important to listen to the buyer and in no case interrupt him, but at the same time direct the conversation in the right direction if he begins to move away from the main topic.

How to properly talk about a product or service

Difficulties often arise when communicating with a sales client at the very first stage of the conversation - he is initially not interested in hearing about the product. How to advantageously present your product or service to the buyer? The main task is to interest him in the product and draw attention to your company. People love promotions and special offers, and you can’t help but take advantage of this to attract new customers, as well as retain existing ones. When communicating with the consumer, tell them about ongoing promotions, explain all the benefits of purchasing this particular product, and interest them in a new product that has recently entered the market. Find out the needs and interests of the client in order to offer a product that is suitable for him, meeting all his wishes and requirements.

Having decided on the buyer’s requirements, focus his attention exclusively on those details that interest him. There is no need to overload your interlocutor with an excessive amount of information in which he will only get confused. During communication, it will be sufficient to correctly place emphasis and describe the product precisely according to those parameters that are interesting to the client. The final stage is to work through all the potential buyer’s objections, thereby dispelling his doubts and encouraging him to make a purchase. Even if the consumer, after communicating with you, refuses to purchase a product or pay for a service, you need to remain friendly and polite towards him. Then there is a very high probability that the visitor will come to you in the future, remembering your professionalism and desire to help with the choice. Thus, following the correct sequence of stages when communicating with a client is very important if you want to grow your business.

Simple rules for communicating with clients

There are many examples of successful sales when a person simply went into a store out of curiosity, and after talking with an employee of the sales floor, he came out with a purchase. This indicates the professionalism and high level of training of the seller. Many consumers need to be nudged into making a purchase. For this purpose, specialists in the field of trade and psychology have developed a number of rules. If sales managers follow them, the company's turnover will definitely increase.

1. Customer focus. The most important thing when communicating with a client is to convince him that you are pursuing his interests, not your own, and really want to help him. This will build trust in the buyer and help win him over. Openness and goodwill are some of the main keys to success. You need to be especially careful in those moments when the visitor asks you questions. Answers should be as informative and detailed as possible. You need to show that the buyer is important to you, and you are ready to answer all his questions. Indifferent, dry remarks will leave a bad impression of the quality of service.

There are several ways to show your interest:

• When talking with a buyer, your attention should be focused only on him. You cannot be distracted by extraneous matters;
• communication should be emotionally charged. It is important that the interlocutor sees a living person in front of him, and not a robot;
• when communicating, you need to look your interlocutor in the eyes;
• it is important to conduct a dialogue, encouraging the client not only to listen, but also to speak;
• It is necessary to provide as much information about the product as valuable to the buyer as possible, but at the same time be careful not to overload with unnecessary information.

When communicating with the buyer, try to speak in a language that is as understandable to him as possible. There is no need to delve into professional terminology that a person does not understand. If we are talking, for example, about a blender, it is not necessary to say that its power is 1500 watts. This information may be completely useless to the client. It will be much better if you list the main products that can be crushed with it. This way you will tell about the technical characteristics of the product, but they will be clear not only to you, but also to the buyer.

1. Don't stoop to the client's level. At first glance, this is quite strange advice, because the first rule says that you need to speak to the buyer in his language. This is undeniable. This rule was created only to warn you against the possibility of a conflict brewing when communicating with a client. The contingent of buyers is completely different, and not all of them know how to communicate adequately, allowing themselves the use of profanity and rudeness. It is in these cases that one should not be like ill-mannered people and respond with aggression. It is important to be able to remain calm and find the strength to always be polite and friendly. The reputation of the company you work for depends on it.
2. The customer is always right. This is a long-worn rule that all sales managers have learned by heart. But it is not entirely correct. Every seller understands that in fact, the client is right in very rare cases. Most potential buyers don't know what they really want and understand your store's products much less well than you. You are the owner of the store, not the client, and it is you who are in charge here, because everything that happens to him depends on you: whether he can find the product he needs, whether he leaves with the purchase. But the buyer should under no circumstances know this. He must believe that only he is truly right.
3. Don't insist. When offering your product or service, do not go too far and do not be too intrusive. There is no need to put pressure on the buyer, forcing him to make a choice and make a purchase right now, if it is noticeable that he is not ready to do this. A person should not have the impression that you imposed a product that he did not need at all.
4. Don't get lost. If we are not talking about a one-time sale, but long-term cooperation (regular deliveries of goods, construction, large projects, etc.), a very important rule for communicating with the company’s clients is to always be in touch. Firstly, the customer may want to know how the work is progressing and at what stage of the process, whether everything is going according to plan and whether he should worry. Secondly, the client may want to make some amendments to the original project plan. Keeping in touch is in your best interest. If the customer remains dissatisfied with the result of the work on which you spent more than one day, it will be much more difficult to correct everything than if checks and adjustments were made in intermediate stages.

These five rules of communication will help you not only find the right approach and win over any buyer, but also bring him to the conclusion of the transaction.

Basic generally accepted standards of communication with clients

Every self-respecting organization must develop internal regulations and standards for communication with the company’s clients. They are aimed at properly establishing a dialogue with the buyer and building a competent sequence of stages of communication with him. This article will describe the basic standards on the basis of which you can develop your own regulations.

1. Emotional attitude and openness to the client. The employees of the sales floor or sales office should look so that the visitor wants to contact them. Here we are not talking about the external characteristics of the staff, which, by the way, is also important, but specifically about the image of a friendly manager, ready to advise and help. Sellers, of course, are people too and have the right to be in a bad mood, but this should not in any way affect communication with clients. A bad mood should be left at home or on the street, and at the workplace an employee should be with a friendly smile, and not scare off visitors with a sour expression on his face.

2. The client should not wait. There is hardly a person who dreams of sitting in line for an hour or two. Waiting is painful for anyone. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your customer service is structured in such a way that there are as few waiting visitors as possible. If there are such people, you need to show maximum care for those who are waiting in line. First, you need to apologize to the person and clarify how long it will take to serve him. Often this is important, since perhaps at this time he will be able to resolve some of his other matters. It is also necessary to keep the guest occupied with something if he is waiting for his turn in the hall: this could be magazines, catalogues, tea, coffee. The most important thing is that a situation does not arise: a visitor came in, but you did not pay attention to him because you were busy. It is important to meet the client and let him know that he will definitely be served.

3. Be able to conduct a dialogue. To win over your interlocutor and impress him, you need not only to be tactful with him, but also in relation to your competitors. You should not compare your product with someone else’s, pointing out the disadvantages of others and your advantages. You are unlikely to build trust if you discuss your competitors. There is also no need to engage in excessive self-promotion: this will look like boasting and exaggeration of existing advantages.

It is better to avoid large monologues, lengthy descriptions and explanations. It is worth remembering the main characteristics and advantages of a particular product and conveying the essence to the buyer without overloading him with unnecessary information. If you talk too much and for a long time, then, firstly, you can easily get confused yourself, and secondly, you can quickly tire the client. So that the visitor does not get tired of listening to you, you need to communicate with him in the form of dialogue, ask questions, and involve him in the conversation.

4. Be able to hear and listen. These similar concepts are somewhat different, because listening and hearing are different things, and a true professional in trading and in communicating with clients should know these differences. Listening is the ability to demonstrate to your interlocutor that you are listening. There is a special technique of active listening that anyone can master: you need to look into the eyes, nod, and do not interrupt.

The ability to hear is the ability not only to listen to a person, but also to understand everything that he wanted to convey to you. Understanding the buyer during communication with him is often very difficult. Many factors play a role here: people see the same things differently, a person does not always have sufficient knowledge to correctly express his thoughts and wishes. In such cases, you need to be able to unobtrusively get to the bottom of the truth, ask leading questions, and find out as many details and details as possible. Sometimes it’s enough just to put yourself in the shoes of your interlocutor and look at the question through his eyes. When you master the ability to listen to people, you will not only be able to quickly help the buyer solve his problem, but you will also be able to easily manipulate him, which is useful for the seller.

5. Address the client by name. How can you win over your interlocutor with just one word? Say his name. A banal truth that has great success in communicating with the client. When you address a person by name, it creates a more comfortable, inviting and trusting atmosphere for him, and also emphasizes the importance of this particular buyer to you.

6. Don't lie. Your reputation will be completely damaged if you are caught in a lie. Never exaggerate the merits of a product or say something that is not true. Even a small lie can cause irreparable harm and lead to loss of trust on the part of the client.

7. Always do a little more than required. A very simple, but at the same time effective technique. Exceeding consumer expectations is quite easy. You need to pay him a little more attention, provide an additional, even the most insignificant, service, pleasantly surprise him, and he will become your regular customer. The more you do for the buyer in the form of some kind of additional bonus, the more you will receive in return. He will be more willing and with great interest to talk to you about further cooperation if you charm him with your special attitude.

Consecutive stages of communication with the client

Stage 1. “Making contact” or “Establishing contact”

Any sale or transaction is impossible without this stage.

Goal: to attract the attention of a potential buyer to yourself and encourage further communication.

Before moving on to identifying the client’s needs, it is recommended to resort to communicating with him on abstract topics. There are a number of techniques for establishing contact with a visitor. You can offer tea, coffee, make a couple of compliments, etc.

It is very easy to understand whether you managed to establish contact with the buyer by his actions. If he actively enters into communication, reacts positively to the words and actions of the seller, behaves at ease and relaxed, we can conclude that a connection has been established. If the client is tense, tense, avoids communication, answers questions dryly and briefly, and looks away, this indicates that it was not possible to establish contact. In this case, the stage of making contact needs to be given more attention, using various techniques.

Stage 2. Identifying needs

Goal: to identify the client’s preferences and wishes.

The more accurately the manager is able to identify the buyer’s preferences, the more favorable he will be able to present the product, which will ultimately lead to a purchase.

To find out the client’s needs, the manager must use the correct sequence when communicating with him, be able to ask the right questions, listen and understand the interlocutor.

Stage 3. Presentation

Goal: to offer exactly what the buyer needs, based on his needs identified at the second stage of communication.

When presenting a product or service, the main thing is to convey to the client the benefits of purchasing the product. It is important here not to confuse the concepts of “benefit” and “advantage”.

Advantage– this is the benefit of this particular product in comparison with analogues. Anyone who purchases this product will receive this benefit.

Benefit- this is a feature or characteristic of a product that can satisfy the specific need of this particular buyer.

Thus, knowing all the needs identified during communication with the visitor, all that remains is to correctly present the product, which in its characteristics corresponds to the client’s wishes. It turns out that any product parameters can be beneficial for a certain client.

Stage 4. Dealing with objections

Purpose: to dispel the buyer’s doubts about the quality of the product or its compliance with the requirements, as well as the need for the purchase.

The better the previous stages of interaction with the client are worked out, the fewer objections will follow. Perhaps the manager will conduct all communication so correctly that he will not encounter any objections at all.

Often objections are related to the fact that:

• not all buyer needs were identified;
• Initially, poor contact was established and insufficient time was spent communicating with the client;
• the presentation was uninformative and could not provide a complete description of the product, and thereby answer all the buyer’s questions.

Every manager who wants to achieve success in sales should try to minimize the number of objections, because their excess is a signal of a poorly done job of interacting with the client.

It will not always be possible to completely avoid objections, so you need to learn to respond to them correctly and take appropriate measures.

Strictly adhere to the scheme for handling objections:

• listen to the buyer's objection;
• smooth out his emotions by using phrases of understanding (“I understand your indignation”, “Yes, I agree that it’s unpleasant...”, “I understand what it’s like...”, “I understand you”);
• obtain the necessary clarification through leading questions;
• offer an alternative solution to the problem.

Stage 5. Completion of the transaction

Goal: to bring the buyer to make a purchase and confirm the correctness of his decision.

At the transaction completion stage, you need to make sure that the client is ready to make a purchase. The manager can judge this by his behavior:

• the client has already formed a positive opinion about the product;
• he agrees with the manager's words;
• directly says that he is ready to purchase goods or enter into an agreement for the provision of services;
• interested in clarifying details.

Transaction completion methods:

• compliment method (“You made the right choice”);
• a method that sets a certain time frame (“If you make a purchase within three days, you will be given a 20% discount”);
• a win-win alternative (“Send measurers to you tomorrow or Friday?”).

The company's turnover directly depends on the professionalism of the customer service manager. The more skills and techniques he has, the more sales he will ultimately be able to make. Therefore, it is important to constantly train your staff and improve the skills of employees, send them to training sessions and lectures, develop and motivate them.

Psychology of communication with clients: effective techniques for working with difficult consumers

It is thanks to difficult clients that you can quickly identify and eliminate the shortcomings of your company, because such visitors will rush to point them out to you. The principle of working with such clients is to neutralize the pressure they exert, rather than ignore it, and at the same time be able to transform them into the status of loyal customers.

• Rudeness and aggressiveness of the client.

When communicating with a client, you should never become like him if he behaves unworthily. In response to rudeness, abuse, disrespectful statements and gestures, he should see only your friendliness and calmness. You cannot allow your interlocutor to make you angry.

Rudeness is used in cases where there are no other ways to prove one’s innocence or defend one’s interests. When a person has tried all other methods, used all the arguments and lost patience, he begins to be rude. Therefore, such harshness does not express the strength of the interlocutor, but only indicates his helplessness.

When dealing with such customers, it is important to give them the opportunity to blow off steam and show them that you are ready to solve the problem. You need to listen to the client without interrupting him. The right thing to do is to put aside all emotions and, without paying attention to the presentation of information, get to the core of the issue. To do this, you need to show your interlocutor that you are ready to listen to him calmly, no matter how much he swears, that you do not intend to argue, but want to help in solving the problem.

In the event that a scandal occurs in front of other visitors, try to take the client away as quickly as possible in order to continue communication in private or as far as possible from strangers.

• Softness, shyness.

There are types of people who will not make contact themselves because they are shy, do not want to distract, or are very shy by nature. When a manager communicates with such clients, he needs to show as much gentleness as possible: no pressure, more smiles, encouraging remarks, pushing him to make a decision. Such a buyer needs to be led and guided, helped to make a choice and at the same time be very tactful and unobtrusive.

• Client's indecisiveness.

Do not confuse indecisive people with soft ones. Indecisive customers are mainly those who are afraid of making a mistake, and therefore cannot make a choice or decide whether they need a purchase in principle. Such buyers will constantly question the decision they have already made, clarify details, and seek advice again and again. It is difficult for them to choose just one thing. They will rush between different models of the same product and will not be able to select the one that suits them, because they will doubt that it is the best. When dealing with such clients, you need to intentionally narrow your choice. You shouldn’t offer them six options at once; it’s enough to focus their attention on two, and only if they refuse these options, offer the other two. This way you will help customers make the right choice, and the purchase will not drag on for several days.

Such clients should also not be put under pressure or rushed. In no case show that you are tired of their indecisiveness, but on the contrary, try to encourage and support their desire to make the right choice. When communicating with a buyer, you need to instill confidence in him, dispelling his every doubt.

To encourage an indecisive person to make a purchase, it is often not enough just to present the product correctly. Additional tools must be used. In this case, you need to point out the limited quantity of this product, the upcoming price increase, or something else that will make the buyer understand that they should not delay the purchase, but should hurry up and make a decision.

More intermediate fixations mean more chances to reach an agreement as a whole. To prevent the client from changing his mind in the future, say that work on the agreed upon issues is already underway. Sometimes this is done on purpose so that the buyer does not return to this again. It’s better for him to be scared and refuse altogether than to endlessly deal with his doubts, wasting time and not being sure that the deal will go through.

• Familiarity.

There is a category of visitors who themselves have an excellent command of techniques for communicating with people and methods of manipulating them. They will behave overly friendly, trying to arouse your sympathy and thereby achieve a special favor towards themselves, in the hope of receiving some personal bonuses. The manager’s task when communicating with such clients is to show that he is also friendly and ready to cooperate, but adhere to a business style of communication, demonstrating professionalism and seriousness.

• Talkativeness.

As in life, at work you can often encounter a chatty client. It is quite difficult to conduct a dialogue with such a person. Nevertheless, you need to try to focus his attention on your proposal and control the communication process. Here you need to have time to competently insert your lines into long monologues during pauses, without interrupting your interlocutor.

Ask leading questions that bring the buyer back to the topic of conversation, focus his attention on the product. Do not try to say more than the interlocutor, strive to say the most important thing. Your task is not to talk the client down, but to convey the essence to him.

• Client's silence.

A chatterbox can be contrasted with a silent visitor. The difficulty in communicating with such clients is that sometimes it is not easy to understand the person’s reaction to your words. Here it is important not to go into a long monologue, but to involve your interlocutor in dialogue, asking his opinion and encouraging him to communicate. It is best to provide information in portions, constantly monitoring the buyer’s reaction.

You need to ask as many questions as possible that identify the person’s needs, and in those rare moments when he speaks, listen carefully to him. The Echo method will work great here. Its essence is to repeat the last words of the interlocutor.

• Demonstration of competence.

This buyer is well versed in your product and is familiar with its properties and characteristics. He will rush to demonstrate his knowledge during communication, considering this to be dignity and superiority. You need to be tactful and not try to compete with him, proving that you are more knowledgeable. Give him the opportunity to show off his knowledge. Try to have a casual conversation, ask questions and be an attentive listener.

If the buyer expresses his personal opinion about a specific product, clarify what exactly it is based on. To do this, use the following questions: “Why did you decide this?”, “What is the reason for this?” Try to translate the buyer’s personal attitude towards the product into a set of specific arguments. It will be much easier to respond to them than to try to convince your interlocutor.

If during communication with a client you notice that he is mistaken, you do not need to directly point out the mistake and try to correct him immediately, as this may cause a dispute. Remember that your task is to sell a product, not to impose your opinion.

What rules dictate the ethics of communication with clients?

Professional ethics of communication with clients includes the following rules:

• always be able to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and under no circumstances allow him to be treated in a way that you would not like to receive;
• if an ethical violation occurs, correct it immediately as soon as it is identified;
• maintaining tolerance of company employees to the moral principles, customs and traditions of other organizations and the surrounding world as a whole;
• have your own opinion, but understand that it is not the only one that has the right to exist;
• freedom that does not limit the freedom of others;
• ethical professional behavior of the employee, which leads to the development of the organization from a moral point of view;
• When communicating with a client, it is not allowed to put pressure on him or display his superiority in the behavior of the manager;
• find a compromise and avoid conflict in every possible way;
• the employee must not only behave correctly from an ethical point of view, but also encourage the client to do so;
• Avoid criticism of your interlocutor.

When communicating with clients you cannot:

• throw mud at competitors. You shouldn’t discuss your competitors or talk badly about them, even if it’s true. If the client himself asks your opinion about a particular company, your review of it should be as neutral as possible, and it would be most correct to refer to your ignorance of how things are going with competitors. The client's opinion about third parties should be formed without your participation;
• use slang. Often, employees communicate with each other and understand each other perfectly, but from the outside it seems as if they are speaking a foreign language. It will be difficult for the visitor to understand you and correctly navigate your terms. Therefore, communication with clients must be conducted in a language they understand. Sometimes it’s even better to show clearly what you are trying to convey to your interlocutor;
• let your emotions control you. No matter how difficult the interlocutor may be, no matter how much he tries to piss you off, your main rule is to remain calm. We are all, of course, living people and have the right to emotions, but not the client manager. In response to any of his actions, the consumer should see only your goodwill and no irritability or aggression.

How should you communicate with a client over the phone?

When communicating with a client on the phone, intonation plays the most important role. The impression of a conversation is formed in the first 20 seconds of communication. During this same time, the person decides whether he wants to continue the dialogue with you. Therefore, you need to pay attention to how you present information: your voice must be confident and your speech clear.

The structure of a telephone conversation is something like this:

Preparing for the conversation:

The telephone conversation itself:

There are many techniques for communicating with clients over the phone. One of them is based on identifying the interlocutor’s main sense organ for perceiving information. The fact is that to understand the world around us, we all use hearing, vision, touch, kinesthetics, and smell. But every person has a leading way of perceiving the world, by identifying which you can easily interest the client. You can determine the leading modality based on a conversation with him.

Examples of client statements indicating the predominance of one or another way of perceiving the world:

• visual: “It looks attractive”, “This description seems vague to me”, “I see it this way...”, “Let's try to shed some light on this problem”;
• auditory:“I heard you”, “Everything is happening out of sync”, “It sounds like a good idea”, “I just can’t tune in to what you’re saying”;
• kinesthetic (motor, motor):“Try to weigh everything carefully”, “I feel that I can do this”, “He gives off warmth”, “This is a very slippery situation”;
• olfactory:“It would be great to give this a good try,” “I just smelled a solution.”

For many people, the priority way of receiving information is visual, and this is easy to understand by the use of verbs that define visualization: “see”, “imagine”, “seems”, “observe”, “appears”, “decorate”, “looks”, etc. d. Such people perceive better what they see than what they hear. They prefer to watch rather than listen to descriptions, even the most detailed ones. During communication, clients will write down important points: they really like visual examples, draw up an action plan, take notes.

Auditory orientation is characteristic of a much smaller number of people. When communicating with such consumers, you will hear verbs related to hearing: “heard,” “sounds,” “pronounced,” “crackles,” “creaks,” etc. These interlocutors have good auditory memory and are able to remember most of the conversation without any notes or notes on paper. Such people love to communicate, but are also easily distracted by extraneous sounds.

A very small group of people are oriented towards a kinesthetic style of communication. When speaking, they often use verbs: “building”, “creating”, “using”, etc. Such people need to be constantly on the move; it is difficult for them to sit in one place. They show expression in communication, actively using facial expressions and gestures.

How to establish online communication with clients

It is necessary to join the circle of your target audience and establish contact with them. To do this, they use various thematic blogs, pages that a person must subscribe to, all kinds of mailings and subscriptions. Create a team of like-minded people and actively communicate with their leaders.

Use your data, prepare for meetings with your team:

• select several of the most important issues at the moment (three to five);
• check out the profiles of your interlocutor on social networks;
• draw up a psychological portrait of a person, indicate on paper your assumptions about him;
• decide what exactly is important for you to get from a person and how to build communication with the client.

Communication via e-mail:

• Seamless pick-up. If there is a need to replace a manager leading a specific client (vacation, sick leave, load distribution), this replacement should occur unnoticed by the consumer. To do this, the new manager must become familiar with all the nuances of conducting a transaction. The previous employee, who is aware of all matters, must help him with this. He must transfer all related materials regarding this buyer and tell as much as possible about the details of the work carried out and upcoming work with him.
• You cannot change the subject of the email. During correspondence, the subject line of the letter should remain as it was originally. Then the client and you will have the opportunity to filter this particular correspondence from other letters. If you change the subject even a little, the letter will not get into the filter and will be lost. If some correspondence has come to a logical conclusion, and there is a need to continue communication with the consumer on other issues, a new topic is assigned to the conversation.
• Talking topic. The topic should be structured in such a way as to convey the essence of the entire conversation.
• Reply All. In the case when several interlocutors are involved in the correspondence, it is necessary to use the “Reply all” function when replying to letters so that all participants in the conversation are involved in it and are aware of what is happening.
• SummaryAndcall to action. At the end of each letter, summarize and remind what result you want to achieve. This is how you program the client’s actions to achieve your goals.
• Resume after communication on Skype. After finishing communicating with a client on Skype, the correct thing to do is to send him a letter describing the essence of the conversation and summing up the results. This way, you will be sure that no one will forget what you said.
• The last word. Always try to ensure that the communication is completed by you. To do this, at the end of the conversation, it is enough to use the phrases: “Thank you for your cooperation!”, “Thank you for your time!”, “Have a good day!”

Classic phrases for communicating with clients for all occasions

1. Incoming call (external/internal).

• Greeting (external):“Good afternoon/morning/evening, company (name), position, department, name, I’m listening to you.”
• Greeting (internal):“Good afternoon/morning/evening, position, department, name, I’m listening to you.”
• Phrases excluded:“How can I help”, “I’m listening”, “You’ve got it”, “(company name) is listening”, “Hello”, “At the machine”.

2. Outgoing call to a new client.

• “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name).”
• “Please tell me who I can talk to about organizing staff training?”
• “Please tell me who in your company is in charge of purchasing?”

3. Outgoing call to the current client.

• Phrases excluded:“Do you recognize me?”, “Can I disturb you?”, “He’s calling you,” “Sorry for disturbing you.”

4. Outgoing call to an old client who needs to be returned.

• “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name), can I talk to (full name)?” If necessary, you can clarify what issue you are talking about.
• “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name). Is it convenient for you to talk now?”
• If the answer is yes:"Thank you! We have already collaborated with you (what kind of cooperation exactly), we would like to continue cooperation. Tell me, please, are you interested in (clarification)?”
• Phrases excluded: “Calling you,” “Worriing you.”
• If the answer is negative:“When can I call you back, so that it is convenient for you (to clarify the time and date)?”

5. The client came to the office.

• Unfamiliar client, greeting:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, (come in/take a seat)”, “I’m listening to you.”
• Phrases excluded:“Who are you seeing?”, “Man!”, “Woman!”, “Who are you looking for?”; Phrases not recommended:“Can I help you with something?”, “Are you looking for something/someone?”
• Familiar:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, (come in/have a seat)”, “Nice to see you.”

6. Meeting at the client's office.

• Unfamiliar client:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name), can I meet with (full name)?” If necessary, clarify on what issue.
• Familiar client: " Good afternoon/morning/evening, First name/last name/patronymic of the client, glad to see you” (you can give a compliment).

7. Ending the conversation.

• By phone or in person:“It was a pleasure to talk to you! All the best, have a good day/week/weekend!” etc.

This article will show you how to sell a product without resorting to psychological manipulation, refute three common myths about customer expectations, and talk about failed and winning sales strategies.

Book authors and coaches often reduce selling to the art of dialogue. This is a mistake: you can learn the rules of communication with a client, but still not sell the product. Sometimes sales experts rely on the personal characteristics of the buyer, identify types of clients and describe the rules of interaction with each of them. The result is fascinating instructions that do not work in practice. They do not take into account the situation in which the transaction is made and the real interests of the consumer. We offer 3 valuable advice for sales managers, with the help of which sales can build a trusting dialogue with the client and push him to purchase.

Let's say you read: a customer will purchase a product if you show the product's benefits. We decided to follow the advice and sent a manager to the buyer - let him tell us about the high quality of your company’s chairs. But the sales team didn’t find out that the potential customer would rent out the office in three days. So he won’t use the product and won’t overpay for quality. The mistake is that the seller did not find out in advance about the client’s interests and did not take them into account during negotiations. What needs to be done for the sale to take place? And what strategy should the manager choose?

Best article of the month

We have prepared an article that:

✩will show how tracking programs help protect a company from theft;

✩will tell you what managers actually do during working hours;

✩explains how to organize surveillance of employees so as not to break the law.

With the help of the proposed tools, you will be able to control managers without reducing motivation.

• 4 mistakes in working with clients that prevent sales people from selling more

Advice to a Sales Manager 1. Decide if the deal is a good deal for the customer.

Think about how necessary the company's offer is to the customer. What benefits will the client receive? Find out in advance what tasks he solves, what problems he overcomes. It is likely that your offer is not profitable and is not needed by the buyer. He does not use the product himself, but carries out the instructions of the manager, and therefore does not attach importance to the transaction. In this case, it is worth playing that you will do the work for him.

The deal is beneficial to the client. When the income of the client and his company depends on the transaction, allow the service to be tested or provide a free trial batch of goods. Prove to the potential customer that your product will affect their KPIs, change their position in the company and open up new career prospects. At the same time, do not make the sale aggressive and do not inform the client about the uniqueness of the offer.

For example, you sell consumables to the chief technologist or production director. The customer's company pays him bonuses for the volume of products produced and the percentage of defects. The buyer’s choice in this case depends not only on the price of consumables, but also on quality. If you give a trial batch of goods, the customer will appreciate it and stay with your company.

The deal is not profitable for the client. When the transaction does not affect the financial performance of the client and the company, study the customer’s personal preferences and place a bet on them in the commercial proposal. For example, you are selling a reference system to an accountant or lawyer. The income of the client and his company does not depend on this product. However, he uses the system personally. In this case, it is better to show the advantages of the product in action, and if this is not possible, describe it in a commercial proposal.

Advice to sales manager 2. Assess the client's competence

If the client is an amateur. In this case, the customer’s knowledge about the product is minimal. Convince such a buyer that you will provide the desired result, so he is not required to understand the product. For example, you sell services for website promotion in search engines and social networks. Your customer is the marketing director of a car dealer network. He wants the company to become famous and have visitors come to the site, but he doesn’t know how to do this. In order for a client to purchase a product, the manager uses both professional terminology and ordinary colloquial language in negotiations. The terms will confirm the expert level of the manager, and everyday speech will convince the client: there is no deception, the company will keep its promise.

If the client is a professional. A buyer who understands the product wants the manager to agree with his opinion. For example, an architect knows which tiles are now in fashion. He is waiting for the salesperson to sell him this product, and not express his point of view. The ideal option is for the manager to show that he does not have his own opinion. The customer will feel like an expert and will be more likely to make a purchase.

• How to push a client to buy: anchor casting and two more techniques

Tip for sales manager 3. Understand whether the client knows the product and wants to buy it

The client does not know and does not want to buy the product. The customer has not heard of the product you are selling and is therefore not interested in purchasing. To make a sale, the manager must tell the client about the product personally or act through another company employee. Let's say how to sell a jewelry company a new material - plasticine, which does not crack in the oven? The manager does not understand why he needs such a product. Then the manager arranges a meeting with the production technologist and finds out: the company makes molds from wax, which often cracks when fired. The manager makes a sample from plasticine, places it in the oven for ten minutes, and then asks the technologist to break the model. As a result, the technologist convinces the director of the company to buy the product.

The client does not know the product, but wants to buy it. The client has a problem, but no solution. The salesperson's task is to offer a ready-made solution. Then the deal will take place. For example, a customer wants to purchase a batch of outerwear, but cannot choose. The manager talks about the fashion trends of the season and helps you choose a range of products. As a result, the client concludes a deal.

The client knows the product, but does not want to buy it. When the customer is aware of the product and does not want to purchase it, it is useless to make a presentation: there is already enough information. It is more important to understand why the client does not see the point in purchasing and to find weak arguments. For example, a potential buyer knows that competitors have purchased a product similar to the one being offered and are dissatisfied with it. During the conversation, the salesperson finds out that the products were used incorrectly. Tells the client about this. As a result, the customer signs the contract.

The client knows and wants to buy the product. Everything seems to be simple here: there is a product - there is the customer’s intention to purchase it. The catch lies in a situation where the required product is not in stock. Under no circumstances should a manager offer another product, even with similar properties. The buyer will perceive such behavior as deception.

Loser's strategy for successful sales

Most people sell unconsciously: their sales techniques and skills were formed spontaneously, under the influence of a mass of random factors. Such sales specialists can be called reactive. A reactive manager only reacts to the client, without trying to manage either his own behavior or the decisions and actions of the buyer. He does what comes naturally and is incapable of forecasting and planning. Therefore, cannot manage sales. Failing managers use a strategy of limitations when working - after each interaction with a client, they ask themselves the following questions:

1. What went wrong?

2. Why did this happen to me?

3. Who is to blame?

4. What will I never do again?

Consistently applying this strategy results in a reactive sales manager:

• I am convinced that it is possible to sell only by chance;
• resists any innovations and trainings, as they are not able to influence sales;
• constantly makes excuses for failures;
• doesn't do anything to help him succeed.

Example. The manager came to negotiate with the client. The customer is calm and confident that he is not losing anything, because he can buy the product from another company. To manipulate the salesperson, the client will escalate the situation: intimidate, blackmail, demonstrate indifference, etc. If the seller succumbs to influence, he will lose - agree to unfavorable conditions or leave with nothing.

• An ideal conversation scenario with a client: 3 main rules

Best strategysaleslucky guy

In order to sell a product to a client, taking into account his interests, the salesperson must make a small revolution in the customer’s mind. At the same time, the manager relies on his own resources: persistence, charm and the ability to influence someone else’s decision. Such a manager can be called proactive. He understands the cause-and-effect relationships between his actions and their results and easily adapts to changes. Never agrees with the client. According to a study by Inc.com, 60% of customers do not close a deal if the salesperson agrees with them on everything. (drawing). After negotiations, a proactive manager asks himself the following questions:

1. What did I want to achieve?

2. What did I know about the client and the situation?

3. What did I plan to do?

4. Why would this strategy work?

5. What reaction did I seek from the client?

6. What did I do in a real situation?

7. How did the client behave?

8. What emotions did I experience?

10. What can I learn from this situation?

11. How can I use this information later?

12. What will I do? With which clients? In what situations?

13. What new opportunities do I have?

Example. A confident manager broadcasts to the client: “My company and I are doing well with sales. What I offer is in demand and has an adequate price.” When communicating with the buyer, the salesperson is moderately persistent. He shows that he is interested in the deal, but not so much as to please the client in everything.

"They do not want to work. I am everything to them, and they stab me in the back,” are the classic words of the company owner.

And we in marketing consulting have long realized that it is impossible to achieve high results by working only with clients.

In this article we will talk in detail about the motivation of sales managers.

I'm not him. They are not us

The owner always compares the manager to himself. This is the very first and biggest mistake when creating motivation for staff.

And before we move on to ready-made solutions, I want to expand on this issue more fully.

After all, it is the foundation of a positive result. Not everyone needs money. Dot. In our article we raised this issue.

But the owners can't wrap their heads around this idea. You believe that there is only one meaning to work - money. This is the big difference between an owner and a manager.

An entrepreneur and an employee are different people. And this concerns not only money. Values, ideas, plans - all this is also different.

Employees also differ from each other. They are all at work for different reasons. And again, I repeat, the issue is not only about money.

Long-term motivation

For you, this means that the usual approach “Salary +%”, in a classical implementation, will not work so effectively in relation to a complex implementation.

Therefore, even though in this article we will measure everything in money, you should also understand that the usual free cookies in the office for employees also affect the motivation of sales managers. It's subtle, but it's important.

Cookies!

This type of motivation is called “long-term motivation.” It also includes such elements as formal employment, insurance, social assistance, workplace and other obvious elements of work.

It is not necessary that all this be at its best; at a minimum, it should be within the normal/comfortable range.

Non-material motivation

To long-term motivation, for the sake of completeness, we need to add “non-material motivation,” also known as “short-term motivation.”

This brings us back to the topic of the importance and primacy of money. In addition to the amount on a bank card, people want to receive respect, status, power, leisure and other privileges for their efforts.

So, as you read further examples of incentive schemes, periodically think about how you can replace money with intangible bonuses.

Such bonuses include: an extra day off, the softest chair in the office, or a trip to a restaurant with the family. You will find more such examples in the article.

Sales plan

Like the average person, there are topics that make me nervous. One of these topics is the sales plan, or rather the phrase - “It is impossible for us to set a sales plan. Everything with us is very specific.” Stop! You should see my face now...

So stop! How is this impossible?!

A sales plan can and should be set in all businesses. Firstly, you, as the owner, must understand where you are going.

And if you don’t understand where you’re going, then your employees especially don’t know it. Secondly, without a sales plan you will NEVER create a normal motivational scheme.

We created brilliant motivational schemes, but without a sales plan they collapsed like ships on rocks and glaciers.

Therefore, if you do not have a plan and you are not going to set one, then you can close this article. Since even the chips that you take from here will not correct the situation, and we will be to blame for giving you such a bad scheme.

We divide and saw

Let’s finish with general words and move on to the motivational scheme of sales managers.

It is like the human body: it is not simple and consists of several parts. Each part performs its own function, without which it is impossible to achieve the desired result.

Below I will tell you the motivation of each employee individually. You can find out how to motivate them in a group/department in our article.

Fixed part

I personally tried several times in my company to introduce work for a percentage only.

All these thoughts appeared against the backdrop of other businesses that had already implemented this and boasted about the results. But my personal opinion is that an employee should have a salary. This is important for you and for him.

Let's be honest. Not everything depends on your active sales manager. Your pricing, your product, your marketing, your management and much more depends on you.

The manager influences this, but cannot radically change the situation. This means that demanding work from him for % is unreasonable.

Therefore, we must make a fixed part that a person will definitely receive, even if he doesn’t sell anything.

This is his guarantee that even if he does everything as you say, he will receive the money.

Otherwise, if everyone is for himself, he will do what he considers right and profitable for him. The result is a lack of control and chaos in the company.

Remuneration should be based on the market average. A salary that is too high will attract lazy people and will not give them the opportunity to open up. A salary that is too low will repel the candidate and will show (at first glance) that you are a very smart company.

Important. When looking for a job, managers, after studying the final salary, go to study your salary. Not a percentage, not a motivation system, not bonuses, but a salary. Keep this in mind when hiring employees.

Floating part

The most interesting part of the salary. After all, if we pay the fixed part for performing basic duties, then we pay the floating part for the result obtained. What a pleasant word - the result... It’s just a balm for the soul. But let's get back to business.

The floating part is called for a reason. It's not just a percentage, as many people think.

It consists of different points, each of which has its own counting scheme. Ideally, use all the ingredients, but separate the flies from the cutlets so that the employee understands what he is responsible for.

KPI (key performance indicators)

In companies where salaries are too high (according to the market), we take part of the money for KPIs. These are indicators that for a business are intermediate between a manager and money.

That is, it is not the money itself, but the actions that lead to this money.

In a wholesale company targeting inbound calls, this is the conversion from lead to purchase.

In an active service industry sales team, this could be the number of outgoing calls. Everything is individual. But here is a list of typical and most popular criteria:

1. Conversion from lead to client;
2. Number of outgoing calls to new clients;
3. Number of meetings with new clients;
4. Number of calls to old clients;
5. Amount of accounts receivable;
6. Number of sent.

All these points can be measured. This is a key factor when setting KPIs. Everything that is not measured goes into the “Bonuses” section, but we will talk about it later.

Now about the performance indicators for which you must allocate a specific amount.

As a rule, there should be no more than 5 such indicators (3 is better), and they are set for every day or week.

That is, it becomes a kind of indicator of the employee’s effectiveness over this period.

You can pay according to the principle of did/didn’t (received/didn’t receive money), or you can pay in direct proportion to how much you did.

Case from practice. In working with the auto center, we set the KPI to . The call center called customers and asked how satisfied they were with the employee’s work. The more positive reviews he received, the more he earned.

Progressive percentage

For us and sellers, receiving a percentage of sales is the norm. Moreover, most of the money depends on this.

So it was, is and... This approach is correct and is mandatory when working as a salesperson. But it can also be improved, made ideal.

Now we will need your sales plan. Because now we will pay the employee not just a fixed percentage of sales, but it will be progressive.

It will vary depending on what stage of the plan the employee is at.

Let’s imagine a situation where you have a plan of 5 million rubles per employee.

The plan is good, which means it is not so easy to implement it, especially when on average an employee completes it 80%, and then gives up because he considers further actions difficult and, most importantly, not rational in terms of money.

Therefore, we make a knight's move and divide our sales plan into 5% steps. And for each level we set the corresponding income:

1. up to 70% - 5,000 rub. (2%)
2. 70-75% - 6,000 rub. (2.2%)
3. 75-80% - 7,000 rub. (2.5%)
4. 80-85% - 8,000 rub. (2.8%)
5. 85-90% - 10,000 rub. (3.2%)
6. 90-95% - 14,000 rub. (4%)
7. 95-100% - 18,000 rub. (4.5%)
8. 100+% - 24,000 rub. (6%)

As a result, we get a motivated employee who clearly understands how much he will get if he makes a little more effort.

Thus, we show him that the game is worth the trouble and break through his financial ceiling, because greed takes over (in a good way).

Note. Following the example above, you can pay an employee a percentage of sales, or you can pay a fixed amount from month to month to remove spikes and settle the average monthly amount.

Fixed percentage

Now we are not talking about a standard percentage for general sales, but about rewards for the sale of “special” goods.

Each company has different “special” products. Therefore, you need to select them yourself. But so that you better understand what I'm talking about, here is a list of the most popular:

• Discounted goods;
• Products of a certain brand;
• Upsell products;
• Promotional goods.

You define product groups and tell your employees that they will receive an increased percentage of these sales.

We do this in order to focus the attention of employees on something specific. As a rule, a product with a fixed percentage changes once a month or season, as the company's priorities also change.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

Bonuses

In addition to direct actions that affect sales, there are many secondary, but no less important. For example, submitting reports.

On the one hand, this is the employee’s responsibility, but in reality it is an additional option, which many employees speak poorly of because they are not used to doing this.

Therefore, we include in bonuses actions that are important to us and that benefit both the business and the employee.

To make it clearer, I will give several typical ones that we most often use in motivation systems for managers at our clients:

1. Maintaining ;
2. Accounting for your actions in the program;
3. Work on ;
4. Order in the workplace;
5. Reporting.

You may have other points. You set them based on what is important to the business and to you as a manager.

Each bonus is paid separately. Usually an employee loses it when he breaks the rules 2-3 times. If you are a fan of hardcore, you can deprive the bonus right away.

Interesting. The nice thing about bonuses is that they are not perceived as a penalty, but as an opportunity to earn more money. If it is lost, the employee blames only himself, since he himself missed the opportunity.

Super bonus

In order for the result to not stop after completing 100 percent of the plan, you need to stimulate the manager to continue working hard.

For this we use a super bonus. The payment scheme can be implemented as follows:

1. We pay the employee an additional 1,000 rubles for each +5% in the plan.
2. Upon reaching 110-130% and 130-150%, his percentage of profit increases

In this case, the employee will be motivated to move even every 5 percent and will want to go through the percentage step (110-130 and 130-150) as soon as possible, because there is super-speed.

Just don’t be greedy, super-speed means a very high percentage. To make it easier to screw him over, think about how much money a person will bring you if he exceeds the plan, and then the value of his action instantly increases.

Such a super-bonus, like a floating percentage, helps individuals prove themselves.

And against their background, others also begin to try better, because they do not want to be the worst in the team. What do they do with the worst ones? Right! They are fired.

By the way, you can set a rule that the worst employee in six months will be fired. Not a bad stimulation for those lagging behind, I tell you.

Reduction in bonuses

I'm not a fan of fines. I'm sure you don't like them either. It's like taking a gift from a birthday boy. Nasty feelings.

But sometimes you can’t go anywhere without them. Therefore, so that your managers understand that they will receive a fine for committing this crime, you need to make a bonus deduction sheet.

This does not directly relate to the motivation scheme for managers, but as long as employees do not know that in addition to the carrot there is also a stick, they will neglect some actions that are very important to you.

We combine motivation and penalties - we get a crazy cocktail of top managers focused on results.

Each owner draws up his own list of bonuses, usually it fits on an A4 sheet, although initially everyone says that he will now write War and Peace.

There are not many truly important points. Here are the typical solutions:

1. A deal was not created in CRM when selling;
2. The report was not submitted at the end of the working day;
3. No compliance with corporate dress code;
4. Mess in the workplace;
5. Naming a phrase from the stop list of words;
6. Being late for work;
7. The reason for the delay in completing the task before the end of the deadline is not written;
8. The task assigned by management was not completed on time.

As usual, you will have your own list. Each point will have its own fine amount. If there are overlapping points with “Bonuses,” then if the bonus is lost, the employee will still be fined.

Otherwise, we have seen cases where an employee significantly lost a bonus and continued to do nothing.

Briefly about the main thing

In order for the management motivation system to work, it is necessary to take a comprehensive approach.

The formula for success is as follows: use all the points from our approach (adapted to suit yourself) + long-term motivation + non-material motivation.

We take from this only the most important things so that the manager does not get confused in the scheme.

Any scheme requires verification and adaptation to your area. I don't like to say it, but every business is specific and has its own characteristics.

In general, creating a motivational scheme is not difficult when you have our example of calculating the motivation of a sales manager.

It's difficult to make it work. Therefore, be patient and prepare for the fact that employees need to instill the habit of counting their earnings.

This issue is resolved through salary boards/tables (online and offline).

P.S. We know how difficult it is to create motivation for sales managers for the first time, so if you have questions, ask them in the comments, we will help with advice for free.

What questions will you find answers to in this article?

How to Prepare Sales Managers for Frequent “No” Answers

How to break through the secretary and reach the right employee

What to do if the conversation doesn't go according to script

How to prepare managers for cold selling

When selling over the phone, your employees constantly hear “no, no, no” (sometimes in a rather rude manner), which can unsettle anyone. If the manager is not prepared, repeated
refusals will hit his pride, he will be disappointed in his product and with such an attitude he will not be able to sell at all. Therefore, your task is to explain to employees: refusals
they will hear regularly - this is their profession. An experienced seller will be able to reduce the number of refusals to a minimum, but it will not be possible to avoid them at all
to no one. A simple workout will help you learn to maintain balance despite the constant “no”. Let the manager suggest several times in a row
something to you or the commercial director over the phone and each time you will hear a more or less categorical “no” in response. Then discuss how this makes him feel. The main thing is to convince the sellers
that it is not the outcome of a single telephone conversation that is important, but the result of the day. What else will help your
the seller to feel more confident?

Let the manager try the product for himself

It is necessary for the manager to understand all the advantages of the product being offered. If you sell food products, an employee should taste them; if you sell technical devices, talk to an engineer about their features. A sales manager must understand the product enough to be able to talk about it in his own words,
without repeating memorized formulas. Demonstrate your product regularly, talking about customer perceptions and new product features along the way. Also to the seller
It doesn’t hurt to read reviews from satisfied customers. Thanks to this, the employee will become confident in his product, and customers will hear this confidence in his voice.

Train your salespeople

Explain how to act in stressful situations

If a customer's question or complaint has offended the seller, he should directly state this. For example, let him answer: “You know, when our company is ridiculed like that, it’s offensive and I’m at a loss. Tell us in more detail, what we need to do so that you are satisfied with the cooperation and don’t say that again?” If a client asks a question and the manager does not know the answer, he should seek help from a competent specialist or management. Let sellers forget the answer “I don’t know” - instead they should say “I’ll clarify.”

How to conduct cold sales

Your employee must clearly understand what result he wants to achieve from a specific conversation - receive an order, make an appointment, arrange to send a commercial proposal or invoice, etc. In addition, the seller needs to at least get to know the client in absentia. To do this, just follow two steps online:
± type in the search engine the name of the company and the desired position, then find the first name, patronymic and last name of the employee of interest;
± type the found first name, patronymic and last name into a search engine and, through various social networks (including professional ones), find out where this employee worked before and what his circle of interests is;
resources and communication. Of course, if you offer a not very expensive product or your customer base is huge, there is no point in wasting time on a detailed study of data
employee, but it’s still worth getting an idea of ​​the company and the person the seller needs; this will take literally three to five minutes.

Table of conversation scenarios when calling a cold client
(based on the method of Stephen Schiffman)

Conversation stage	What should I say
1. Capture your interlocutor's attention	Say hello politely, calling the interlocutor by name and patronymic: “Good afternoon, Oleg Nikolaevich!” Then pause and wait for a response: the person must join the conversation. Briefly introduce yourself: “Vasily Khlobystov, Key Solutions company.” Then you can briefly explain why you decided to talk with him: “Ivan Ivanovich recommended that we talk directly with you about the issues...”. Don’t forget to check whether it’s convenient for your interlocutor to communicate now. If not, just arrange for another time.
2. Introduce yourself and your company	It is not necessary to retell the history and achievements of the company - it is enough to mention your name, surname and name of the organization. The position should be named only if it is comparable to the position of the interlocutor. For example: “Oleg Nikolaevich, I am the leading consultant at Key Solutions.” For more than 15 years, we have been successfully helping our clients increase business efficiency.” If your company is among the leaders or has a clear advantage, mention this in 10–20 words
3. Explain the reason for the call	Say, “I’m calling to set up a meeting where we can discuss how we can help you significantly improve the performance of your salespeople.” Or: “I’m calling to find out how we can start collaborating. How to become your supplier? What do I need to do?"
4. Ask a question or make a value judgment	You cannot ask directly (for example, like this: “Are you interested in training employees to improve their efficiency?”). Such questions, which assume a “yes” answer, often cause irritation, and the client refuses. Better formulations with reference to the opinions of other clients: “Do you, like the companies ... (name a couple of your large clients working in the same industry as the interlocutor) with whom we cooperate, believe that employee training is a good way to increase their efficiency work? Or this: “I’m sure that you, like companies A, B and C, are interested in sales managers working more efficiently.”
5. If necessary, make an appointment	If the interlocutor is ready to discuss the proposed topic with you, you should not waste his time. Instead, immediately set a specific day and time for the meeting: “Great, in that case, we worth meeting. Will Wednesday at 16:15 suit you?” 16:15 is better than 16:00 and 16:30. Such pedantry will show that you know how to value time. In addition, if the client’s previous meeting was lasts, for example, from 15 to 16 hours, the interlocutor will have 15 minutes to rest and switch from one topic to another
Advice. If the conversation script cannot be followed, the client has no time, or is clearly not in the mood, there is no need to waste time trying to turn the situation around. Just leave the conversation for another day

"Breakthrough" to a contact person
If it was not possible to find out the name of the required employee on the Internet, you will have to do this during the first conversation. There is no point in calling the reception: an experienced secretary can put up a barrier on principle. It is better to contact the sales department and clarify the information of interest from any employee. This will work either because the always busy manager has no time to ask your specialist, but it is easier to answer, or due to the solidarity of the sellers, which no one bothers to refer to.

Here's what to keep in mind when talking to him.

Discussing a commercial proposal with a secretary is not only pointless, but also dangerous. If your employee immediately passes on the information to him, he will probably hear in response: “Thank you, we’ll take care of it.”
We’ll call you back.”

You need to remain calm and maintain a confident and friendly tone. Under no circumstances should you argue with the secretary.

It is better to call a secretary an office manager: for many it sounds more pleasant. If the conversation is not limited to a couple of phrases, you can ask the name of the interlocutor.

It is worth checking whether the interlocutor is comfortable talking now. Even the office manager can be busy (for example, if the director requires an urgent report or the reception area is crowded with visitors). Hardly
the conversation will quickly turn out to be constructive. Then you just need to agree on the time of the next call. This is also good because when the seller calls again, his voice will be slightly less clear to the secretary.
familiar. There are different ways to overcome the secretarial barrier. For example, you can ask for advice, refer to someone’s recommendation, puzzle with specific terminology, introduce yourself by naming a resonant position. I taught the managers of one of the companies a simple technique - hearing “Who? On what question?”, answer slightly surprised: “Sergey, company X” (so that the voice reads: “How? You didn’t recognize me?”) – and fall silent. In most cases it worked. Sometimes the secretary began to clarify what issue they were asking about, then the manager again said: “Just tell me: Sergey, company X.” If it was not possible to break through, your employee should not burn bridges. You can agree to call again in a week, clarify at least some of the information you are interested in, find out who you can send a commercial offer or an official letter to. By the way, when sending a letter, you need to put the outgoing number on it and find out the incoming number: this reduces the likelihood that the correspondence will go to the trash bin.

The actual conversation: instructions for a sales manager

Finally, your manager has been connected to the right specialist. Before blurting out a prepared offer to him, the seller must understand that the interlocutor was not sitting at the machine at that moment,
waiting for an important call. Even after picking up the phone, he will initially be busy with other thoughts and will not hear what was said in the first 30 seconds. The table shows an example scenario of a conversation with a “cold”
client. You can encourage your salespeople to stick to this script.

What else might your employee need during a conversation with a client?

If the conversation drags on and the client shows interest, the seller will need cheat sheets with more detailed information about your company and a description of the product or service (in two versions: both professional and everyday language).

It is also better for you to provide options for responses to the main objections of clients (usually 10 answer options are enough to dismiss 90% of objections). Corporate legends will also be useful. For example: “At company A, at first they also believed that the topic was not relevant for them. Then we tried it anyway. As a result, sales for everyone in this market fell and only theirs increased. The company even sent us a letter of gratitude. And now he contacts us once a quarter.”