The Psychological Steps of Selling
Part One of a Four-Part Special Series
By Adam Radzik
Marketing & Sales Coach

Every sale is a journey, with a beginning point and an ending. It would behoove anyone who wishes to successfully sell a product or service to become intimately familiar with the sales process. There are four discrete steps in any successful sale, and they are:

1. Identifying the need
2. Identifying a partial solution
3. Why the purchaser should choose you and your company
4. Presenting the urgency component

These steps need to be followed in this exact order in order to accomplish a sale.

In this issue of The Radzik Report we will review Step 1: The Need.

In order for the sale to proceed, the salesman must be able to identify a need that the client has. Is there a problem that the client is experiencing? Is there a proverbial pebble in his shoe that causes him pain every time he takes a step? Is there a threat to company prosperity? Is there an obstacle? Is there a condition that is causing the company to lose money or opportunity?

Let’s use a pedestrian example — a department store. What are the needs of a department store? Is shoplifting a problem? Is employee theft an issue? Are energy costs a concern? Is the cozy relationship between purchasing and the manufacturers a possible minefield? What about having the right inventory, and the right amount of inventory?

What about potential for fire? Is the store properly insured? Is employee training effective? What is the reputation of the store in the community? Are sales going up or going down? What is the situation with its line of credit with the bank? What about the quality of management and the employee turnover rate? Have you tried shopping there yourself?

How do you prepare properly to determine the department store’s needs? First, the problems experienced by your target also will be experienced by other department stores, so find out if anybody in your company has ever dealt with one. Then, how about doing some research online with the International Association of Department Stores? How about reading up on department stores and their most common needs? How about talking to the executive director of their trade association or the editor of their trade publication? How about doing a Google search? How about preparing for that sales call?

And by the way, if your sales targets are happy with their current providers, they won’t view themselves as needing you. So do yourself a big favor and don’t waste your time. You are looking for unhappy customers. They are the ones who will want to talk to you, and believe me, there are thousands of unhappies out there. Do you know why? Because more than 80 percent of Americans dislike their jobs. Hence, they do poor work, and no one is happy with poor work!

Also, your targets need to have the money to pay you. If they don’t have the money, they won’t meet your need to feed your family. Don’t waste your time with someone who doesn’t have the money right now.

You should be thinking hard about this question: What do you have that someone really needs to buy? Determining and finding the need is the first critical step in making a sale. Plainly put, you want to find someone with a really big pebble in his shoe!

Selling is a thinking man’s game; so think, man, think!

Adversity – The business adversity we face today will soon be behind us fading quickly into the past.

The actions taken as a result of adverse business conditions include getting rid of inferior employees, trimming expenses, reexamining marketing and sales practices and targets and resolving problems that have long plagued the company. These improvements and others will allow the company to survive the storm and emerge with a far more secure footing and enhanced possibilities of profits in the future.

Poorly-managed businesses that have no reserves quickly go under when the first sign of business reversal occurs.

Our troubles as well as our salvation often originate in the forces of supply and demand.

After the economy get worse and worse, unexpectedly it gets better.

Advisors – Kings, Emperors and Presidents have always sought the counsel of trusted advisors. Today we call them business consultants.

Ambition – Every employee has ambition. The problem is that it often has little to do with the job they are getting paid for.

The ancient desire of aspiring to the throne is alive and well in business today and carries with it the identical potential for deceit, malevolence and betrayal.

Angels – Angels come out of the woodwork and offer to help when an employee becomes ill or is unable to do his work.

Anger – An outburst of anger in a work setting is rarely forgiven and never forgotten.

Aging – The older we get the less patience we have for minutiae, dealing with novice employees and remembering detailed information. On the other hand our perspective broadens and our marketing appeal increases. Our tasks need to change to reflect that metamorphosis.

Argument – It is very hard to make a convincing argument for not doing something that every similar business is doing and has been doing for years.

It is very hard to make an argument for doing something that every similar business is not doing and has never done.

Positive arguments build a business high. Negative arguments tear it down to its very foundation.