If you’ve been following along with the previous Acts — Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 — you’re likely to assume that if you performed well, Act 4 will be short and sweet. You’re completely right.
Act 4 in the Action Selling® sales process is all about agreeing on need. Pretty straightforward, right? Because you used Act 2 to sell yourself and Act 3 to get them to open up about their needs and issues, this step should be as simple as going, “As I understand it, you’re looking for…” and then repeating back the most important needs you’ve learned about the prospect’s situation.
For well-trained sales teams, this step can take as little as 20-30 seconds. Many prospects never meet a salesperson that is capable of showing that they listened to their needs, let alone summarizing and repeating them back to them. It also ensures you are aligned – if you’ve misunderstood anything, this is the opportunity for the prospect to course correct and allow you to move forward with confidence. And it also guides your presentation because now you know which capabilities and solutions of your company you need to focus on.
All that said, as part of Act 4, we have one more important Action Selling® skill to teach you.
How Back-Tracking Benefits Helps You Agree on Need in Sales
Action Selling® uses a process called Back-Tracking Benefits to help salespeople uncover as many needs as possible. It helps focus the conversation on needs that relate directly to the features and benefits of your company’s products and solutions, making the next two Acts — selling your company and product — a lot easier to pull off.
To prepare for a sales call using Back-Tracking Benefits, start with your knowledge of your product’s features and their likely benefits to the prospect. Features are the attractive characteristics of your product or service, while benefits are the advantages that customers gain from those features.
After that, determine what needs the customer might have for those features and benefits. Then prepare skillfully phrased open-ended questions that let you drill down to uncover high-yield needs that could be served by those features and benefits.
You’ll look at your strengths — the features of your product or service that make people go “wow” — and go through the Back-Tracking Benefits process for each one. By having asked open-ended questions in Act 2, you’re now going to be able to better pull out the most relevant information to push the sale forward — and agree on need with your sales prospect — now.
How skilled is your sales team at getting prospects to agree on need?
Try our FREE sales skills assessment to see where they excel during the selling process — and where they could use a little guidance.
With 90% of senior executives failing to reach strategic goals due to poor execution, the advantage of better techniques through strategic training is undeniable.
Stay tuned to learn more about the other Acts of selling — and see how they all fit together to create a training program that delivers long-lasting success for everyone on your team.