The Art of Sales

One person who knows how to sell is Seth Mohorn, market manager for Dale Carnegie Training for Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri.
Since 2003, he has ranked among the top three instructors worldwide and top 10 in sales since 1999. That’s out of more than 600 Dale Carnegie trainers.
Though much of his training is proprietary, the sage was willing to share some of his insight on sales as an art and the five basic steps he teaches.
To Mohorn, selling is a relationship process. He insists salesmen should not push product, rather they should develop a long-term relationship with clients to understand the needs of their businesses.
The sales process never ends, Mohorn said, and his techniques apply to all salesmen, regardless of the industry.
Rapport
In the Carnegie method, rapport is vital.
People make up their minds very quickly about a person, and a salesman has about seven seconds to convey a positive image. This can make or break a sale.
People won’t buy product if they don’t like the salesman.
“Within sales, the question that really is asked most is, ‘Do people buy from who they trust, like or respect?'” Mohorn said. “People will buy from who they like first. After they like you, they’ll allow you the time to get to know them so they can trust you and then respect you.”
“You can have the best product in the world and they can respect the product, a high-quality product and they can trust the results of it, yet if they don’t like you, they’re going to look for someone else that can sell that same product,” Mohorn said.
Mohorn said rapport is the most important part of sales, and he’s not the only one.
Wendell Bridges, manager of Warrior of Arkansas in Springdale, sold cars before he started selling John Deere equipment. He said even after leaving car sales, he continued receiving phone calls from former customers. They still wanted his advice on new cars.
“Selling is simply building a long-term relationship with an individual and never wavering on that commitment,” he said.
Kent Dobbs, owner of Kent Dobbs Hyundai in Springdale, said people generally shop five car dealerships when they’re in the market for a vehicle and will make their decisions within 72 hours.
Dobbs said he knows rapport is an ongoing process. In fact, he wrote a sales book for his employees with advice from his years of experience. One tip Dobbs shared was that repeats and referrals are equal to success and sales.
After making the sale, Dobbs keeps in touch with customers with monthly newsletters. He also makes a point to make calls to customers once a quarter.
“One guy told me, ‘I hear from you more than my mother,'” Dobbs said. “I’m not here to bother you. I’m saying, ‘how can I be of service, what can I do to help you?'”
Sales weren’t exciting when Payne Brewer, executive vice president and loan manager with Arvest Bank-Fayetteville, graduated from college. He chose banking because of an aptitude for numbers. As he got into the field though, he redefined the meaning of sales.
“When you’re helping somebody, you’re selling,” he said.
Brewer believes face-to-face contact with a client is most effective. He said the result of this idea is having lending staff spread throughout the bank’s branches to be more approachable.
Interest
After establishing rapport with a potential client, that person is still indifferent to a sales pitch, Mohorn said. Now it’s time for the salesman to determine the needs of the person.
“We can’t find out what the company really needs until we ask a lot of questions,” he said.
Debi Bernhardt, travel consultant for Bella Vista Travel, said questioning is one of the most important aspects of the business. There’s a whole world of possibilities out there. Asking where they’ve been before, how much time and money they want to spend and what they enjoy doing are the most important questions.
“Sometimes they have no clue where they want to go or what they want to do, so you have to try to pull that out,” she said.
Brewer said he trains Arvest associates in the questioning process to better determine the needs of customers.
“Customers don’t come in and say, ‘I need a cash management account,'” he said. “They come in with a problem.”
For questioning, Brewer said open-ended questions are the best way to get information.
“Be open to what comes next and let them lead the conversation,” he said.
There should be a limit on the questions though, so as not to put the client in a defensive position.
“I tell our lenders to be curious,” he said. “Don’t be inquisitive.”
Solution
Through the questioning of step two, the answers will guide both the potential client and the salesman to a solution. Then the salesman can see if there is a solution to meet those needs.
Bernhardt said it’s best to tailor a number of vacation solutions for clients.
“We just give them the options and let them decide,” she said. “It’s their trip, not our trip.”
She said 75 percent of business is repeat customers, making the process easier because of familiarity. Also, the Internet and travel shows on TV can guide customers to a destination.
“They are doing more research, which actually is a help to us because then they have kind of narrowed it down to what they’re interested in,” she said. “Then they come to us to see if we can get them the same deal and remove some of the headaches and hassles from them.”
Motive
“People buy on emotion,” Mohorn said.
When a salesman can narrow the field to one or a few tailored options, it is important to attach that solution to an emotion. The salesman must understand why the client would want they want and why they want it.
Mohorn used the example of professional training. When people sign up for courses, it is due to some perceived value on behalf of the client. They may view training as job security or perhaps enjoy the intrinsic value of education.
“It’s easier to sell to you if I understand why you want what you want.”
It can also be what deters the customer from making a choice.
Scott Beal, director of sales and marketing for the Embassy Suites Northwest Arkansas in Rogers, said concern is often an issue.
“For that mother and the bride-to-be, this is not just some meeting for Procter & Gamble, this is the event of their lifetime,” Beal said. “They are very paranoid, very nervous.”
Events like weddings and receptions — of which Beal handles 10 to 15 each month — need to go off without a hitch. To put clients at ease, Beal likes to assure them that his staff has the experience necessary to fulfill the expectations of the families.
One concern for Beal is response. He said people want a location that will be accessible and will work to meet their needs. To do this, Beal recently hired more staff to take calls and keep in contact.
“In any competitive sales atmosphere, many times you’ll lose people if you don’t get them on that first try.”
Commitment
The final step is achieving a commitment from the potential client.
“Once you offer a solution that meets their motive, then it should be as easy as a handshake,” Mohorn said.
Brewer said when closing a banking deal he likes to convey celebration.
“There are lots of times that is very fun,” he said. “You’re providing a way for that customer to maybe do something they hoped or dream about at that point.”
He tries to build on that positive experience by taking it farther than a handshake.
For new homeowners, he likes to send postcards with photos of their home on the front. For commercial clients, he wants to be onsite and celebrate groundbreakings.