Learn the laws of sales from the father of sales

"Everyone can become a sales star." This is the motivation and dream of every person who devotes himself to the sales industry, this is the responsibility and goal of every sales manager, and this is also the requirement and expectation of every company. In order to realize the dreams of all salespeople, companies need to provide them with training in different basic normative actions and standard behaviors at all stages of their growth. This is like the completion of the most exquisite artworks only by being imaginative and inspired, but also requires long-term cultivation of basic artistic norms and years of artistic foundation training. Therefore, the premise of becoming an excellent sales star is to master these "rules".

As an AIA sales representative with outstanding performance said, "Each of our sales consultants needs to pass strict performance training, and show the established actions in front of customers according to the steps, and the possibility of getting signed is relatively high. Certainly, about 30%." Therefore, to a certain extent, the basic standard training of sales personnel will be the most basic condition to ensure the company's sales success rate. But who to learn these basic sales norms and rules from? Certainly none other than John Patterson.

Who Patterson was and how he sold it

John Patterson, a thinker, a risk taker, a reader, an entrepreneur, a teacher, a student, but more A salesperson, one of the best salespersons of all time, and a recognized father of sales in America. This is because he was the first to recognize that customers are more willing to complete transactions through active purchases than sales by others; he created the first "pull" sales model; he was the first to publish a manual to guide sales; he was the first to implement Sales training; he teaches employees to adapt and reconcile with "likely buyers"; he motivates employees with proven methods; he supports salespeople's work with advertising and promotions, making his company's product NCR cash registers Become the preferred brand for similar products.

NCR may not be very familiar to Chinese enterprises, but I believe that IBM will not be unfamiliar to everyone. IBM has a set of rigorous training methods for sales consultants, as long as you pass up to 3 months of "devil training" and a elimination rate of up to 40%, you can become an excellent IBM salesperson. As the founder of IBM, Watson, the blueprint for the highly mechanized and efficient sales training process he promoted and admired, was derived from the world's first sales manual published by Patterson - commonly known as "Patterson's Law of Selling", a sales template with a history of more than 100 years.

John Patterson's success lies in his ability to combine the emotions that drive sales with the logic learned in sales. His sales rules are simple and easy to understand, and they can be combined to form a complete sales program without violating any of the company's existing regulations, so it can be easily mastered with a little effort.

A New Interpretation of Patterson's Law of Selling

Geoffrey Gitmer, author of "Sales Bible", has a unique perspective on the field of 21st century sales after years of research on sales history, "Finding Patterson Sales Law, and give it new connotation, new meaning", wrote the book "Patterson Sales Law".

These principles include: 1. Thinking; 2. Self-confidence; 3. A positive attitude towards life is entirely up to you; 4. The purpose of boot camp is to select competent salespeople from those who are interested in sales; 5. . The foundation of survival lies in the perfect combination of knowledge and action; 6. Learning: the primary self-cultivation for acquiring knowledge; 7. Your own library is an inexhaustible source of knowledge; 8. Use the plan to point out the direction to avoid wandering; 9. , Use the strategy of "time management today"; 10. Find possible buyers; 11. Strengthen business contacts and promote more sales; 12. Create demand and convert passive sales of manufacturers into active purchases of customers; 13. Fully prepared sales The presentation should highlight the personalized color of the presentation; 14. Don't be self-centered, but grasp the information of possible buyers and win the attention of the other party; 15. Questions bring answers, and answers bring sales; 16. Listen carefully to understand each other; 17. Less sales clichés, more sales opportunities; 18. The message you convey must be as provocative as your product, so as to attract potential buyers; 19. Rejection is the only way to achieve sales; 20. Sales Need flexible collaboration, not rigid coping; 21. When reaching a purchase agreement, remember to give the other party a receipt when a successful sale is achieved; 22. Service wins reputation, reputation wins sales; 23. Excellent service wins customer recommendation; 24. Wins recommendation, not asking for a recommendation; 25. When the salesperson is helpless, a recommendation letter will help the realization of the sale; 26. The advertisement wins the attention, and the thank you wins the customer; 27. The competition is to be fully prepared to achieve the best performance; 28. Find out Those who help you succeed, and express my heartfelt thanks to them; 29. Only by giving sincerity can you win the loyalty of others. 30. No matter right or wrong, the key is to make decisions; 31. Behavior builds reputation, please put an end to despicable behavior ; 32. If you work hard and make full preparations, it will be fully reflected in the sales performance table.

Every single one of them seems so simple, but when you think about it, how to put it into practice and stick to it is not easy. For example, the first principle, “Thinking,” as John Patterson put it, “Thinking and acting — are the two things that make progress.” The author, Jeffrey Gitmer, goes further in his own words. A brief explanation, "Think hard. It's something that almost no one takes the time to do."

I believe everyone knows the importance of thinking, as the old saying goes "Think before you act", but here's the Thinking is by no means unrealistic and unstructured. How to think about it? With years of sales experience, the author sums up 12 questions that need to be thought about every day 1. How to find new customers? 2. How to become a better referrer? 3. How can customers benefit from using my product? 4. How can I do better today? 5. What new things have I learned? 6. How can we provide better service? 7. Is my attitude better today than yesterday? 8. Are my customers still loyal today? 9. How do I spend my time today? 10. Has anyone recommended a client to me today? 11. Did I recommend clients to others today? 12. Did I have an exceptional work performance today?

If you're having trouble communicating with a client, don't fret, learn what John Patterson did below. When describing the 16th principle, "Listen with your heart to understand each other", the author summed up the following 4.5 action guidelines: 1. Pay attention to the other party's eye contact; 2. Record the other party's conversation; 3. Retell Or ask questions; 4. Get confirmation. 4.5. State your commitment again.

Thoughtful tips like this are found throughout the book. One principle, one explanation, and multiple action steps. Sales managers can easily transplant these action principles into the company's sales staff training to create tomorrow's sales stars.

Ada Zhang, Associate Editor, CEConline Website