Visiting clients and conducting face-to-face interviews are the most common and important aspects of a salesperson's "winning" work, and they are also the most challenging for most salespeople. From establishing contact during the initial meeting, to uncovering client needs during visits, presenting recommended service solutions in person, and conducting after-sales follow-ups after closing a deal, salespeople need to skillfully use various sales techniques and interview skills to communicate with clients. If the interview communication is effective, closing with the client comes naturally; otherwise, it leads to twice the effort with half the results and a string of rejections.
Currently, sales managers in enterprises have recognized the importance of training salespeople in client visit techniques and improving their visit levels. Therefore, they arrange client visit training in internal or outsourced sales training programs, such as how to prepare for visits, how to ask clients questions, and how to communicate with clients. Undoubtedly, these trainings effectively enhance the trainees' visit and communication skills. However, salespeople not only need to master communication skills like questioning and listening during visits, but also need to further grasp the visit procedure or model. This procedure or model can clearly guide salespeople through the entire process from knocking on the client's door to leaving after the visit.
Is there such a visit procedure or model? If so, is it applicable at all stages of the "winning" sales process (according to Neil Rackham, the sales process is divided into four stages: preliminary contact, needs discovery, proposal submission, and gaining commitment)? The answer is yes—it is the "Five-Step Visit Method"! It is not only applicable at different sales stages but also for after-sales follow-ups. Below, I will detail the "Five-Step Visit Method" using the example of a salesperson's first visit to a client after an appointment (the preliminary contact stage).
Step 1: Greet and thank the client for meeting. When the salesperson knocks on the client's door and sees the scheduled contact, immediately address them, introduce yourself, and express gratitude. For example, "Manager Chen, hello! I am Zhang San, Sales Supervisor of ABC Company. Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me." Currently, a common shortcoming among salespeople is neglecting to immediately thank the client. Since it is the first visit, leaving a courteous and polite impression helps the client quickly develop a favorable impression of you. Moreover, expressing gratitude costs you nothing!
Step 2: Exchange pleasantries and state the purpose of the visit. After greeting and thanking, the client will guide the salesperson to a meeting room or other suitable place for the interview, during which business cards are exchanged. After taking seats, both parties will take out pens, notebooks, laptops, company introduction documents, and other materials needed for the meeting, preparing for the discussion. At this point, the salesperson should quickly bring up some small talk topics to engage the client. The purpose of small talk is to create a harmonious and relaxed meeting atmosphere, avoiding the abruptness of diving straight into the main topic. Small talk topics can be varied, such as football matches, weather, entertainment news, or impressions of the client's company. Of course, the small talk of "winning" sales experts appears casual on the surface but is actually carefully prepared to cater to the client's interests and hobbies, quickly creating a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere and rapidly building rapport. How long should small talk last? It depends on the client. Generally, small talk with clients from foreign companies is shorter, while with clients from state-owned enterprises it is longer; with clients from economically developed coastal areas it is shorter, while with clients from less developed inland areas it is longer. The purpose of small talk is to create a good atmosphere and make the client feel favorable toward the salesperson. Once that goal is achieved, naturally end the small talk, state the purpose of the visit, and enter the main topic.
Step 3: Present, introduce, ask, and listen. This is the main part of the meeting. Through two-way communication, let the client gain a general understanding of your company, its products and services, understand the client's current situation, and strive to uncover their potential needs. In an initial visit, even if you have previously introduced your company, products, and services via fax or email, you should still take some time to briefly introduce them in person. Why? On one hand, the client may not have carefully reviewed the materials you sent and may not understand your company, products, and services; on the other hand, even if they do understand, you need to transition from a brief introduction to asking about the client's current situation to uncover potential needs. This avoids making the client feel like you are a "police officer" and thus avoids resistance. However, the introduction should not be too long, and you should not overemphasize the advantages of your products or services, because at this point you do not yet know the client's needs. If your product or service advantages do not meet the client's specific interests, why would they care or approve? You can end the introduction with a closed-ended question, such as "Manager Chen, that is a general overview of our company. Do you think I have explained it clearly?" After the client confirms, you can ask the client to introduce their company and ask questions at appropriate times.
Regarding how salespeople ask questions and actively listen while the client answers to uncover hidden problems and dissatisfaction in the client's current situation, this is a basic skill that "winning" sales experts must master. There is substantial content on this in current sales training, so I will not elaborate in detail here.
Step 4: Summarize and achieve the visit objective. After introducing your company, understanding the client's current situation and problems, and having used the scheduled time to achieve the expected visit objective, the salesperson should proactively summarize the results of the visit and confirm with the client. The summary should focus on the client's situation introduction and potential needs, because clients generally do not prepare as meticulously as salespeople before meetings; they may not even be aware of their potential needs before the interview. A summary can further clarify the client's existing problems or dissatisfaction and allow the salesperson to naturally transition to the next stage of the sales process. For example, "Manager Chen, today you mainly introduced... You hope that we can see if our company can provide help in..." or "Manager Chen, is my understanding correct? My understanding is..."
Although the summary step is important, most salespeople overlook it.
Step 5: Say goodbye and schedule the next meeting. After achieving the visit objective and summarizing, the salesperson needs to thank the client again and immediately say goodbye. Because a single visit rarely completes a sales process, especially for enterprise clients, it is important to consciously schedule the next interview time when saying goodbye, thereby gaining a commitment for further sales. When scheduling the next appointment, avoid vague time agreements like "Manager Chen, can we visit you again when you are available?" Instead, agree on a specific time, such as "Manager Chen, regarding the issues you raised today, I can prepare a solution within a week and would like to present it to you in person. Are you available next Wednesday or Thursday?" If a revisit is not needed, you should still confirm the specific time for the next stage, such as submitting a solution or discussing it by phone. Only by confirming a specific time for further sales can you truly gain a commitment for further sales. "Winning" sales experts all promote sales in this way without exception.
The "Five-Step Visit Method" appears to be a simple visit procedure or model, and as a model, it is applicable and effective at all sales stages. However, after tracking numerous real interview examples and observing many visit simulations in training, it was found that very few salespeople can skillfully use the "Five-Step Visit Method" to achieve excellent visit results. For salespeople eager to improve their visit skills, how can they effectively use the "Five-Step Visit Method"?
First, salespeople must make thorough preparations before the visit. Preparation includes researching the visiting company, researching the person to be visited, predicting possible client questions, and how to handle client rejections. Only with adequate preparation can you handle the visit with ease and confidence.
Second, set appropriate visit objectives. "Winning" sales experts know that expecting to close a deal on the first visit is inappropriate and unrealistic. At different stages of the sales process, different specific objectives need to be set. For example, in the initial contact stage, the goal is simply to establish a connection with the client; in the proposal presentation stage, the goal is to submit and explain the solution. If the predetermined objectives are unclear or inappropriate, no matter how skillfully you use the "Five-Step Visit Method," you will not achieve the expected visit results.
Third, during the visit, salespeople should follow the principle of "client as the subject, salesperson as the leader." "Client as the subject" is commonly known as "revolving around the client," but it does not mean the client can run wild. During the visit, the salesperson needs to guide and control the client. Of course, "winning" sales experts can guide and control the client naturally and without leaving a trace.
Fourth, salespeople must never argue with the client during a visit. A successful visit will never involve an argument with the client, even if the client's viewpoint is wrong! Arguing with the client makes the client lose face and destroys the harmonious and relaxed atmosphere previously created. Therefore, "If you lose the argument, you lose; if you win the argument, you still lose." Can salespeople still afford to argue with clients?
Finally, to skillfully use the "Five-Step Visit Method" and achieve excellent visit results, salespeople must undergo extensive visit training.
Since we are talking about training, how can we train salespeople to skillfully use the "Five-Step Visit Method"? Undoubtedly, simple lectures and preaching cannot achieve good training results, because there is a gap between understanding the "Five-Step Visit Method" and practicing it. Lectures and preaching can only help salespeople understand the method, but cannot change their visit behavior. In sales training across the country, through repeated testing from both positive and negative aspects, whenever the "Scenario-Based Winning Sales" training method is used to train salespeople in the "Five-Step Visit Method," it effectively changes trainees' visit behavior and achieves excellent training results.
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