The following are lessons learned from David Ogilvy’s “The Theory &Practice of Selling the Aga Cooker”. Fortune Magazine called this the best sales manual ever written. Ogilvy wrote this manual in the early 20th Century when he was a door-to-door salesman for the Aga Cooker company.
• Tell the person who opens the door (receptionist, secretary, etc.) frankly and briefly what you are there for.
– It will get them on your side.
– Never get in the door on false pretenses. No one likes a liar.
• Study the best time to call on folks.
– It may be at unorthodox times.
– In general, study the methods of your competitors and do the exact opposite.
• The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore.
– Be interested in the subjects your prospects are interested in.
• The more they talk, the better off you are.
– Pepper your talk with anecdotes and jokes.
– Accumulate a repertoire of illustration.
– Never forget the most powerful phrase in sales:“Let me tell you a story.”
• Avoid at all costs any standardization in your sales talk.
– If you find yourself one fine day saying the same things to a bishop and a trapezist, you are done for.
• When the prospect tries to bring the interview to an end, go gracefully.
– It can only hurt to be kicked out.
• The more prospects you talk to, the more sales you expose yourself to, the more orders you will get.
– But never mistake a quantity of sales for quality of salesmanship.
– Quality of salesmanship involves energy, time and knowledge of the product and the customer’s needs.
• Two ways to sell: Attacking and Defending.
– Attacking: For the Aga cooker, Ogilvy developed 12 arguments to attack prospects.
• These ranged from economical arguments to arguments that appealed to cooks only.
• If you can’t attack the prospect with arguments about your product, don’t expect to make the sell.
• If you don’t believe your prospect actually needs the product you are selling, don’t sell it to them. No sale is better than a bad sale.
• Defending: Preparation is everything.
– The ideal aim is to make your attack so thorough that the enemy is incapable of counterattack.
• This will rarely happen.
• Be prepared that your prospect will have a brain.
• Be prepared for any and all objections to your product.
• If you don’t know your product better than anyone, don’t expect to make many sales.
• Defending Against Competitors
– On no account sling mud against your competitors.
• It will carry little weight coming from you, and it will make the prospect distrust your integrity and dislike you.
• The best way to tackle the problem is to find out all you possibly can about the merits, faults and sales arguments of competitors, and then keep quiet about them.
• Your knowledge of your competitors will help you make a more convincing case for your product.
• Defending Against Price
– This is the supreme test of your salesmanship.
• Your voice, your manner, your expression, even your smell, must be controlled and directed to soften the blow.
• Be specific about the price.
• Be factual about the price.
• Be definite about the price.
• Don’t give your personal opinion about what is or is not expensive.
No comments:
Post a Comment