Snippets - Another powerful tool for sales professionals

by Dave Kahle

Sales training for my first professional sales position consisted of memorizing two four-page, single-spaced presentations – word for word – and then presenting them to a group consisting of the other sales trainees as well as various executives.   The presentations were videotaped, played back and critiqued. Then we did it over again, only better.  That went on for six weeks.

           The product we were selling was highly technical, and we were selling to professionals who knew a lot more about the application then we did.  The company, wanted to control the quality of the presentation and make sure that nothing was misrepresented.  They accomplished that by training us to memorize the presentations.

           Later in my career, I sold surgical staplers.  This was another highly technical product, sold to professionals (surgeons) who knew a whole lot more about the application than we did. Not surprisingly, we also were trained to give certain presentations verbatim.  Every morning, we had a quiz on our desk.  If we scored less than 80, we were dismissed and sent home.

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  Both of those were rigorous training programs that produced articulate, confident salespeople.  As you might expect, both of the companies who employed me were the industry leaders in their respective markets.

           While I suspect that few salespeople today would be up for such a rigorous approach to preparation for their jobs, for the most part they don’t need to be.  If the issue is quality-controlling the sales presentation, today’s technology can do a better job of that.  A professionally produced video can present a product or service much more accurately and persuasively than most salespeople.

           Still, there is a place in the toolbox of the professional salesperson for certain memorized pieces of conversation.  I call then ‘snippets.’ 

           A snippet is set of words that is used frequently in the course of sales conversations. A snippet is created, memorized, and used frequently.

            A snippet is created by first identifying the application.  In which circumstances are you likely to say the same thing to one customer that you did to another one?  You may, for example, find yourself introducing your company to a new prospect.  In each sales conversation, the words can be exactly the same. That’s an application for a snippet. ... CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE.