Marketing and selling

Press, 30 May 1985, Page 16

Marketing and selling

Today’s building industry seminar will be presented by Dr Peter Rutland in association with the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Quantity .Surveyors and the Building Research Association of New Zealand. Dr Rutland is head of the department of building, Brighton Polytechnic, England, and is also an independent marketing consultant. The seminar, to be held between 2 and 5.15 p.m. at the Russley Hotel, is planned specifically for the building industry, but will also be a public session as part of the annual conference of the N.Z.I.Q.S. The fee is $25, and late registration will be accepted at the conference desk up to 1 p.m. Telephone messages may be left with the Russley Hotel (phone 588-289). The following article, entitled “Selling — a way to bigger profits,” was written by the guest speaker, Dr Rutland: Everyone is a salesperson. “Not me,” you say, "I’m a manager, I’m an administrator, I’m a buyer.” Nevertheless, you still sell — yourself and ideas to

others. The profession of selling has for too long been looked upon as one of dubious ethics and little skill. The concept of a “born salesman” still lingers on, and most people feel something of a status problem when selling is mentioned in relation to their roles and duties. One need only look at the Cuban situation in the 70s when Castro changed the structure of the economy to virtually remove all salesmen, to see how important the role of selling is to a country. Few people in the building and architectural professions would see selling as a part of their career. Yet in today’s highly competitive world, the edge over a competitor may well depend on your “selling skills.” What are these skills, and how can builders, architects, and other members of the building team acquire and use them? In essence, selling is a transference of feeling about something to someone else. First the salesperson must understand. have knowledge of, and be enthu-

siastic about what he/she is selling. It starts with building the self-confidence of the salesperson, and this applies not only to the sales representative, but to all members of a company who are in fact representatives at all times. Everyone sells the company, its ideas, its philosophies, and its services. The company is its employees and it will be judged by their performance. Key ingredients in the development of successful selling abilities are: 1. Development of a good self-image. 2. Product knowledge, company knowledge, and quality of service. 3. The ability to answer questions. 4. The ability to set goals and targets, and plans to achieve them. 5. The ability to move the customer towards a positive decision and then to ask for a commission, order or decision at the right time — and then know what to do next. 6. The development of the ability to give more than is expected. 7. Creation of a successful track record that makes clients want to return for more. 8. Effective organisation of time. 9. Development of communication skills and presentation skills. 10. Understanding of “body language” and its role in meetings between people and groups of people. 11. Development of a contagious enthusiasm. 12. Development of the ability to turn setbacks into comebacks and handle failure.

13. Creation of the awareness that opportunites to sell are with us 24 hours a

day. 14. Proper use of the telephone as a company’s “life-line” and “window to the world.” 15. An understanding of empathy as opposed to sympathy, and the use of recognition for motivation. How can all these be acquired and why do we need them? The answer to the first question is through proper instruction. It is highly unlikely that anyone will develop these 15 abilities by chance as they progress in their career. Even if they do, many of them will onlj' crystallise towards the latter part of limited value. Proper instruction means seminars and workshops on selling. Not long ones, since the span of attention is limited, but half-day or oneday special packages to introduce the skills. These are then followed up by in-company application programmes to give specific help. A one-day session can introduce sufficient key points for the participants to take back to their companies and, by application, see improvements almost immediately. Attendance need not be stratified, everyone from the switchboard controller to the managing director can attend, and will benefit. Why are they needed? Simply because the positive projection of a company into the market-place will determine its success, providing it has the appropriate technical expertise to carry out the work it is promoting. For contractors, materials suppliers and manufacturers, subcontractors and building merchants, the benefits lie in improved sales, better relations with clients and professional advisers, less wastage of time, a better image, and more market penetration. For the professional advisers. such as architects and engineers the benefits are better presentations (“meaty facts” of any presentation should take up no longer than 15 minutes), better communication with clients and contractor, and more highly motivated office staff through application of these techniques. Building people who build bii’ldings is the key to c>w riaCon’s future — let u-; bidld them both well