Brushing up sales skills

Objectives

• To help participants try new sales skills without risk of failure

• To give participants feedback on the effect of their behavior on others

• To improve participants’ effectiveness in delivering an effective sales presentation

• To improve participants’ ability to recognize effective and ineffective behaviors in themselves and in others

• To share and refine successful skills and techniques

Method

1. Participants are divided into subgroups of three.

2. Describe a typical sales situation in your organization.  The facilitator should properly position the activity by explaining each person’s role and by clarifying the group’s expectations for the activity.

3. Trio subgroups conduct their role-plays.

4. When the role-playing period is over, the facilitator leads a group discussion based on the following discussion topics:

1. What did you learn as the seller?

2. What did you learn as the buyer?

3. What did you learn as the observer?

4. What skills do you want to have additional practice at?

Notes and Variations

1. To assist the participants in giving effective feedback, suggest they use the following procedure:

• The seller goes first. They are to assess their own performance against the established objectives or criteria. The seller must start with positives and then move to improvement opportunities.

• The buyer goes second, describing his/her objectives and needs and explaining why he/she did or did not buy.

• Finally, the observer gives his/her feedback by starting with the positives and then moving to the improvement opportunities.

2. At the start of the role-play period, move around to each group to help them get started.

3. During the role-play period, keep groups on track by telling them how much time is available.

4. Spend time on giving feedback as a group and talk about how the situation may have been handled differently.