Salesmanship and Selling Techniques
Domain 4 tests structured personal selling: opening, need discovery, presentation, objection handling and closing, plus ethical persuasion. It expects techniques applied to a retail floor, not pressure tactics.
Selling rules
- AIDA describes attention, interest, desire and action; in a store the attention step is a relevant greeting, not a scripted shout.
- FAB converts a feature into an advantage and a benefit: feature is what it is; advantage is what it does; benefit is what the customer gains.
- Use open questions to find needs, then closed questions to confirm. Match the product to stated use and budget.
- Objections are information: clarify, acknowledge, answer with evidence and check acceptance. Common types are price, fit, timing, trust and need.
- Buying signals include repeated inspection, questions about delivery or warranty, and asking about payment. Close directly, assumptively or with a choice; then stop talking.
- Cross-selling adds a related item; upselling moves to a better-fit option. Both must serve the need.
Worked example
A customer lifts a backpack, checks the seams and asks about rain. The salesperson says: 'The fabric is water-resistant, so light rain runs off instead of soaking in, and your laptop stays dry on a commute.' When the customer says it costs more, the reply compares cost per month of use and the warranty, then asks whether the padded laptop sleeve or the lighter daypack suits the commute. Reasoning: it uses the observed signal, links proof to use, and offers a choice.
Traps
Feature dumps without benefits; inventing scarcity; ignoring 'I am just looking'; over-talking after a yes; using the same close on every customer.