Selling Skills and Sales Process
This domain tests the structured selling sequence, questioning technique and the difference between telling a customer about a product and selling it to them. Answers must show the sequence and the customer-focused language, not just product knowledge.
The sales process (seven steps)
- Prospecting – walk-ins, referrals, database, footfall conversion.
- Pre-approach – know the stock, price, offers and competitor position before greeting.
- Approach – open with a welcome and a non-threatening question, not "Can I help you?"
- Need discovery – open questions ("What will you use it for?") and probing questions ("How many people in the family?").
- Presentation – convert features into advantages and benefits (FAB).
- Objection handling – acknowledge, clarify the real objection, respond with evidence, confirm.
- Close and follow-up – assumptive, alternative-choice or summary close; then delivery and after-sales contact.
Cross-sell vs upsell
- Cross-sell: related additional category (phone case with a phone).
- Upsell: higher-value version within the same category (128 GB instead of 64 GB).
Worked example
Feature: 5-star inverter AC. Advantage: about 30% lower power draw than a 3-star model. Benefit: on a Rs 6,000 summer bill the saving is roughly Rs 1,800 a year, so the price gap pays back in under two seasons. That is an FAB statement, not a feature dump.
Traps
- Confusing cross-sell with upsell.
- Offering a discount before discovering the need, which kills margin and trust.
- Closing too early or ignoring buying signals such as repeated touching of the product or asking about delivery.
- Promising a delivery date the store cannot meet.