Learning the selling process allows one to understand in what part of the game you are playing. There are four different areas in developing the correct sale: 

(1) attention, 

(2) conviction, 

(3) desire, and 

(4) close. 

The art of selling is seeing how to follow through with a prospect as you gain their attention (arouse interest), develop a conviction, increase their desire and formulate a close. When the close has been reached, you now have a buyer's confidence and acceptance. The prospect is no longer a prospect but is now a buyer and, in the franchising program, has agreed to become a franchisee.

Buying is an emotional experience. Behind every logical need there exists an emotional want. The buyer has a want that they wish to satisfy. If the buyer has no emotional want, then the franchisor will not sell a franchise. Emotional want and the logical need must exist to develop a sale. The object of the sale is to uncover the wants and sell to the emotions. This allows you then to satisfy the needs and help the prospective franchisee become an actual franchisee. The probability of the sale is greatly heightened more by the prospective franchisee's emotions than by the features, benefits, or advantages of the franchise offer.

There are certain secrets of selling. These are areas of concern that most successful sales people will have found to be true in the careers. A few of these concepts follows:

Secrets

 Buying is emotional

 Selling is motivational and not just persuasion

 The A, B, Cs of selling are: always be closing

 Close to the emotions rather than logically

 People are always trying to develop quick decisions

 Prices must be overcome with benefits

 When a person asks the price, they are interested in buying

 People are never completely satisfied, they always  want more

 If somebody really wants something -- they need it

 People buy for only one reason -- emotional satisfaction

 We are emotional beings doing things for emotional  reasons

 Selling is a game -- learn the rules

 Half the professional sales people in America never  ask for an order

 Buyers are "us"

 Wants include prestige, pleasure, power, and profit

 It is easier to fan an existing desire than to create a new one

The basic structure of the selling process moves from the attention to conviction to desire to close. The tools which a sales person uses to go through these areas include the following: opening statement, questioning, listening, benefits, and close. The duty of the franchise sales person is to find the emotional want of the prospective franchise and to close the sale by satisfying the needs and selling to the emotions. To do this, the sales person needs to design, in advance, the techniques which they will use.

Opening Statement. 

The opening statement introduces you to the prospective franchisee and explains your purpose for being there and the benefits which you provide in the market place. For example: "My name is John Tracy from Kwik Kopy Corporation and we help individuals become independent business people in the printing business." This allows you to introduce yourself using your name, company name, business objectives, and a benefit which you provide the prospective franchisee.

Questioning. 

The greatest ability the sales person has is to ask questions. A key in selling is asking those questions that require the prospective franchisee to reach inside for the answer, thus revealing wants which the franchisor can fulfill with the franchise offering. The probes most frequently used by successful franchisors are flanking probes which do not directly bother the prospective franchisee but allow them to investigate their own personal thoughts and ideas. The flanking question is generally started with one of the interrogatory words: Who, what, when, where, how, and why. For instance, "When do you feel would be the best time to start as a Burger King franchisee?"

Listening. 

One of the great talents which we never develop is listening. While the sales staff has learned to ask questions, you need to recognize that listening is very important.

RULE OF THUMB:  Fifty percent of successful selling is listening.

You need to listen to understand how to close. When you listen, you should listen with three distinct ears: 

(1) what is being said,

(2) what is not being said, and 

(3) what will not be said.

Benefits. 

The opening benefit is the way to actually develop your presentation and to explain the benefits (not just the features) which you can provide the prospective franchisee. You need to move the prospective franchisee from their want or problem to your solution. For example, "Mr. Zimmerman, our society is becoming more and more involved with communications. The Kwik Kopy Corporation franchise provides the opportunity for businesses and individuals to professionally provide high quality communications in printing for their business and personal lives."

The Close. 

The purpose of selling is to close. The close is simply a commitment received from the prospective franchisee to own a franchise. The best closers generally assume that the sale has been made, the prospective franchisees problems are solved and an order is asked for. When the order is asked for, this is generally begun with the words Who, What, When, Where, and How. Remember, half the professional sales people forget to even ask for the order. Only 2% of sales people know how to even ask. A closing statement may be, "When is the best time for you to come to our headquarters organization and sign the final documents?" Or another example of a close would be, "When do you want to start your franchisee training program?" These closes allow the individual to think about what they are doing and when they need to do it.

The Sales Playbook. 

You now need to create your own playbook for selling. Just like the football playbook, this becomes the property which you will use for developing, maintaining, and closing your sales. The sales playbook should be placed in a loose-leaf notebook and tabbed by subjects. These subjects would include the opening statement, questions, listening, benefits, and close. Always remember that you are selling to satisfy the emotional wants of the prospective franchisee. You sell to allow the other individual to have prestige, pleasure, power, prominence, or profit.