Synergistic Selling


As every successful sales professional knows, building partnerships with customers works much better than a hard sell approach. The key is knowing how to build and then maintain such relationships.

In Synergistic Selling, sales professionals and customer service representatives will learn the principles and skills that lead to open communication, cooperation and collaboration between buyer and seller.

Participants Will Learn

  1. A proven approach for building effective partnerships with customers.
  2. How to elicit deeper and more relevant customer needs
  3. Powerful listening skills that enhance customer-focused selling
  4. How to help a buyer move through the decision-making steps that are a part of every sale
  5. How to prevent problems with customers
  6. How to turn problems and conflicts into opportunities to build strong, profitable relationships

How Your Company Will Benefit

  1. Increased sales as a result of better customer relationships
  2. Sales professionals are more confident and comfortable in the sales role
  3. Higher rate of customer retention
  4. Increased referrals
  5. Fewer customer complaints

After participation in a Synergistic Selling Workshop, it is expected that you will have learned how to:

1. Avoid the General Labeling of People.
2. Determine who “owns the problem” in a given situation.
3. Identify the 8 Roadblocks Groups.
4. Distinguish between Roadblocks and Active Listening.
5. Avoid the Roadblocks that cause most helping attempts to fail.
6. Recognize when the buyer needs your help as a skilled listener.
7. Identify the principles of effective communication.
8. Use silence, acknowledgments and door-openers to help the buyer with a problem.
9. Active Listen to hear the buyer’s feelings.
10. Active Listen to clarify information.
11. Recognize when you need to use self-disclosure and I-Messages.
12. Shift gears between I-Messages and Active Listening when appropriate.
13. Prevent problems and conflicts using Preventive I-Messages.
14. Understand the Buyer’s Decision-Making Process.
15. Recognize conflict situations.
16. Avoid the use of Method I.
17. Avoid the use of Method II.
18. Set the stage for Method III Conflict Resolution.
19. Use Method III to resolve a conflict you have with a customer.
20. Understand the Sales Success Formula.

What Do Participants Say?

“I loved it! Not only was it interactive and highly educational but our instructor was phenomenal.  It will help me better communicate with my associates.  And it will help me get along better with my husband, too.”
– Autumn B., Sales and Service Manager, Gordon Food Service

“A great sales person has similar characteristics to great leaders. They listen. I first got involved with GTI [Gordon Training International] via P.E.T. I adapted that to my technical sales career. There are many stories of how Active Listening helped close a deal. One I will share was a customer, who I had just been assigned to, told me at lunch during my first meeting with them that they would be replacing our system in two years and we were not being considered. But I did not panic or argue. By listening, I was able to understand why they made that decision. Listening without judging their decision provided a road map for how to change their thinking. Within 6 months they changed their minds and decided to upgrade with us AND to replace any products they owned that were competitive products with our products. The company I worked for, just this past month, received another order from this customer. This one worth $4 million.”
– Bill V., Nimbus Development

“I can become more effective at closing deals because I now have a more effective methodology for dealing with conflict and learning more about my customer’s needs and challenges.”
– Rich E., Project Manager, MASS MEP, Worcester, MA

“I’ve taken many sales training courses over the years. Synergistic Selling is among the best, if not the best, in impacting my sales production. I’d say it has doubled my effectiveness.”
– Kent S., President, Stickler Learning, Clearwater, FL

“Synergistic Selling teaches the skills to close more sales through a consultative approach where the salesman becomes less of a ‘traditional’ salesperson and more of a counselor. The program provides an understanding of the buying process and the methodology of working through that process in a systematic approach of active listening and developing ‘win-win’ solutions.”
– R. Boyce, Executive Vice President, United Bank & Trust, Tecumseh, MI

“I was making an appointment to sell some bottled water to a customer. I told him I had a mock-up made and would like to show it to him. He said, ‘I am glad you called. I wanted to talk to you about the Marketplace and some things that are happening in there, if these things continue I will not shop there anymore.’ He really was not angry or mad, just upset. In my mind I could not figure out what he was so upset about. I made an appointment to meet him that afternoon at 4:30 pm. On the ride over I had different things running through my head about what he could be mad at and how I was going to fix them. Then the light bulb went on. I just learned active listening so I decided to put it to use. After having the customer tell me about the whole situation and just sitting back and actively listen, it was an easy fix. He just wanted his account to be secure so no one else could use it. It was really easy and he was very happy at the end. I am going back this week to see if he is going to buy the water from me. He was very interested in it.”
– Steve M., Store Manager, Gordon Food Service Marketplace, Saginaw, MI


For more information, please contact us:

Tel: 800.628.1197

Em: workplace@gordontraining.com