Discuss your project with us:
01 What is the 5-finger sales method?
The 5-finger sales method was specially developed for employees in companies who work in service and support. It is aimed at teams who are in contact with customers, who advise customers and are now also expected to sell. The method offers employees more opportunities to make better use of the points of contact with customers. It is also exciting for companies that want to improve or realign their sales structures.
With this method, we meet people where they are. It is not about approaching customers with sales force. We want employees to sell authentically and to a high standard. Because that's exactly what the 5 fingers are all about:
- Make sure that you are well yourself
- Know your products
- Listen carefully and find out what moves your customer
- Make the benefits tangible for the customer
- Take customer objections seriously and sell when it is advantageous for the customer
The 5-finger sales method is not aimed at sales organizations and experienced salespeople who already know numerous methods and want to get the last 5% out of them. This is because there is much greater potential for up- and cross-selling in service and support. This is where people work who do not primarily see themselves as salespeople, but who have numerous customer contacts every day. Many companies have recognized this and are looking for ways to help their employees make better use of these sales opportunities. This is precisely the ideal prerequisite for applying the 5-finger sales method.
In focus: customer care and customer support
We have developed our 5-finger sales method for business areas that have ongoing customer contact and primarily do service work for the customer: People who solve customer problems on the phone or work in internal sales. Our target groups are therefore clearly Customer Care and Customer Support.
We support employees instead of creating resistance
But departments that don't identify with sales at all are allergic to terms like sales. Sales techniques and negotiation skills are toxic terms. When a manager says: "You should sell more!", employees reply: "But I'm not a salesperson. That's not in my job description. If I wanted to sell, I would have applied for it. I look after customers."
- More benefits for your customers
- More sales for your company and
- More recognition for yourself.
We meet employees where they are and do not discuss new roles or a new self-image. When people who do not see themselves as salespeople attending sales and distribution seminars, it makes no sense at all. Our method respects the people in customer support and service exactly as they are. This empathetic approach makes it much easier for in-house clients and sponsors to implement the 5-finger sales method.
The sales method in practice
Previous 5-finger qualification programs have been very well received by participants. Our target groups do not block out the content, but embrace it. This is because they quickly realize that good customer service involves more than just solving service cases. It is much more about listening to customers and offering them something that suits them.
02 Implementing the 5-finger sales method
We do not have to reinvent the implementation of the sales method for our customers. In practice, a procedure has already proven itself many times over. It comprises five simple steps. After going through these steps, the 5-finger sales method has been successfully piloted in practice and is ready for rollout. Our customers then decide how to proceed. Either they carry out the rollout on their own or together with us and our support.
Step 1: Creation of sales guidelines
The first step is to clarify the ideal procedure for inbound telephone calls or personal contacts with the customer:
- What does our customer want?
- How do we gain his trust?
- What transitions do we use to continue the conversation after solving the customer's problem and start the sales process?
- How can we find out our customer's needs in terms of cross-selling and up-selling?
- Where does the sales process end: with the closing of the sale or with the transfer of the lead to the sales department?
In a workshop, employees from Customer Care and Support who are already good at selling clarify precisely these questions. After all, nobody knows the company and its customers better than the employees on the "frontline". We use our sales expertise to moderate the workshop and make corrections: is the wording right - is it precise, is it diplomatic? The results are best practice guidelines for the most important products and the various channels. Because you can't do without the guidelines: for some employees, they provide orientation and security. For most employees, however, they are the basis for creating their own authentic sales pitches.
Step 2: E-learning to explain the sales method
In the next step, we create e-learning courses. On the one hand, we produce a web-based training course for each finger to explain the sales method. Each of these five e-learnings lasts 30 minutes and contains training videos, customer situations to analyze, exercises and tasks. We also produce an additional e-learning for each core product, in which all 5 fingers - i.e. the entire hand - are trained for the corresponding product. In these learning units in particular, we motivate the target group to come up with their own arguments for sales talks with different customer groups. In this way, we promote individuality so that every employee can present themselves authentically to the customer.
Step 3: Conducting a pilot camp with the managers
In a two-day pilot camp, managers get to know the 5-finger sales method. The camp is moderated and accompanied by our experienced sales experts. The managers work intensively with the sales method so that they are one step ahead of their employees. They also prepare for the subsequent sprint. They draw up a sprint plan for the next 5 weeks and consider how they will communicate the 5-finger sales method to their team. At the end of the camp, the managers know exactly how to increase sales success together with their employees. They have a goal and an approach for both the short-term sprint and the medium-term - for the next 12 months.
Step 4: Carrying out the pilot sprint
In the subsequent sprint, each manager - supported by one of our sales experts - transfers the method finger by finger to their team. The sprint lasts 5 weeks. Each week, exactly one finger is the focus of the team meetings. In order to anchor the method in the long term, we offer managers additional tools and materials alongside the e-learning courses. This helps them and their employees to apply what they have learned in practice. At the end of each week, everyone involved discusses and acknowledges the measurable and subjectively perceived successes.
Step 5: Optimization and rollout planning of the sales method
At the end of the sprint, we reflect on the lessons learned and successes of the pilot together with the sponsors, managers and employees. This results in potential fields of action and optimizations up to the rollout start. If necessary, we modify the sales guidelines, the e-learning courses, the management camp and the sprint plan. We also plan all camps and sprints for the rollout. The 5-finger sales method is now "ready for rollout".
03 The 10 most important benefits for our customers
What added value does the 5-finger sales method deliver in practice? Are our customers' key performance indicators developing positively? And how do employees benefit from participating in the sales program?
Advantage 1: Pre-assembled product
The 5-Finger Sales Method is a finished product. And the five process steps - from the creation of sales guidelines to rollout readiness - are also clearly defined. The methods and procedures are therefore available and tried and tested, so our customers don't have to pay for them. Of course, this also saves time, because our customers want something they can get started with immediately.
Advantage 2: Individualization of sales methods
Selling is slightly different for each of our customers. That's why we adapt the method and the five steps to the needs of our customers:
- Would you like us to write the sales guides to save you time? No problem.
- Should the management camp last 1.5 days or one day instead of two?
- Does virtual camp implementation and sprint support make sense from an economic or logistical point of view?
- Is there a need for particularly intensive sprint support from our sales experts?
For companies, it is a huge advantage to receive a finished product and adapt it to their own needs. There is no need to reinvent the wheel - and yet the result is tailor-made.
Advantage 3: Sustainability
With the 5-finger sales method and approach, our customers receive a symbiosis that is unique on the entire market: on the one hand, they receive concrete content from proven, sought-after sales experts. We know which content is necessary for frontline employees - and which can be safely omitted. On the other hand, as a leading Change Management Germany's leading consultancy, we know exactly how to anchor changes sustainably together with your employees. This symbiosis ensures that something actually changes in your company - and also explains why sales initiatives that only contain one of the two elements do not achieve sustainable improvements.
Advantage 4: Development platform
Advantage 5: Use of existing structures
We build on what already exists in the company: employees who work in the company and customer contacts that already exist. Our customers can continue to use existing organizational structures and they do not need new IT systems. This is because the 5-finger selling method uses everything that is available. It offers employees new and additional opportunities to have conversations and delight customers. In addition, we have no claim to turn employees into full-blooded salespeople. In this respect, we can get started immediately and expand the skill repertoire of our employees.
Advantage 6: Memorable sales method
The method is easy to teach. What each finger stands for is easy to remember. The hand and its fingers are always present and remind you of what counts when selling.
Advantage 7: Increased sales
Previous projects have shown that success can be achieved in the short term - i.e. during the sprint. Typical sales increases and higher conversion rates that can be achieved in the short term are between +10% and +30%. Employees achieve full success in terms of sales increases and conversion rates with the method in the medium term after twelve months. There is also another important key figure that the method has a positive impact on: the cancellation rate. Customers who buy something and then don't keep it are not a seal of approval for a high-quality sale. They are an indicator that the customer was persuaded to buy rather than convinced. The 5-finger sales method encourages employees to work empathetically with the customer to close the sale.
Advantage 8: Quality improvement
The 5-finger sales method is only suitable for quality providers. Sales measures always harbor the risk of motivating employees to "impose" something on customers. This is because many companies still define sales volumes as a target and then push them onto the market with the help of employees. This results in negative effects that also reflect on the brand. We eliminate such effects with the 5-finger sales method. The method is aimed at companies that have a sustainable approach, whose employees have a sustainable impact and whose customers have high expectations. It motivates employees to treat customers with empathy and find the best solution for them. This has the effect of increasing brand value and quality.
Advantage 9: Satisfied employees
Employees who take part in the 5-finger sales program expand their repertoire when communicating with customers. The feedback from participants in previous initiatives has been extremely positive. The rapidly growing success in sales increases employee satisfaction and enjoyment of their daily work.
Advantage 10: Qualified employees
Employees also undergo personal development: Finger 1, for example, not only helps employees in sales. They learn how to develop a good attitude towards important topics. Finger 2 supports teams in regularly discussing their own products. Finger 3 teaches employees how to interact attentively with others. All of this helps in sales, of course, but also in many other contexts. People therefore also benefit personally from the 5-finger method.
Discuss your project with us: