Basics of UK sales training

AIDA sales training (uk)
AIDA is the original sales training (uk) acronym, from the late 1950's, when selling was first treated as a professional discipline and sales training (uk) began. Often referred to as ' Hierarchy of Effects', AIDA describes the basic process by which people become motivated to act on external stimulus, including the way that successful selling happens and sales are made.

A - Attention, I - Interest, D - Desire, A - Action

Simply, when we purchase something we buy according to the AIDA process. So, accordingly when we sell something we must sell go through the AIDA stages. Something first gets our attention; if it's relevant to us we are interested to learn or hear more about it. If the product or service appears to closely match our needs and/or aspirations, and resources, particularly if it is special, unique, or rare, we begin to desire it. If we are prompted or stimulated to overcome our natural caution we may then become motivated or susceptible to taking action to buy.

Some AIDA sales training (uk) pointers:

Attention:Getting the other person's attention sets the tone: first impressions count , so smile - even on the phone because people can hear it in a salesperson's voice - be happy, be natural, honest and professional. Getting attention is more difficult than it used to be, because people are less accessible, have less free time, and lots of competing distractions

Interest: A salesperson has 5-15 seconds in which to create some interest. Something begins to look interesting if it is relevant and potentially advantageous. The person a salesperson is approaching should have a potential need for a salesperson product or service or proposition (which implies that a salesperson or somebody else has established a target customer profile).

Desire: The sales person needs to be able to identify and agree the prospect's situation, needs, priorities and constraints on personal and organizational levels, through empathic questioning and interpretation.
a salesperson must build rapport and trust, and a preparedness in the prospect's mind to do business
Creating desire is part skill and technique, and part behavior and style. In modern selling and business, trust and relationship (the 'salesperson' factor) are increasingly significant, as natural competitive development inexorably squeezes and reduces the opportunities for clear product advantage and uniqueness.

Action Simply the conversion of potential into actuality, to achieve or move closer to whatever is the aim.
Natural inertia and caution often dictate that clear opportunities are not acted upon, particularly by purchasers of all sorts, so the sales person must suggest, or encourage agreement to move to complete the sale or move to the next stage.
The better the preceding three stages have been conducted, then the less emphasis is required for the action stage.