e-Learning Blog

First, let's organize the business skills that new salespeople should acquire.

〈1〉Language and Basic Etiquette
Appropriate language demonstrates politeness and reliability towards customers. Using clear and concise language also helps prevent misunderstandings and facilitates smooth communication. Additionally, manners during first meetings greatly influence a customer's first impression. Having a good first impression can lead to a smoother relationship moving forward. Both of these skills are essential for building trust with customers.

〈2〉Communication Skills
For sales positions, communication with customers is the core of the job. In order to provide the best proposals and services, it is important to enhance the ability to "listen" and "ask questions" to customers, and accurately understand their needs and requests. In addition, the ability to effectively convey the value of our products and services and the speed of response are also important communication skills.

〈3〉Proposal Power for Problem Solving
In sales activities, it is important to develop a "high-resolution proposal power" that can accurately grasp the customer's challenges and come up with the best solution. To do this, it is possible to consider countermeasures for similar problems by referring to past cases, or to seek advice from superiors or seniors.

〈4〉Knowledge and Understanding of Our Products and Services and the Market
By deeply understanding our products and services, we can make appropriate proposals to our customers, which can lead to contract agreements and improved customer satisfaction. It is also important to understand the market. Understanding market trends and competitors' products can help us highlight the superiority of our products and services, and can also be useful in determining sales strategies and the direction of marketing activities.

〈5〉Awareness of Personal Appearance
For sales positions that involve frequent meetings with clients, being aware of one's personal appearance is essential. Appropriate personal appearance is seen as a reflection of trust and professionalism. A clean and tidy appearance can leave a good impression on clients and help build a trusting relationship.

〈Appropriate Dress Code Points〉
●Attire: Simple and calm colored suits or business casual. Pay attention to details such as wrinkles on shirts and dirt on shoes. Avoid excessive accessories and decorations.
●Hairstyle: Maintain a clean appearance with a neat hairstyle.
●Personal Hygiene: Take care of facial hair and nails, and make sure to brush your teeth and address bad breath.

This is just an example, but these skills will build trust with clients and serve as a foundation for effective communication.

Sales positions require a lot of direct interaction with customers, so it is necessary to develop flexible response skills on the spot. Therefore, in training, it is important to incorporate practical methods for developing skills in addition to classroom learning.

The following are selected methods suitable for training for new salespeople.

〈Method 1〉Sales Accompaniment
New employees go out to the field with their superiors or seniors, and learn practical skills by experiencing actual customer visits and negotiations. Real-time feedback is also effective.

〈Method 2〉Role Playing
Superiors and seniors play the roles of clients and competitors, and new employees hone their sales skills by responding to them. We anticipate various situations and promote growth through immediate feedback.

〈Method 3〉Case Study
We will learn from past successful and unsuccessful cases, and identify countermeasures and ways to deal with mistakes. By applying the knowledge gained through lectures to actual scenarios, we will connect theory to practice.

〈Method 4〉e-Learning
e-Learning is very effective for self-learning and repetitive learning. It can be used to make use of the gap time such as the travel time for sales activities and waiting time for meetings, as learning can be done regardless of time and place. Insufficient understanding can be solidified by repeating learning.

By solidifying basic knowledge through classroom learning, self-paced learning through e-learning, and gaining practical skills through role-playing and accompanying sales, it is expected to greatly improve the sales skills of new employees.

With the spread of remote work and online meetings, online negotiations have become common in sales situations as well. Communication with clients is done through a computer screen, but because it is not face-to-face, it is necessary to learn proper etiquette for online negotiations.

●The Importance of Etiquette Training in Online Business Negotiations

〈Reason 1〉Increase and Spread of Online Business Meetings
Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus, online business meetings have rapidly spread along with remote work. To overcome the difficulties of online communication, which is different from face-to-face meetings, it is important to have a basic understanding of etiquette.

〈Reason 2〉Being Online Requires Extra Attention
In online negotiations, it is more difficult to convey non-verbal communication such as gestures and facial expressions compared to face-to-face meetings. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to language and facial expressions. In addition, technical issues may arise, so it is important to check equipment and software beforehand and not neglect preparation.

〈Reason 3〉It may be recorded and reviewed later
Online negotiations are often reviewed later and can also be used as evidence to prevent future problems. In other words, your behavior during the negotiation will be recorded. To avoid misunderstandings and mistakes, it is important to be mindful of proper manners and actions during negotiations.

Some specific manners for online negotiations include the following:

●Example of Online Business Etiquette

〈1〉Contact before negotiations
When the scheduled date for negotiations approaches, it is important to confirm the date and time, participants, and whether or not there are any pre-meeting materials. This will help avoid unexpected troubles. Especially for negotiations with a large number of people or complex schedule adjustments, it is important to contact in advance.

〈2〉Consider how you appear on screen
Before starting a business negotiation, think about how you appear on screen and adjust accordingly. Specifically, make sure the camera is facing you and your face is clear and well-lit. Also, pay attention to the background and make sure it is not cluttered and that privacy is ensured.

〈3〉Introduce Yourself Thoroughly
In face-to-face meetings, it is common to exchange business cards first. However, in online meetings, the discussion may start immediately, so it is important to introduce yourself properly during greetings. Also, since you may not have a business card on hand, make sure to input the other person's name accurately and be conscious of not making any mistakes.

〈4〉Keep Yourself on Mute When Not Speaking
Be sure to keep yourself on mute when you are not speaking. This will prevent background noise or other participants' audio from interfering with the progress of the meeting. Especially in larger meetings where each participant may have a different environment, muting yourself can help avoid unnecessary confusion.

〈5〉Finish after the other party has left
After the end of an online business meeting, participants are expected to "leave" the meeting. In this case, as the salesperson who is the visitor, be careful not to leave before the other party. This is not only a sign of respect towards the other party, but also to avoid giving a negative impression.

〈6〉Follow up and express gratitude after negotiations
After negotiations, you can leave a good impression on the other party by showing your gratitude. It is also important to confirm the shared content and decisions made during the negotiations and check for any misunderstandings or unclear points. If there are any requests from the other party during the negotiations, be sure to respond promptly.

Communication during online business negotiations has different characteristics compared to face-to-face interactions. By following proper etiquette and conducting conversations, it can help avoid confusion and misunderstandings, leading to building trust with clients. As a result, it can also lead to potential future business opportunities and partnerships.

Learning proper language usage can be said to be the foundation of business etiquette, but it holds a particularly important meaning for new salespeople. The reason for this is that for salespeople, words are their "business tools," and proper language usage is essential for acquiring business and building relationships with clients.

In this chapter, we will introduce methods for young new generations to learn proper language usage.

〈1〉Imitate Excellent Role Models
To acquire proper language skills, it is effective to start by imitating. By mimicking the speech and responses of excellent senior employees and putting them into practice, you can naturally absorb knowledge.

〈2〉Learning through Reading
One way to learn is by studying specialized books such as etiquette books and business books. By reading, you can discover new expressions and phrases, and by incorporating them into your work and daily communication, you can improve your language skills.

〈3〉Conduct practical exercises and role-playing
By providing opportunities for role-playing and simulations based on actual work scenes, you can acquire practical language skills with applied abilities that cannot be obtained through classroom learning. The slight sense of tension and stress felt during this process also helps to enhance the learning effect.

〈4〉Correcting Incorrect Word Usage
In the younger generation, it is possible that they may misunderstand honorific expressions or use slang and new words that are only understood within their group in their work. When you notice a mistake, it is important to point it out immediately and correct it to use accurate language.

〈5〉Regular Learning and Reflection
Language usage is often not fully acquired by simply learning it once, so regular learning and reflection are key. Choosing a learning style that suits you, such as watching business etiquette videos, learning through quizzes, or engaging in e-learning, is the key to success in continuing to improve.

Through this method, new salespeople will be able to confidently communicate with clients by learning proper language usage.

Learning proper business etiquette and language skills is expected to bring various benefits such as building trust with clients, improving communication quality, and increasing corporate evaluation and performance for new salespeople. In other words, for a company, business etiquette training for new salespeople is not just a method for improving skills, but also a crucial investment for sustainable growth and success.

Tools to enhance the learning effectiveness of such business etiquette training is e-learning.
Human Science Co., Ltd. offers various business etiquette materials for job offers and new employees.

One of those is "Basic Business Manners: Language Usage Edition", which explains the types and usage of honorific language, commonly used phrases and expressions in business, and how to use language that gives a good impression, using photos and illustrations to make it easy to understand.

Please see the Human Science e-learning site for details.

＞E-learning materials "Basic Business Manners and Language Use"

Based on this material, if you add your own manners and rules, it can be used as a more useful material. Please feel free to consult with us regarding customization and production of materials.