"Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman - not the attitude of the prospect." W Clement Stone

Everyone sells.

Leaders sell visions. Managers sell execution plans. Staff sell abilities.

But, does everyone know how to sell?

Sure everyone does. Selling happens every second in every part of the world. (Even this article is selling an idea to whoever is reading it now!)

But, what is selling?

Selling is an act of persuading someone that an idea is a good one and likely to be successful.

If selling is so important, how effective does everyone sell?

That is the key question.

Rudyard Kipling developed 5W1H to help trigger ideas and solve problems, and this method can also apply to sales approach. The trick is the sequence of 5W1H.

The first step of every sales cycle is to identify the right person, or WHO. It is a waste of resources to discover halfway that the contact person is not the person-in-charge, or decision maker.

The second step is WHY. Why the customer should listen to you, but not someone else given the fact that the functional aspects of all deliverables are actually homogenous. The differentiation lies only in the emotional side.

The third step is to evaluate the values that are being offered to the customer, or WHAT. Values can only be maximized by listening to and discovering customer’s needs.

The fourth step is to find a way to implement the solution effectively and efficiently, or HOW, which then includes WHEN, WHERE, and the lost honest serving man, HOW MUCH.

Although there is no best practice, "well begun, half done."