01 Attitude and goal
Selling doesn't begin in the conversation — it begins in your attitude before it. Four areas need constant attention, and you sit at the centre of all of them:
- People — your relationship with customers, colleagues, partners
- Time and organisation — preparation, follow-up, structure in your day-to-day work
- Technical knowledge — the technical and commercial foundation no argument can do without
- Specific
- Measurable
- Ambitious
- Realistic
- Time-bound
- and framed positively
Two attitudes the hands-on workshop singled out as central:
02 Your personal impact
One point stood out in the workshop: your personal impact is decisive — more so than technical knowledge on its own. The SCIL model breaks it down:
| Impact | Means |
|---|---|
| Sensus | Emotional impact — what does your presence trigger in the customer? |
| Corpus | Physical impact — posture, gestures, facial expression, eye contact |
| Intellectus | Intellectual impact — expertise, clarity of your arguments |
| Lingua | Verbal impact — word choice, tone, phrasing |
Building rapport
Before content can convince anyone, the connection with the person across from you has to be right. Pay conscious attention to:
And in the "red zone" — when things get tense (price negotiation, objections, conflict) — hold on to your own tone, calm and composure, and let your expertise show. According to the workshop, that's exactly what separates a good salesperson from a mediocre one.
A negotiation isn't about beating the other side, and it isn't about losing to them either. It's about having a good conversation that ends with both sides able to say: "That was worth it!"
03 The conversation roadmap
Every sales conversation moves through four phases from first contact to yes-or-no — like a funnel narrowing toward a decision:
The need you're addressing is always aligned strategically with the person — not just with the product.
04 Opening the conversation
The goal of the opening: earn attention, win the customer's engagement, build the connection. Good opening lines come from four areas:
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| General situation | Price trends, the market and regulatory situation, subsidy programmes |
| The customer's situation | Building projects, renovations, structural changes, their current electricity bill |
| Your own situation | Reference projects, awards, new services, cost comparisons |
| Your own offer | New modules/batteries, product additions, current terms |
05 Needs analysis
Open vs. closed questions
| Type | How to spot it | When to use it | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open question | starts with a question word (what, how, where, which …) | mostly at the start of a conversation — forces a detailed answer | "What exactly are you looking for?" · "What do you expect from your system?" |
| Closed question | starts with a verb, answer is yes/no | to close out a phase of the conversation or confirm something | "If I understand correctly, that matters more to you?" · "May I note that down?" |
Building on the positive — the strawberry method
Look closely, pick up every positive signal, and keep digging in the same spot — like picking strawberries in the forest. The customer says: "I think your offer is basically good." You pick it up: "You think the offer is basically good — what do you like about it specifically?"
Letting the negative lie
- Let it pass: customer says "The product would be useful, but I don't like the colour" → you respond only to "useful".
- Agree, then dig back into the positive: "You're right — and does the performance otherwise match what you're looking for?"
Keep searching if nothing turns up
No luck in one spot → change the subject, ask in the opposite direction: "I pictured this differently." → "How did you picture it?" If the customer keeps circling back to the same negative point, switch to a question that's about them personally — that's what people are most interested in, after all.
Listen and let them finish
People tend to mention the minor stuff first and get to what really matters later. Let the customer finish speaking, then wait another second or two before you respond — that's often exactly when the crucial detail comes out.
Justify your questions
An unexplained question can feel intrusive. "Which months bring in your highest income?" sounds nosy. "I'm only asking because I'd like to work out payment terms that suit you" makes the very same question welcome.
06 Understanding customer motives
What does the customer actually care about? Six motive categories, with typical solar examples from practice:
| Motive | Examples in solar sales |
|---|---|
| Money, profit | Make a sound investment, cut heating costs, get a good deal |
| Security | Being able to rely on it, raising the quality of the house, supply security |
| Convenience | Everything from one provider, not having to worry about anything, a smooth installation |
| Curiosity, knowledge | New technology on the house, using sustainable energy, trying something new |
| Social connection | A pleasant working relationship, enjoying the build, a partner for the long run |
| Status, prestige | Exclusivity, a special offer, preferential treatment |
07 Arguing convincingly: the PSB model
Strong arguments always follow the same bridge:
Phrases for building the benefit bridge
Detail + bridge, e.g. "This solar solution …":
Important: the argument has to connect back to the interests you uncovered earlier (chapters 5–6) — not to a generic list of product features.
08 Our strongest arguments
The workshop's discussion suggests one plausible ranking of the strongest sales arguments for solar products:
| Rank | Argument |
|---|---|
| 1 | Technical expertise |
| 2 | Worry-free package (everything from one provider) |
| 3 | Local presence |
| 4 | Years of experience |
| 5 | High-quality products |
Judged too generic to carry an argument on their own: "turnkey system", "components from X", "regional" — without a concrete benefit attached, buzzwords like these don't tell the customer much.
09 Price negotiation: handling tension
Between what the customer is willing to pay and what you've calculated, tension builds up. That tension is normal — it isn't a sign the conversation has failed.
Illustrative example: if a customer offers CHF 30,000 for a project calculated at CHF 35,000, don't bridge the gap by caving in right away — bridge it with argumentation (chapters 7–8): what exactly justifies the difference — expertise, a worry-free package, warranty terms? The figures here are purely illustrative; in a real conversation, your actual calculation stays confidential.
Stay in the "red zone" deliberately calm, composed, and in your own tone (chapter 2) — caving in out of insecurity undermines your own argument.
10 Closing techniques
Reading buying signals
According to the training, four out of five salespeople don't consciously watch for buying signals. Questions, remarks and body language show how ready to buy a customer is:
| Signal | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Red | warning light, resistant | "Why would I agree to these terms?" · arms tightly crossed |
| Blue | neutral, neither for nor against | "Hmm, I don't know anything about that" · head resting on hand |
| Green | green light, positively inclined | "That's an amount we could invest" · animated expression, leaning forward |
Direct vs. indirect close
| Direct close | Indirect close | |
|---|---|---|
| Technique | A closed question — "May I confirm the order on that basis?" | Collecting small "yeses" — several small confirmations before the actual close |
| Rule | Works almost every time, once there are enough green signals | Use at the end of every conversation — even when no order results (yet) |
| When it's mandatory | After a price negotiation, in the follow-up call | Always, as the way you end the conversation |
11 Practice checklist
- Before the conversation: set a SMART goal, prepare an opening from one of the 4 areas (chapter 4), research the customer's situation.
- Opening: different from everyone else, show genuine friendliness, leave the customer room to open the conversation.
- Discovery: ask open questions, build on the positive, let the negative lie, let them finish speaking.
- Argumentation: name the need (Problem), name the matching detail (Solution), build the bridge to the benefit — matched to the motive you uncovered (chapter 6).
- Under price pressure: stay calm, argue with expertise rather than with a discount.
- Closing: watch for buying signals (traffic light), close directly on green, otherwise close indirectly with a clean, collected "yes".
- After the conversation: schedule the follow-up, keep every promise — that's what referrals are built on.