Product knowledge, preparation, human touch and tech tools in selling to the new age knowledgeable buyer.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often
Winston Churchill
It may sound weird to stress on product knowledge considering every sales person’s core job requirement is to demonstrate the value of the product or service they are selling. But, please hold on before you judge, my experience shows many instances of sales people missing out on discussing or showing some key points or important details to the buyer during the flow of selling, particularly when selling to a knowledgeable buyer.
Then, with technology and AI taking a front seat, what should sales guys cover most in their sales pitches? And what is the edge a sales guy can bring with the human touch?
Let’s take this in 4 parts.
Part 1
Sales people should regularly prepare for sales meetings
To ensure we do not miss the detail in the sales flow, practise your sales pitch or demo everyday
Let me give you an example for what I am saying.
In my first job at Eureka Forbes, I sold vacuum cleaners. Every day we had a mock drill of the product demo early in the morning at 7:30 AM before we started the day on the field. It happened every day without fail, and every executive, manager, and even the regional manager had to run this demo with the teams. I was surprised by this as to why someone who has worked for more than a year should do this; he / she should have enough knowledge and real customer experience to sell. With curiosity, I asked my leader about it. Here is his response –
We do this every day because we should not miss to show any important feature or benefit in the flow of sales, even if customers know everything.
We all know, how successful the company and their selling practices are.The answer I got was amazing, and it made me think through it so deeply that I kept these learnings and continued them in every organisation I joined.
My protagonist here was a homemaker, housewife and even working women who wanted their homes to be clean and hygienic. Their concerns were around difficulty in cleaning places where their hands did not reach, protection from dust during cleaning and the time and effort needed daily. So, as a sales person it was my duty to demonstrate every damn detail that could address their concerns rather than leaving it to the assumption that they know everything.
Part 2
Dealing with the new age and making a difference in the way you engage your buyer throughout their buying journey.
With so much on the internet and social media, your prospects may gain knowledge of your product, services, competitors, and business; but they cannot get the deep insights a sales guy can bring with realistic scenarios.
It takes fresh thinking to gauge the level of understanding your buyer has. Navigate with his or her knowledge, and supplement it with your skills. May your prospects feel that you look at them as superior to you then massage their ego till you reach the stage where you demonstrate the product that you are selling. Remember, a customer is always right, even when they are wrong.
The point here is, sellers’ product knowledge is important but their ability to relate to customer choices is equally important and is often the case of putting your learning and experiences into practice.
Part 3
Avoid leaning on subconscious beliefs and count on human touch
Dealing with so many prospects and customers, we subconsciously start to believe, the next prospect or buyer we meet would be like whom we dealt with in the past. But this puts us in danger of missing out in the flow. We should be conscious, deal with it with the utmost care, provide complete knowledge on the product, and solve it according to the buyer’s needs. Today’s buyers are looking at preferences, ease of buying, simplicity, quickness, speed of implementation, and a lot of support. They are also looking at organisation knowledge as well as the capabilities to handle such inquiries.
Ex: I happen to be in a retail store, and the change I see from the early days to current situations is immense. I see a display board of new arrivals, trending styles, and even cloth quality percentages mentioned on the tag. Even trial rooms are changed to A.R. rooms and self-checkouts.But a sales expert who possesses the knowledge to guide you through the selection journey is the human touch that adds value here.
Other key points –
- Do not beat around the bush; try to be an expert and pitch only what the client needs. Your other service offering should come after you have provided the complete product features, design, test drive, and functionality walkthrough.
- We talk about selling, but we do not talk about after-purchase support. Even if the client doesn’t ask, it is the salesperson’s duty to explain the AMC, support, guarantees, warranties, and limitations. This will help prospects visualise the use of products or services.
- Discuss some best practices, implementation, and seamless onboarding after order placement.
- You may not have answers to everything, but if you are selling an advanced product solution, that is ok. Acknowledge and analyse how important and critical this information is for the prospect, and instantly bring the right team or get the information needed and pass it back to the prospect.
- At last is the competitor’s knowledge; some prospects are open about what your competitors are to offer, and some prospects are not open but would listen to you, understand your offerings, and relate. I recommend answering what you have the best to offer from your competitor and stressing the quality difference. You may not know the price offered by your competitor, but stressing quality and durability may make your prospects think.
Part 4
Remember, AI & Technology is available for sellers first.
Keep fine-tuning your knowledge to address the most critical points that will take care of closing the sale.
AI and technology are not just for prospects to search for products and services; they can also work for sales guys as well. There are many tools and platforms that can provide detailed information about the prospect, such as what he purchased in recent years, what brand, and quality, buying mode, reviews, etc.
This can help sales guys to pitch the right customer preferences.
Finally,
Knowledge and learning are continuous, and investing in them pays you with power and results. Over the years, with my continuous learning and knowledge, I sounded more like an expert than a sales guy to the buyer. Hope you too transform your journey and be more successful.
Happy Selling!
