Product Knowledge
Confidence is one of the key factors of the art of selling. I’m not just talking about being able to physically get up in front of someone and pitch or have the ability to pick up the phone and have a conversation with a complete stranger.
That helps, but understanding the reason you are communicating with someone is essential.
I know hundreds of senior people and entrepreneurs that are uncomfortable speaking to people but if you get them on a subject that they love and have knowledge about they can command a room and capture an audience.
I remember when I started my first job in media sales, I had no clue about selling, but I knew I loved advertising. My older brother was a senior executive at a large global advertising agency and I looked up to him and wanted to be like him.
I had tried to get into an agency but I didn’t have the experience, I was only 20 years old and only had a two year diploma from the local technical college in business. But I was enthusiastic, boy was I enthusiastic!
My love of creating messages, and adverts showcasing someone’s products and business gave me that confidence to learn how to communicate the value of media, and why they should advertise.
But I needed to know the details of the medium I was selling.
I had the passion for the methodology of why some should promote themselves, but I was unsure how to convey to a prospective buyer why they should spend money with me.
I found out that there were several very enthusiastic and talented people working for my competitors, and they had more experience than me, and had captured the budget from my prospects, and the businesses were happy with the results.
I wanted to learn about my competitors and understand what they had that I didnt. I found out that they were very similar to my product so I had to set myself apart, and create reasons for businesses to talk to me.
I went to my sales manager and asked what information was there about the power of newspaper advertising ( yes NEWSPAPER – this was back in the ’80s ).
The industry had just created a national association that was researching the power of newspapers and started to put out newsletters with examples and statistics.
These talked about how to sell against Radio and Television and had case studies.
I absorbed all this information, and as I read this knowledgebase my confidence grew.
I walked into businesses with an attitude of I’m the expert in this field and I found that my prospects wanted to listen to me.
My competition found that their clients wanted to see me, because I was adding value to their business, and slowly I moved revenue away from my competition to my book of business.
So as I developed and grew my knowledge, so did my confidence.
Knowledge is a differentiator, and as you can show that you add value to your prospects you will find that your book of business will grow.
There are many ways you can learn today, and we have developed ways to deliver product knowledge to sales professionals and operational staff, including safety and mental health topics that are an essential part of doing business today.
By giving your workforce and channel the tools, knowledge and resources you can create an environment of confident individuals that will embrace your goals and objectives.
