Effective selling: Product knowledge

Product Knowledge: Effective Selling Skills

1. EFFECTIVE SELLING SKILLS
THE PLACE
OF
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
by
AYO ADEYEMI MBA, ANIM, FNIMN,MCIPM
Director, Marketing Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MARKETING OF NIGERIA
@
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2. Inspirational
Positionyourselfineverythingyousay
anddoasthemostcredibleand
believablesupplierofyourproduct
orservicetoyouridealcustomer
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE IN EFFECTIVE SELLING 2

3. “Ourgoalscanonlybereached
throughavehicleofaplan,inwhich
wemustferventlybelieve,andupon
whichwemustvigorouslyact.Thereis
nootherroutetosuccess.”~Pablo
Picasso
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4. What Product Knowledge Is
Productknowledgeisanessentialsalesskill.TheUnderstandingof
featuresofyourproductallowsyoutopresenttheirbenefits
accuratelyandpersuasively.
Anunderstandingofagoodorservicethatmightincludehaving
acquiredinformationaboutitsapplication,function,features,use
andsupportrequirements.
Abusinesssalesrepresentativeisanexampleofanindividualthatis
typicallyexpectedtoacquireconsiderableproductknowledgeabout
thegoodsandservicesthattheyareresponsibleforsellingto
consumers
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5. Foraproducttobeeffectivelyofferedand
marketedtoitstargetaudience,the
salesmanmustknowwhatheisselling.
Otherwisehewillnotbeinapositionto:-
•Answercustomersquestionsandenquiries
•Enlightencustomersabouttheproductsbenefits
•Handleobjectionsorproperlypositiontheproduct
•Advicemanagementonproductrelatedstrategic
issues
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6. Why Product Knowledge is
Key.
Product Knowledge is very key to the success of any sales effort
especially in the highly competitive market like Nigeria
An ignorant salesman will find it difficult to sell, as you cannot sell
what you don’t know.
Anignorantsalesmancannotpromoteproductswhosefeatures
benefitsandperformancearestrangetohim.
Productknowledgealsoinvolveknowingaboutothercompeting
productsaswellasthecompetitiveadvantagesofyour
productoverthem.
.
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7. Why Product Knowledge is
Key.
Suchknowledgewillensurethatyou
don’tinformationandthatthetarget
marketofeachproductisclearly
understoodandproperlydemarcated.
The Salesman therefore must :
Have a good knowledge about the
products
Haveadequateknowledgeaboutthe
competitorsandtheirproducts
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8. Getting Product Knowledge
Theeffectivesalesmanmustgainextensiveknowledgeaboutthe
product(s)heissellingashecannotsellwhathedoesnot
understand.Companiescanhelptheirsalesmenunderstandwhat
theyaresellingbyorganizingtrainingprogramsabouttheirproducts
intermsoffeaturesandbenefitsaswellashowtheycanassist
customersinusingtheproducts.
The salesman must understand the strength and weaknesses of the
products he is selling as compared to that of the competitors.
Gaining product knowledge involves the salesman understanding the
known and hidden uses of the products as well as the relevance of
the uses to the needs of customers, so as to have enough selling
points to push the products.
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9. DitzenbergerandKidneypositthat“salesmenshouldknowthe
appearance,thematerialcomposition,themanufacturingprocess,
uses,performance,service,care,brand,price,competitionand
relateditemsoftheproduct”.
Within-depthproductknowledge,thesalesmanwillgainselfconfidence
andwillbeabletoanswerquestionsabouttheproductposedby
customers.Thiswillincreasecustomersconfidenceinthesalesman
andcustomerswillincreasetheirrelianceonthesalesman.Another
benefitofhavingagoodknowledgeabouttheproductbeingsoldisthat
itreducescallreluctanceandthesalesmanwillenjoyhisjob.
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10. ATTRIBUTES OF A PRODUCTS
Tangible
Augment
Core
Augment
Tangiblecore
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11. Product Quality
Itisveryessentialforyourcompany’sproductstobe
qualitativesoastobecompetitive.Qualityisthereforethe
assurancethattheproductwillprovidetherequiredand
expectedlevelofutility.Itmustbenotedthatqualitymeans
differentthingstodifferentpeople.
However,nomatterthedivergenceofviews,thereisstilla
basicminimumexpectationofthelevelofutilityorsatisfaction
aproductshouldprovide.
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12. Gaining Product Knowledge
The salesman must understand his company and
what it does. This he can do by answering these
questions:
Who are we ?
What do we do?
Whatareourproductlines?
Who are our customers:
Who are our competitors?
What are our strength?: brand strength,
quality, coverage etc.
What are our weaknesses?
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13. Apart from features and benefits, what the salesman need to know about
the product include:
•The length, breadth and depth of the product line including branding.
•The method/process of manufacturing the product (s)
•Product appearance and shape.
•Product performance levels
•Thelocationoftheproductinthestore.
•Details about substitute products being offered by competitors.
•Methods of packaging, handling and storing the product
•Installation of the product
•Product pricing
•Other complementary products
•Other technical information about the product.
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14. Gaining Customer Knowledge
ForSuccess,thesalesmanmustunderstandthecustomerespecially
hisneedsandthepsychologyofbuying.Thereasonsforbuying
mustbeunderstoodbythesalesman.Thesereasonscanbe
uncoveredifthesalesmancansuccessfullyusetheacronym:
LOCATE
L: Listen
O: Observe
C: Combine
A: Ask Questions
T: Talk To Others
E : Empathise
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15. L: Listen effectively to detect any buying motive being hinted by the customer
in his remarks.
O: Observe the customer to take notice of his environment tastes and
preferences
C: Combine these foregoing methods with other probing methods like talking
to other people, ask questions about the product or extrapolate from other
noticed factors in order to learn more about customers needs.
A: Ask questions from the customers about his needs so as to better clarify his
needs and buying motives
T: Talk to other people (especially people close to the customer/prospect)
about his needs.
E: Empathise with the customer by looking at issues from his own rather than
the salesman’s own view point.
Gaining Customer Knowledge
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16. Getting Sales Knowledge
Gaining Market Knowledge include understanding :
What you are selling
What company you are selling to
Who you are selling to (customers and prospects)
The terrain of the selling activities(i.e. territory knowledge)
Whotheusersare
The Competitors
The technology related to selling (GSM, e-mail, social media etc)
The business environment (Sales Act and other legal requirement)
Who are the Decision-makers
Who are the Influencers
Who are the Buyer
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17. Business Knowledge
The salesmen, must understand the
Nature of the company’s business, its
business/products/strength and weaknesses
Nature of the competitors to your company and what the
competing products are
Selling difficulties, obstacles and Limitations
Total market potential in the industry
the company’s Sales Potential
the company’s sales function.
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18. Gaining User Knowledge
It is essential that the salesman have
adequate knowledge of which segment use
which product and what factors influences
such needs/usage. Such factors include:
Nature of product
Level of Adoption
Marketing intensity of competitors
Corporate Influence
Quality `
Augmentation materials / services (After
Sale Services)
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19. Gaining Market Knowledge
Gaining Market Knowledge by the
Salesman involves understanding :
What you are selling?
Who you are selling to?
Who the users are ?
Who are the Decision Makers?
Who are the Influencers?
Who are the Payers?
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20. Gaining Market Knowledge
Gaining Market Knowledge also involve understanding the Buying Centre
TheBuyingCentreistheindividualorgroupofindividualsthatfacilitates,
participateindetermineandexecutethebuyingdecision.Insome
organisation,thebuyingcentreusuallyinvolvesmorethanoneindividual.
AccordingtoEngelBlackwellandMiniardstherearefivepossiblemembers
ofthebuyingcentrewhichareasfollows:
Initiator: This is the individual that triggers off the buying decision process.
Influencer:This is the individual that persuades the purchase of the
product.
Decider:This is the individual that determines what is finally done either
because he possesses the moral of financial authority.
Buyer: This is the individual that carries out the actual buying by visiting
the supplier and concluding the exchange process between buyer and seller.
User: This is the individual that consumes the product
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21. Understanding Company
Thesalesmanmustunderstandthecompanyheis
workingfor,itspoliciesasregardssalesmenand
personalselling,itspricingpolicies,itscredit
policiesaswellasitsremunerationpolicy.
Thesalesmanmustalsounderstandthedegreeof
empowermentgiventohim,theareasandthe
limitationoftheempowerment.
Therearesituationswherebyasalesmancanwithin
athresholdofferdiscountsorgiveawaysome
productsassamples.Mostofthethingsthe
salesmanwillneedtoknowarecontainedinthe
SalesManualandtheEmployeesHandbook.
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22. Understanding Sales
Territories
Afterbeingassignedtoaterritory,thesalesmanmuststudythe
territoryastothesize,demographyandpotential.Notall
territoriesarethesame.Whilesometerritoriesaredry,others
arefertileandhencedifferentstrategiesarerequiredineachof
thesetypeofterritories.
The salesman must ensure that he guards the territory fiercely and
jealously. He must:
Look at himself as the CEO of the territory.
Understand the terrain and its peculiarities and challenges.
Keep existing customers
Create new customers
Meet customers expectations and solve their problems
Assist distributors to sell to end users
Provide after purchase support
Give adequate feedback back to the company
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23. Determining Selling Intensity
Sellingintensityrelatestotheextentofsellingefforts
requiredinordertoachievethecompany’sselling
objectives
Theproductbeing“pushed”bythesalesmanis
muchmorethanthephysicalproductweallsee(i.e.
“goods”).Attimesaproductmaybeaservice(an
“intangible”product).Attimessalesmenadd“extras”
towhattheyareselling.Theseextrasareinformof
additionalbenefitsthatarenotincludedinthesales
packagebutwhichcanfurthercementthe
relationship.Forexamplefreemaintenancefora
definedperiodoftime.
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24. Understanding Product
Failure
Itisessentialforthesalesmantoproperly
understandthereasonsforandimplicationsof
productfailure.Productfailuredepictsasituation
wheretheproductfallshortofthetargetobjectives
thatactuallywarranteditsproductionandwhich
situationcanwarrantitsdiscontinuedproductionor
patronage.
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25. Whatever got you where
you are today is no longer
sufficient to keep you
there
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26. Conclusion
Gaining product knowledge is key to
the success of the salesman as well
as the overall selling efforts as no one
can sell what he is ignorant about.
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27. It’s A Privilege Sharing Knowledge With You
Ayo ADEYEMI MBA, ANIM,FNIMN
[email protected]
Tel: [phone]
THANK YOU
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