Know your stuff May 21, 2010
Posted by petemcd in Strategy.add a comment
This week, through an e-newsletter that I subscribe to, I became aware of this May 2010 report by John Murnane and Kevin Nuffer, from McKinsey, the renowned consulting firm: B2B customers say they care most about product and price, but what they really want is a great sales experience. For sales reps, that means getting the basics right. Customers want to be contacted just enough, not bombarded. Sales reps should know their products or services intimately and how their offering compares with those of their competitors. Customers need information on exactly how a product or service will make a difference to their businesses. And while they may say price is one of their biggest concerns, a satisfying sales experience is ultimately more important.
I’ll just focus on one of these issues: sales reps should know their products or services intimately and how their offering compares with those of competitors.
Now, lest you think I’m stealing intellectual content from McKinsey, let me assure you that I’m not. Way back in January 2008 I did my own little survey through my blog site: What is the one thing that annoys you most about sales people? I published my survey results in my February 2008 e-newsletter. Here is a revision of that article…and I might add that it didn’t take a huge multi-million dollar upper crust think tank consulting organization to get this info!
Sales People:
- don’t know well their own products (or services) 32%
- are manipulative or pushy. 25%
- talk too much- they don’t listen 25%
- don’t do their homework, are unprepared 12%
- are not professional- not prompt or responsive, and weak on details 6%
The number one thing that annoys buyers is a sales person who doesn’t know his own products (or services) very well. Note, there is a linkage between #1 and #4. Combined, 44% of the respondents think sales people are uninformed and not prepared. This was surprising!
For many years the major annoyance has been the manipulation techniques and lack of listening skills. Now, this may be a small sample size so those older issues may still be true. But, it is important to take note that buyers today expect you, the sales person, to be the expert in your field. They are looking to you to help them solve problems.
You cannot solve problems of you do not know your own products and services extremely well. This also extends to sales people not knowing their industry and/or not being really up-to-date on happenings in their own company. It is one of the truisms of today, with the availability of information via the internet and through sources in the marketplace and media, that many buyers, if not most, know more about your company, product and industry than you do. This is not good for a ‘professional’ sales person.
Buyers have many advantages now and can both test your professionalism and knowledge and then manipulate you as a result. That puts you at a huge disadvantage.
If you don’t know your stuff, you will be forced to play the price game. If they can manipulate you, you’ll usually sell your products at lower process. And, you can’t be trusted because you’re seen as uninformed, unknowledgeable and possibly incompetent. If you can’t be trusted, you can’t be a supplier. You’re seen as someone to be taken advantage of or a poor risk to do business with. Get it? You’ll position yourself nicely to be seen as a commodity or you’ll be booted.
Now, here is why I was so surprised with the poll I took and the recent results published by McKinsey- most business owners or sales managers I encounter tell me that they spend eighty to ninety percent of their annual sales training time on product training. Eighty to ninety percent!! Is the training working?
Generally, I’m not in favor of this amount of training time spent on products in spite of the poll results. Most companies and sales people could use either a 50-50 or 60-40 split between product training and sales technique training (including strategic sales and consultative selling).
OK, back to the issue and poll result…I have to ask the following: If so much time is being spent on product training, why aren’t sales people learning? What are they being taught? How are they being taught? Are they being tested on what they learn (and, I mean an in-depth, rigorous exam)? If tested, are they required to get an ‘A’? How often are they receiving training? If you are in sales management, you need to consider these questions.
If you’re in sales, you have a simple choice: (1) either continue to be seen as someone who is not trustworthy because you’re not informed or (2) be dedicated to a lifetime of learning about business, your company, your products, your industry and trends, and improving your sales conversation techniques. I know which choice I’d make.
And finally…one last thing: knowing your stuff doesn’t mean you fall into the ‘telling is selling’ syndrome, one that leads to failure. Knowing your stuff is not about telling everything you know about your products, company and industry. That’s an outdated practice where the sales person literally blabs and blabs and blabs in an effort to show how much he knows. Knowing your stuff allows you to be confident and to ask the right questions and communicating the right information when it will have the most impact.
© 2010 Peter E. McDowell
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