In the digital age, we are bombarded with information. We can almost find the answer to any question imaginable with the technology most of us carry around in our pockets everyday. 84% of Americans have internet access and can become experts in anything. This has major implications for salespeople. Being knowledgeable about your product and market is now required of salespeople because in some situations the customer will know more than you. I have personal experience with this. I was shopping with my dad and we were looking around a store and my dad was looking at buying a new watch. The sales rep approached us and was very friendly, but when my dad started asking her questions about the watch, she kept having to go look up the answers and it got to the point where my dad was just asking me and we were having a conversation right in front of the sales rep about the product she was supposed to be the expert on. This just goes to show that salespeople, in the digital age, must be experts in their market. Being an expert does not necessarily mean that you will be more knowledgeable than the customer, it just means that you will be able to keep up with the most informed buyer. Solving a problem or fulfilling a need is the most important part of making a sale. A salesperson must not only be an expert, they must also be an identifier. Customers do not always know what their problem is and the product that could have been researching for weeks may not even be the best solution for their problem. The salesperson’s job is to know the product the customer is looking at as well as other products that could also solve the customer’s problem but in a more efficient way.
By dalmasote1
BoweryJE22 3 thoughts on “Being an Informed Salesperson”
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I think that you have made a very astute deduction here Turner, what we need more of is problem identifiers. I was watching a video the other day by a Mr. Daniel Pink and he said that America has many problem solvers, what we really need now is someone to point out the problems to be solved. Both of you hit the nail on the head in my opinion, hopefully we can eventually have the ratio balance out so that we can really make great strides at fixing out problems.
I have also noticed instances of salespeople that didn’t seem prepared with the knowledge needed to sell effectively. I think that if it is your job to sell something you should know a lot about that something or at least how to answer customer’s questions quickly and informatively.
informed sales is very interesting. it reminds me of wendy macio working as a technical saleswoman