A Confident and Educated Customer

As an example, let’s assume you are sick and need to make a decision about surgery options. When you ask your doctor, her level of confidence and ability to explain your options in an educated manner is very important. While you still own the final decision, it is most comforting when your doctor supports your decision.

Although maybe not as critical, a potential customer making a purchase decision would enjoy a similar experience. As an advisor to businesses, I would suggest the higher the level of confidence and product knowledge the higher the probability of making the sale.

Confidence building

- Are your sales people convinced all your products offer good value and are priced correctly? If an employee is not confident themselves in the offering it will show in the pitch. This is typically because they apply and assume their personal decision making is the same as the potential customer (for example if they can’t afford it, neither can the customer). This is a good opportunity to reinforce with the sale team the need to ask the right questions of the customer and focus on meeting their needs or solving their frustration.

Product Knowledge

-  One of the biggest waste of resources I observe is with respect to the suppliers to your business. Suppliers are typically ready and willing to provide all the necessary product knowledge and education to your sales team. Why wouldn’t they, it will increase their sales! I find the reason this opportunity is missed is a lack of planning and communication.

- Educate your customers on your website. If customers check you out on the web prior to contacting you, your website can start the process of educating the customer to make a better decision. When you provide information that helps a client work through their decision making, this differentiates your business. Since most potential customers want to know the how and the why, you can easily position yourself as the source for this knowledge.

Beware of assumptions. When you work in the same business for a long time some things become obvious and second nature. Try not to assume your potential customers know what seems like common knowledge to you. The sharing of this common knowledge is very much appreciated by the customers who ‘didn’t know that’.  A sales system that includes testing the customers level of basic product knowledge will make sure it is done consistently.

Incidentally, a sales system is what the whole sales team should be using for all interactions, isn’t it? I just assumed everyone did that already!

If you have any questions regarding improving your business systems for increased profits, please feel free to email me: paul@thebusinesstherapist.com