Relationship selling through service mkt 173 chap 5e

Sales Knowledge: Customers,
Products, Technologies

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All

Chapter

5


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Chapter

5


Main Topics
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5-4

The Tree of Business Life: Knowledge
Sources of Sales Knowledge

Knowledge Builds Relationships
Know Your Customers
Know Your Company
Know Your Product

Chapter

5


Main Topics
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5-5

Know Your Resellers
Advertising Aids Salespeople
Sales Promotion Generates Sales
What’s It Worth? Pricing Your Product
Know Your Competition, Industry, and Economy
Personal Computers and Selling

Chapter

5

Main Topics
 Knowledge of Technology Enhances Sales and
Customer Service
 Sales: Internet and the World Wide Web
 Global Technology Provides Service
 Technology Etiquette

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Chapter

5


The Tree of Business Life: Knowledge
vic

Et
h ic

al

r
Se

T
T T
T T TT
T T T T

Builds
True

e

Relationships

T

I

C

Guided by The Golden
Rule:
Rule
 Be an expert on everything

associated with your product(s).
 Use wisdom when applying
knowledge.
 Remember, customers rely on you
to truthfully provide knowledge and
wisdom.
 Realize that people do not care
how much you know until they
know how much you care.


Sources of Sales Knowledge

 Sales Training – effort put forth by employer to
provide the opportunity for the salesperson to receive
job-related attitudes, concepts, rules, and skills that
result in improved performance
 Education, Reading, and Word-of-mouth


Sources of Sales Knowledge
 Experience – the critical source
 Selling is a skill developed through experience


Knowledge Builds Relationships
Knowledge increases a salesperson’s confidence,
and,
Knowledge increases a buyer’s confidence in the
salesperson.
Thorough knowledge about your product is needed to
gain the buyer’s confidence.
More knowledge, more confidence mean more
relationships,
and…
More relationships mean more sales


Know Your Customers

 Find out all you can.

Know Your Company
 General company information:
 Company growth and accomplishment
 Policies and procedures
 Production facilities
 Service facilities – promise of prompt repair
services can help make a sale


Know Your Company’s
Policies & Procedures
 The salesperson should let the buyer know:
How his order will be processed
How long it will take for her to receive her order
The policy on returned goods
How to open a new account
What to do if he receives the wrong shipment


Know Your Product
 Product knowledge may include:
 Performance data
 Physical size and characteristics
 How the product operates
 Specific Features, Advantages, and Benefits of the
product
 How well the product is selling in the marketplace


Know Your Resellers

Understand the channel of distribution


The Channel of Distribution


Know Your Resellers
 Know as much about each channel
member as possible
 Likes & dislikes of each channel member’s
customers
 Product lines assortment each one carries
 When each member sees salespeople
 Their distribution, promotion, and pricing policies
 What and how much of a product each has
purchased in the past


Advertising Aids Salespeople

Advertising Aids Salespeople


Why Spend Money on Advertising?
 Main ingredient of a firm’s promotional effort
 Companies advertise because they hope to:
 Increase overall sales and sales of a specific product
 Give salespeople additional selling information for sales

presentations
 Develop leads for salespeople through mail-ins and ad
response
 Increase cooperation from channel members through co-op
advertising and promotional campaigns
 Educate the customer about the company’s product


Why Spend Money on Advertising?, cont…
 Inform prospects that a product is on the market and



where to buy it.
Reduce cognitive dissonance over the purchase.
Create sales or pre-sell customers between sales
calls.


Types of Advertising
 Types of Advertising :
 National advertising
 Retail advertising
 Cooperative, or co-op, advertising
 Trade advertising
 Industrial advertising
 Direct-mail advertising
 Internet advertising

Types of Advertising
National Advertising
 Reaches all users of the product across the
country
 Ford, GM, GE, IBM, Coca-Cola

 Retail Advertising
 Used by retailers to reach customers within a
geographic area
 Cost for national-brand advertising paid by retailer or
shared


Types of Advertising, cont.
Cooperative Advertising
 Conducted by retailer, paid by manufacturer
or shared

 Trade Advertising
 Undertaken by manufacturer directed toward
the wholesaler or retailer
 Trade publications


Types of Advertising, cont.
Industrial Advertising
 Aimed at individuals and organizations who
purchase products for use in manufacturing
other products

 Direct-mail Advertising
 Ads, samples, and coupons mailed directly to
the consumer or industrial user to expose
him to or remind him of the product
 May solicit response


Types of Advertising, cont.

Internet (Web) Advertising