Step 4 – Present your Offering

Ensure that you have the following knowledge when presenting your offering:

Know Your Company

Knowledge of your firm usually aids you in projecting an expert image to the prospect. Company knowledge includes information about the history, policies, procedures, distribution systems, promotional activities, pricing practice and technology that have guided the firm to its present status.

The type and extent of company knowledge depends on the company, its product lines, and the industry. In general, consumer-goods salespeople require little information about the technical nature of their products; however, selling high-technology products (computers, rocket-engine components, complex machinery, etc.) to highly knowledgeable industrial buyers require extensive knowledge.

All salespeople need to know the background and present operating policies of their companies. These policies are your guidelines and you must understand them to do your job effectively. Information on company growth, policies, procedures, production, and service facilities are often used in sales presentations.

Here are examples:

Company growth and accomplishment: Knowledge of your firm’s development since its origin provides you with promotional material and builds your confidence in the company.

Policies and procedures: To offer good service, be able to: tell a customer about policies; how an order is processed; how long it takes orders to be ready; your firm’s returned-goods policy; how to open a new account; and, what to do in the event of a shipping error. When you handle these situations quickly and fairly, your buyer gains confidence in you and the firm.

Service facilities: Many companies, such as Intel, Xerox and 3M have both service facilities and service representatives to help customers. Being able to say, “We can have a service representative there the same day you call our service centre”, strengthens a sales presentation, especially if service is important for the customer (as it is in the office copier and computer industries).

Know Your Products

Whether your business is self-service or delivers personal service, a customer-facing person must be prepared to answer any customer questions. Knowing about the products is part of being a professional.

Why is it important to be knowledgeable about your products? Because it helps you sell. When you know about what you are selling, you can speak with authority about products and services; you can give exact information; you sound convincing and credible. Customers like that! They want to trust you. They want to feel like they have come to the right person and to the right place. Why? Because it makes them feel like smart customers. It makes them feel better about the goods they buy. In addition, this make them feel better about themselves.

Product knowledge helps build your enthusiasm for a sale. It allows you to show pride in the product or service. Your enthusiasm can increase customer interest. You can make a customer believe that what you are selling is what they have been looking for. You help advertise the product to the customer. It is like saying, “I have just the thing for you.”

Product knowledge enables you to organise effective sales presentations. If you know a product well, you can present it in different ways. You can tailor the sale to the customer. You can highlight aspects you think would most attract a potential buyer. Such features are easy maintenance or extended warranty may change an uncertain customer in a confident buyer.

Your knowledge of a product’s pros and cons allows you to handle objections more effectively. You can predict what customers will not like about a product and conquer their objections by turning their attention to what they will like. You can overcome customer resistance by pointing out hidden features or benefits. You can also move from one product to another and present effective sales pitches for each.

Things you need to know about products:

• Features
• Special benefits
• Other similar options (comparative)
• Price
• Restrictions for use
• Quality
• Locations in store
• Stock availability
• Products on promotions

Product Knowledge

Take responsibility for learning about the products you sell. Ask yourself what you would like to know about a product. Listen to customers’ questions and get answers to them. You should always be able to answer these basic questions:

“Do you sell…?” Know what the store carries. Be able to answer customer questions about the brands, styles, sizes, colours, and prices of products sold. Know what products are made of and why. Know their uses and benefits. Know their performance history. Know how to maintain and service products. Know what related items might appeal to customers.

“Where can I find…?” Know the location of products within the store. Do not lead customers around in a hunt. Know how items are stocked on shelves or display areas. Know where additional quantities of products are stored. Know what products other departments carry. Also, know what the competition sells.

“Do you have any more…?” Know if a product is in stock. Know how out-of-stock items can be ordered and how long they will take to arrive. If you do not know, ask the manager, buyer, or warehouse. Do not disappoint customers by giving them wrong information; they will lose confidence in you.

“How much is this?” Know price ranges for various products and services. Know the costs of different features and qualities. Know the prices of the items on sale. Know what products are being promoted and are on display. Know what items are features in store ads and circulars. If the customers says, “I saw an ad for….” know what they are talking about.

Study product information provided by the manufacturer, by suppliers, by the buyers, by your store manager, from wherever you can. Impress you customers with your product knowledge. However, beware of sounding like a know-it-all. Most customers are well informed about the products they want to buy. They want professional advice, not a patronising sale pitch.

Link the Products to the Need

The FAB selling principle is the most basic technique to use when selling. Successful salespeople always confess that they do not just hope their product sells, but they always employ a sales strategy. They work on how they present the product, until it is well-worked out. Something which they can deliver with confidence, ready to answer all relevant questions and objections.

What the FAB principle can do for an inexperienced sales person, is to give them a foundation to work from and this can afford them the comfort to develop their own sales presentation and strategy for various products.

With the FAB principle, any product can be presented and sold because all products have this basic principle relevant to them.

F - Feature (type, features, composition)

A - Application (how to use, when to use, conditions for which it works well)

B - Benefits (advantages, benefits, value-add, how it distinguishes itself from other products)

Product Worth

An important part of comprehensive marketing strategy for a product is establishing its price. Price refers to the value or worth of a product that attracts the buyer to exchange money or something of value for the product. A product has some want-satisfying attributes for which the prospect is willing to exchange something of value.

People want to assign a value to an item offered for sale. For instance, a golfer who wants to buy a dozen golf balls already has conceived some estimated measure of the product’s value. Of course, the sporting goods store may have set a price higher than estimated. This could diminish want somewhat, depending on the difference between the two. Should the golfer then find the same brand of golf balls on sale at a discount store, at a price more in line with a preconceived idea of the product’s value, the want may be strong enough to stimulate a purchase.

Many companies offer several types of discount to entice customers to buy them. These discounts become an important part of the firm’s marketing effort. The firm’s marketing managers usually develop them at the corporate level. Immediately before the sales period when the product’s promotion begins, the sales force is informed of special discounts that they may offer to customers.

This discount information becomes an important part of the sales presentation. It is important for salespeople to familiarise themselves with the company’s price, discount, and credit policies so that they can use them to competitive advantage and enhance their professional image with the buyer.

Sales Presentation

How is the transition from average to successful salesperson made?

• Ask questions to gather information and uncover needs.
• Recognise when a customer has a real need and how the benefits of the product or service can satisfy it.
• Establish a balanced dialogue with customers.
• Recognise and handle negative customer attitudes promptly and directly.
• Use a benefit summary and an action plan requiring commitment when closing.