Knowledge is Money
Don't become roadkill on the sales-stream super-highway. Remember the customer, know yourself, your product, your competition, and your market.
Motivation and skill are invaluable assets, but knowledge is the key to success. Your competence is a direct reflection of how much you know, and how much you are willing to learn. As an ISO, you are always looking for new ways to make money, new products and services to offer, new ways to save money on equipment, and ways to pump yourself up with ideas, motivation, and direction.
Your knowledge in these five crucial areas will set you apart from the competition and allow you to climb to your pinnacle of success.
1. Above All-Know Thyself: (Socrates, Hemlock Salesperson)
In order to run the selling race, you have to know where the starting-block is. Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? Does your productivity bottom-out Wednesday afternoon? Are Monday mornings lost in the gloom of weekend burn-out?
A detailed inventory of your assets and liabilities will allow you to focus on what you do well, and what you can and must fix in order to realize your potential. An ongoing objective self-inventory is your best way to monitor your sales performance. Keep notes to yourself on what you've done well and what could have been done better.
2. Know the course: Where is your career taking you? What do you want to accomplish and when? A personal business plan is essential in order to judge whether or not you're still in the race, and which milepost you've reached. Set your goals high and then aim higher. Make your goals tangible: For whom will you be selling? What do you want to be earning in 1997? What kind of car will you drive? Where will you live? Make notes of your progress on a regular basis.
3. Know What You Are Selling:
Would you buy bread from a baker who couldn't tell you the ingredients? Or paper from a supplier who didn't understand rag content? A Sales Professional must know more than the price and availability of his or her product. A thorough knowledge of your product and/or service is essential.
Be certain that you can answer any question or objection that a prospect can throw your way. Study all of the available product literature. Interview the sales support staff and customer service professionals that you are representing. Rehearse your presentations and role-play possible objections and responses with a sales-team member or manager. Do all of your homework as though your career depended on it-it does!
4. Know Who You Are Running Against:
It would be impossible to win the Indy 500 unless you knew how fast the other guys can go. Staying ahead of the competition means knowing their potential and liabilities. While you must never denigrate the other guy's product or service, you need to know just how yours compares. This will enable you to show your prospect exactly why your gizmo is better, faster, cheaper; or even better, faster and not cheaper. Knowing your competition can also enhance your trustworthiness in the prospect's eyes, as you explain why your solution to his problem is preferable to brand X.
5. Know To Whom You Are Selling:
It's much easier to hit a target that you can see. Very few products or services have universal appeal, most are designed for a specific population. Know exactly who would most benefit from what you have to offer, where these prospects are located, and how to reach them in the most time/cost efficient manner. By designing a prospect profile you will be able to focus your time and energy in the most lucrative manner possible. Clarify your prospect profile with your sales manager or support staff. Why waste your time pitching a prospect only to find that your company doesn't serve his industry, or that your product doesn't really meet his needs?
In sales, as in life, what you don't know can kill you. Don't become roadkill on the sales-stream super-highway. Remember to know yourself, your course, your product, your competition, and your market. You will reap the rewards that the knowledge has to offer.
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