Product knowledge is an essential tool for any successful salesperson. After all, the more a salesperson knows about a particular product or service, the more confident that person will be in presenting the critical information the consumer needs to make a final purchasing decision.
However, when used incorrectly, conveying too much product knowledge—especially when it comes to overuse of technical jargon—can ruin a sale. Oftentimes, salespeople tell the customer everything they know about said product when it’s not necessary; instead, detailed information should be used sparingly with your customer.
This may sound very logical at first, but I’ve heard salespeople talk the customer to death when they should be asking questions and listening for the answers. Too much or extraneous product knowledge will only further confuse and overwhelm most customers. It was once thought that RSAs should give the customer as much product knowledge as they know, believing they could convince the customer to make a purchase. However, sales are not about “training” the customer. It’s about first providing the right amount of information to help her narrow down her selections.
To make product knowledge work for you, it must be connected to the customer’s needs—and every customer’s situation and needs are different. I’m reminded of the car salesperson selling a car in Florida. During his pitch, he tells the customer that the car has heated seats (personally, he likes that feature). The customer says she doesn’t think she needs heated seats as Florida is hot enough! Why do salespeople make these mistakes? They’ve been told that customers buy benefits so they should tell them everything they know.
This approach didn’t work because the salesperson was telling the consumer what he thought was important instead of asking the customer what was important to her. If he had asked more questions, he would have found out how she felt about the heated seats and not showed her that particular model. (Personally, I’m cold all the time so the heated seats would have been a plus for me.) Problems like this occur when the salesperson doesn’t ask enough questions about the customer’s needs.
OK, enough about heated seats—let’s talk about flooring. A salesperson might tell the customer the carpet is “pet proof” and then find out the customer doesn’t have any pets. Here again, the customer is thinking I don’t need pet-protected carpet, so what’s that costing me? The question about pets should have been asked by the salesperson early on in the sale. Successful RSAs make it a point to ask potential buyers about their situation and why they are changing the flooring in the first place. Maybe they just moved in? Or perhaps the carpet they have now is 30 years old?
Once you learn more about the customer’s particular situation, you can begin to think of possible solutions. The more you can glean from the consultation process, the better you can identify the features and, yes, benefits, they desire and need most.
Lisbeth Calandrino has been promoting retail strategies for the last 20 years. To have her speak at your business or to schedule a consultation, contact her at lcalandrino@nycap.rr.com.
