How to Earn the Right to Ask the Customer to Buy from You: Tip #3

Getting Out of a Sales Rut

Are you in a sales rut?  Do you find yourself constantly recommending the same program because that’s what you know?  YOU are holding yourself back, and you are cheating your customers from the benefits of what your company has to offer.

The key is to become an expert and learn everything you can offer your customers.  You will have more clients, clients that will continually look to you for answers, and your sales production will increase.  If you’re wondering how to earn the right to ask the customer to buy from you – become an expert in product knowledge.

Commit Yourself to Learning

I’m talking about your level of commitment to the preparation you do before making a sales call.  It took me too long to figure this out.  When I did, I was on my way and finally attained a consistent, high six-figure income.

What I did was not extraordinary.  It was simply learning my products until I owned them.  It was also, and at all times, keeping the best interests of my customers first and making sure that I did my best to serve them with what I had to offer.

This is what I know to be true – when I served my customers, I was rewarded.

Maybe not at that particular time, but everything always seemed to work out.  Yes, I was constantly mindful of what I was expected to produce in sales, but when I focused on the needs of the customer, my sales results reflected my service to them.

Tip #3: Become an expert in your product knowledge

If your product knowledge does not rank a “10,” ten being the highest, then do your job and learn your trade!  You cannot earn the right to ask the customer to buy from you if you aren’t an expert in your industry. Becoming an expert in your industry is one way to get out of your sales rut.

You should know every product and service your company offers.  You need to know what products do well and which ones don’t.  You also need to become an expert in enthusiastically educating your customers about every feature and every benefit of those products and services.

Here is a guideline to help you become a product knowledge expert.

What is the basic product or service that you sell?

• Learn the purpose of it and understand its benefits.
• What are the different programs you can offer?
• What are the circumstances in which you would offer one over the other?
• What program is right for which customer?
• Learn how to effectively communicate your products, their features, and benefits.
• Know how to quickly locate these products on your rate sheet.

What are the add-on products?

(These are products or services that complement or add value to the basic product.)

• What is their purpose? Understand their features and benefits.
• When is the right time to add them to a customer’s program?
• Who is the right customer for these products?
• Learn how to effectively communicate what they are, their features, and benefits.
• Know how to quickly locate these products on your rate sheet.

When you see your company as a “10,” you embrace and protect its image.

You become an extension of your company.  The way you represent your products and services takes on an air of strength and stability, attributes that customers are willing to invest in.

Because, when you become an expert in your products and services, three things happen…

1. Your confidence and passion come through during your presentations.
2. You can think more clearly, answer more thoughtfully, and speak more directly.
3. You build a customer’s trust, and a customer’s trust in you leads them to buy from you.

With all of that said, you have customers out there who are waiting for you to give them a better way of life with your products and services.  You can’t do that unless you have complete product knowledge.  Can you?

Commit to becoming an expert in your product knowledge, and reap the rewards in sales commissions, company awards, and customer loyalty and you will get out of your sales rut.  It works!

It’s All About Commitment

By committing to memory what you have to offer, completely understanding why and when you should offer it, you will be able to think on your feet. You will be able to change your recommendation on a dime, if necessary, even right in front of the customer and you won’t miss a beat.

• Commit to your company that you will represent its products and services in the best possible light.
• Commit to your customers that you will prepare, earn the right to ask them to buy your products and services, and always serve them by recommending the best solutions for their needs, for the right reasons.
• Commit to yourself that you will time block your work week to ensure that the right amount of prep time is available to guarantee your company, your customer, and you a better way of life.

This is what a true expert does!  But, this can only be done if you first have the desire to be the best you can be in your industry and commit the time to learning all there is to know about your products and services.  Commit to the sales conversation process and fly up that ladder!

If you liked this, you will love my other tips in this 5-part series:

Tip #1: Find Your Gratitude

Tip #2: Check in with Yourself

What is Your Sales Conversation Mindset?

Do you Sell or do you Serve?  Learn how to shift from ‘selling’ to ‘guiding’ your customers to a successful outcome EVERY TIME! Get Your Copy of Chiqeeta’s Bestselling Book Today!

Chiqeeta Jameson – Sales Coach, Speaker and #1 Bestselling Author of Don’t Sell. Let Them Buy, Master the Sales Conversation and Guide Your Customers To A Successful Outcome Every Time.

www.ChiqeetaJameson.com