The Problem of Knowledge

The Problem of Knowledge

The most elusive of all marketing challenges in many industries; the problem of knowledge, can be broken down into two major areas: a lack of knowledge about the customer and a lack of knowledgeable sales people. The lack of knowledge that most sales people have about the customer begins with assumptions that have trapped the their industry into buying business rather than justifying worth in other ways. For Example in many in the Real Estate Services Companies (Title, Escrow, 1031 exchange etc...), sales people make the assumption that customers do business with companies because of long-term operations-driven relationships. The truth is that some customers do business with their present company of choice because of a internal relationship, but most customers would change companies if a competitor could show them how to increase their business or efficiency. In a recent survey of 300 customers, RightNow Business Development Systems found that over 77% of would change services companies if another could show them how to operate more effectively. The overwhelming message that these customers are sending is that these companies should be providing success resources and “intellectual capital,” rather than trying to sell basic feature and benefit services. Orders are the compensation received for providing these resources. The trick is to help sales people to get past assumptions by asking the right questions of prospective customers, even when they think they know the answer. The best armor against assumptions is questions, questions lead to answers that the customer feels are important, building customer specific knowledge in the process.

The lack of knowledge that sales people have about the customer’s business creates a significant barrier to developing new business relationships. Real estate agents have shared with me that “all service companies are alike” and that the best thing they can do is provide the basic service. In most cases, customers feel that sales representatives don’t know enough about their business to be helpful and consider the reps to be nice, but unworthy of respect. The most successful sales people in any industry are considered to be experts by their customers whose business savvy advice and opinions are necessary and important. While knowledge that sales people possess about business is often perceived to be important by sales managers, knowledge about helping customers to run a more profitable business outranks product or services knowledge ten to one in the minds of top customers. Because of this, one of the goals of an effective sales management program should be to find, train, recruit, and evolve this knowledge.

The Problem of Differentiation

From a previous post in October I thought some elaboration was called for with regards to the 4 problem areas that Sales Managers must deal with to be successful. Here's the first...

The Problem of Differentiation

A sales manager must separate his or her sales force from the competition to be successful in building and retaining profitable market share. Many times, it is difficult to tell one company from another in any given geography. Every company has good escrow officers and bad escrow officers, similar title products, and roughly equivalent price schedules. To be different, a sales manager must identify a potential opportunity (or opportunities) in the marketplace that the competition has not uncovered and define their company’s “brand” within that opportunity. This can include things such as developing a computer training program for real estate agents, teaching agents to market their services on the internet, or any number of other unique ideas. The basic rule of thumb should be that nothing the competition does well is worth doing the same way. Great sales managers look for ways to define their sales force’s uniqueness in the marketplace rather than giving in to the urge to look like every other company. Differentiation from competitors is critical for marketing success.

5 Inhibitors to Success

A colleague of mine recently put this together and I thought it was so good I had to post it... Thanks to Anthony George.

Five Inhibitors to Success

Reality continues to sink in. We have all recently felt the effects of the shifting market. In fact, we are reminded daily that ‘the sky is falling’ from a variety of sources: the media, the internet, the news and perhaps most notably, from our clients (or lack of!). During challenging times, sometimes we need to “let go” in order to “grow”. We need to stop doing the things that have gotten us here and focus on the things that will get us there. We need to step out and step up!

Here are five inhibitors you must STOP doing in order to grow your revenue and take your territory to the next level. These same five inhibitors can be shared with your clients/prospects to help them increase their sales and in turn strengthen your business relationships.

1. Stop standing still. Stop being passively paralyzed and get into action. Start moving now! Get into action early each day and stay in motion all day. Set your attitude the second you wake-up and resolve to become an order-maker not an order-taker.
2. Stop worrying about how much work you need to do and focus on what you need to work on. Spend more time on doing the right activities, such as those that contribute to new revenue growth, that are going to get you the best results. Prioritize based on productivity. Drive your schedule based on highest-return activities instead of letting your schedule drive you. Spend more time with top producing clients and prospects.
3. Stop complaining and start contending. Excuses will get you nowhere you want to go. Identify the real issues and take action to get results.
   Write down your top three excuses for lack of greater achievement. Now tear up that piece of paper and let them go!
4. Stop thinking of training as a luxury. Start thinking of training & education as a necessity for you and your organization. Now more than ever, we need to be the best and brightest professionals in the business.
   Practice makes pros who out perform the competition. What is your current skill level? How effective are you as a sales reps? What is something new you’ve learned in the past week that will contribute to your success?
5. Stop hanging around with nay-sayers. Don’t answer the calls from Pessimistic Pete and Debbie Downer.
   Spending time with losers will contribute to your losses. Cultivate a can do/will do attitude by associating with leaders who have a positive influence on your values, discipline and production. Reach out to other in and out of the industry that will pick you up and prime you for success.