Whatever type of business you run, knowing everything there is to know about your products is a critical skill. After all, how can you sell something you don’t know much about? It’s likely that you wouldn’t buy from a salesperson who couldn’t answer all of your questions about their products. So why would your customers do the same for you? You may be surprised how much this can happen, and just how big of a stumbling block it can be to success, whatever industry you’re in. But, it shouldn’t just be the business owners or directors who know about their products in-depth. There are benefits to the whole team having that level of know-how! In today’s blog, we’ll be discussing the importance of product knowledge and how it can help you grow your business.
Confidence
Firstly, having a great level of product knowledge can definitely help to build confidence in every team member, from the CEO to your temporary intern. let’s put it this way. If you’re about to walk into a big meeting, do you feel more confident if you’ve researched the topic, made notes, and formulated your opinion or plan before you walk in? Or, what about if you just walk in unprepared? We can bet it’s the first one!
If all of your employees know about the products that the business they work for sells, their confidence will steadily grow in all sorts of situations. This could be talking to clients face-to-face, their customer service skills, and of course their sales skills! There are so many benefits to this. Confident and motivated employees make the best advocates for their company and also show you off in a brilliant light, so why would you not make the investment in teaching them as much product knowledge as you can?
Enthusiasm
Do you want your business to sell successfully? Of course you do! So, you need to be enthusiastic about what you’re selling! And, you can’t do that without product knowledge. Knowing the ins and outs of what you’re selling is an easy way to build this enthusiasm in yourself and your employees. You’ll become excited about the benefits that the products can bring to your customers, which will rub off on them and make a sale more likely. In this way, your business should steadily grow as more and more sales are made from customers who can see just how passionate you are about what you do.
The importance of product knowledge is answering difficult questions!
Everyone, whether they work in sales or not, will have faced a difficult question from a customer before. You may have even felt unable to answer it, and lost out on a sale as a result. But, if your product knowledge is top-notch, you’ll be armed with everything you need to get those questions answered! If the thought of a tricky question fills you with dread, think about whether you really have enough product knowledge. What do you need to learn to be able to answer anything a customer can throw at you? Once you have this knowledge down, it should help your business growth by helping you to bag those tricky customers and get more sales from them!
Become an expert
There’s no denying that there’s a smug sense of satisfaction that comes with being an expert on any subject. Want to get more of that feeling? Well, the importance of product knowledge demonstrates how you can be an expert, any time! Arguably, there really is nothing better than knowing everything there is to know about the products that you sell. Furthermore, if you place yourself as an expert in what you’re selling, others will come to see you as one as well. This will gain you and your team a higher level of respect in your field, and word quickly spreads. This could help you grow your business by showing everyone in the wider industry that you and your product knowledge are a force to be reckoned with.
Silence the critics
In business, there’s always someone with something negative to say. It’s just a fact of life. But if you’re armed with in-depth product knowledge, you’ll be ready for anything they can throw at you. If you know all about the positives and benefits of your products, critics shouldn’t phase you. You know the good your product can bring to your customers. This, again, will help build you and your team’s confidence, as you know that critics may not have a leg to stand on. And if they do, your product knowledge will mean that you’re already aware of it and are working on ways that it can be improved! It’s a win-win situation for you that shows just how big the importance of product knowledge can be.
Build trust with your customers
Finally, we’ve left possibly the most important aspect of product knowledge until last. Building trust with your customers is absolutely key, no matter what industry you may be in. Without trust, who’s going to buy from you? And, it goes without saying that the more you know about your products and the more transparent you are with customers about them, the more that they will trust you!
How can trust help to grow your business? As with the majority of the options in this article, it all comes down to sales. More sales equals more money, which you can then invest back into your business to help it grow. So, you should never underestimate the importance of product knowledge. It really can make the difference between a business that is struggling, and one that is thriving and growing. If you’re ever feeling lost, it all comes back to one thing. How would you feel about buying from your business as a customer, with the level of product knowledge that you and your team has? If the answer is something along the lines of, ‘not very comfortable,’ then get to work- your product knowledge needs a little update! But you can get there. Even the most lost of teams can learn, and the difference it can make really is huge.
The importance of product knowledge is clear, but how can you get it?
We hope that we’ve made it clear by now just how great it can be to have that in-depth product knowledge. But, how can you and your employees learn what you need to learn? There are several great ways to do this, which we’ve put into this handy list form, so you can choose what’s best for you and your business:
- Your own experiences. As a business owner, hopefully you already know more about your products than anyone. So, share that knowledge! How have you found using or engaging with your products? First-hand experience is always so valuable, so make sure you utilise it as much as possible.
- Customer feedback. Your customers are the ones paying their hard-earned money for what you sell. So, what do they have to say about it? Collect as much customer feedback as you can, and you should soon see patterns start to emerge about what they love, and what’s not going so well for them. This has the added bonus of helping you to develop your products further too!
- Your team. Hopefully, your team takes an interest in what the company they work for sells. So, why not ask them how they find using, selling, or working with it? They may have some interesting insights that you’ve not thought about before but could make a unique selling point!
- Visits. Do you get your product from a physical manufacturer? If so, make it a priority to visit with, or at least speak to, them so you can learn as much about the manufacturing process as possible. You’d be surprised how many customers can have questions about how something is made, which you want to be able to answer.
- Take to the internet. The internet is a wealth of information, so make it a priority to scour the web for any information relating to your product. What are other people saying about it on online forums? What are they saying about similar products? This can be such valuable information, and no one necessarily needs to know that you’re even looking, so it can be very impartial information as well.
- Training programmes. If you’re selling a product made by someone else, do they have specialised training programmes that you can take advantage of? If so, make sure that as many members of your team take them as possible! Getting product information from a first-hand source is sure to always be valuable.
When it comes to the importance of product knowledge, never underestimate how much you can learn! In fact, it may seem like an impossible task. But it’s so important. Knowledge is power! If you want to grow your business, you can never expect to do so without knowing the ins and outs of everything that you sell. Here at Chrysalis Partners South, we offer over 50 unique methods that can help you grow your business, no matter what you sell. So, if you’re interested in learning more about this fascinating topic and others, contact me today at graham@grahamgarman.com or complete the contact form here and I’ll get back to your shortly to discuss your individual requirements.
