1. This topic is for the professional who wants to be fresh with knowledge to actually impact his/her customers.

2. Everyone likes to talk to sales people who know their stuff and also who know the market.

3. Great sales people know how to keep themselves updated to the latest conditions.

4. Irrespective of the product you have to deal with knowing the competition is key and studying the market is a daily routine for great salesmen.

Words of Wisdom

• • “If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.”
    –Bob Hooey
  • ZIG Ziglar says : Know your stuff , Know whom you are selling to & then
    Sell it to them.

Author Suggests

• • Most important section is Know you stuff, as this is where it all starts.

Author Explains

• • Every salesman is known for his knowledge and is renowned for this.
  • If a salesman is not aware of his products and is not aware of his competition then his capability in the field will be limited.
  • All knowledge whether learnt, taught or acquired in the field is useful for every meeting.
  • Humans are capable of learning new things everyday and their capability lies in adopting new learnt knowledge to their respective needs.

Example of the Situation

• • Have a look at this video by BBC that demonstrates that an adult brain can be taught to learn more than you think.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfy9j0h9_O8
    • It clarifies that the hippocampus learns a lot more then actually understood and even enlarges itself in activity and remembers more.
    • All this clearly represents our ability to comprehend the world and learn new items daily is beyond comparison.

Question Yourself ?

• • Do you think you can learn a few new items if it helps you sell more ?
  • Are you willing to put in that extra effort needed to learn new things so as to keep pace with the world around you.
  • Author Quotes: “Smart salespeople learn daily, change and adapt regularly to be themselves”.

Question Yourself ?

• • Can any knowledge be considered as a great sales pitch to the person who needs it.
  • The questions is what knowledge is adequate for my business and what information is best for me.
  • What is useful for you ?

Author Says: Well, the question is incorrect.

• • Every information that comes to you when in the field is considered useful for one or the other dealings/meetings.
  • The way to understand this is my remembering the great words of “Steve Jobs” who said “you can never connect the dots going backward” and you will be able to connect the dots in future for sure.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz0j7z38LIg
  • In one of the world prominent religions it has been clearly defined that all that happens in the world has some purpose and nothing happens that has no purpose.
  • Thus to study daily from the market is what the author proposes to every reader.
  • What other gift can you give to the customer that costs you nothing but time to acquire?

Author Explains

• • A salesman started his meeting with a customer who dealt with sweets and while explaining came to know that within a few days the sweet market was about to dump exponentially due to shortage of a raw material that was not supplied in time. Note : He had no use for this information himself today.
  • However the very same week the salesman had also another meeting with another customer who was complaining that his business was not doing good as he was not able to get proper delivery order which was his bread and butter.
  • The same man being the great salesman he was spoke to this customer about the problem facing the sweet market in a few days and suggested him to get in touch with the first customer and ensure to supply the needed raw materials for the first customer. This will mutually benefits both the parties.
  • Thus the Market knowledge acquired by the sales man helped him support the business of two of the promising customers. This may not yield results directly for the salesman. However, a great rapport is established due to knowledge of the market.
  • In a business of cold calling this can be done by the following script as a closing statement.
    • In order to explain that, what will be a convenient time to meet you. Would 6 pm we better or would 8 am be perfect?

Author Suggests

• • This is the benefit of market knowledge, some people know a lot but do not use or utilize it in time or at the right place.
  • A great salesman identifies the requirements and uses his knowledge gained from the market for the benefits of the customer.