NFIB

Adding Technical Expertise To Your Sales Staff
07/ 11/ 2002

by Jeffrey Moses

The more information about products and services you can give your customers during their purchasing decisions, the more likely they'll be to buy from you. Brochures seldom include enough of the detailed, technical information customers need, and it's often difficult for customers to obtain enough information about potential purchases.

One reason for this is an overemphasis on creating a mood in marketing. The old adage, "sell the sizzle, not the steak," has merit, but more often than many marketing professionals will admit, savvy customers base their decisions on facts, not feelings.

So to make the best impression, it's important that your sales staff have a firm grounding in the technical aspects of your products. Here are three ways to enhance the technical expertise of your sales staff:

1. Keep your sales staff current with all technical knowledge by requiring them to attend regular meetings when your technical employees address tech-related sales issues.

If you don't have on-staff tech experts, consider bringing in technical reps from the companies providing your products. Usually, they'll be delighted to help your salespeople become more technologically informed. And why not? They know that increased sales volume will result.

2. For important presentations, send a technical expert with your sales team.

An ideal mix of personnel for a crucial sales presentation includes a sales manager, the sales rep handling the account and a product specialist. Individuals in these three roles will be able to answer all questions thrown at them, while making it obvious that your company is doing all it can to put its best foot forward.

3. Create a salesperson out of a technical expert.

Most managers feel that sales staff and tech staff are two distinct entities. Indeed, it's often hard for a tech-based employee to assume a selling role. And it's usually impossible for even the most eager sales pro to know all crucial details of a technically oriented product. However, customers often don't expect a technician to have the sales polish or winning personality of a true salesperson--and the fact that a "techie" may not have the personality of a salesperson can be an asset to a presentation.

Take for instance a successful jewelry store in the Midwest. It has a number of sales people who work with customers in "the front" of the store, while four jewelers work in "the back." The owners recently noticed that several of the jewelers had good presentation skills. They enjoy talking with customers, and customers appreciate it when a salesperson calls one of the "experts" from the back of the store to explain how a new piece of jewelry will be created. This technical basis not only assuages all doubts about whether the job can be done adequately, it also gives validation to the cost.

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