Educate the Customer

by sanjay.k
(Oman)

How to educate the customer without really making him know that he is being educated?




Answer
Hi Sanjay,
I guess this depends on the context and the prospect.

Some sales people run free educational seminars to fill their pipeline with prospects. These are unashamedly educational.

Even, one-on-one selling it depends on the relative expertise of the seller and the prospect.

I know a sales person in Australia who totally dominates just about every sales call she goes into because NOBODY in Australia knows more about her field that she does. Every prospect she talks to defers to her as the expert. And she's so good that she has companies from other countries all over the world offering her employment.

Personally, I took a much lower key approach. I sold chemical and equipment into the manufacturing industry and I have a degree in CHemistry. I tended to ask questions that lead the more technically specialized chemists into considering benefits of the products I offered. I would often start with something like, "This may be a dumb question but how does X affect y?" and a discussion would ensue.

Must have worked because my father-in-law knows a retired color chemist who told him that I taught him everything he knew about a certain type of pigment. I can assure you what I know about those pigments I could write on the back of a postage stamp.

In summary, assess where you are in relation to your prospect and their perception of their own knowledge then adjust your approach accordingly.

Hope this helps, Greg

For more detailed help I am available for Sales Coaching