3 Steps to Become An Expert

How do you build a referral business? 

(1) You start with knowing your product at a very high level. 

(2) You must understand exactly how, with specificity, it benefits a customer. 

(3) Then you must provide a tremendously high level of customer service.  

I want to address the 1st step in the process of building a referral business in this blog post.  Product knowledge has always been important to a sales professional.  However, it is more important to day than ever.  We are in the information age and anyone can access almost any information on a subject in a click of a mouse.  You must assume that every prospect will know your product better than you do.  If you understand this fact from day one then you will put in the effort to make sure it doesn't happen.

When it comes to knowing your product, use this  3 Step Approach to Become An Expert.

1)  Identify ALL of the resources available from your company about your product.  These resources can be company information, 3rd party and can be online or in print.  It  doesn't matter, you need to make sure you know of ALL the information available to you.  You also need to know what is available to your prospects.  This step allows you to always know where to access any information on your product.  

2)  When you begin you need to start with a total immersion and read and study ALL resources you have about your product.  From that point on you need to set aside a minimum of 1/2 hour per day to review these resources and all new information.  This 1/2 hour should be scheduled and the most effective time is prior to the business day officially beginning.  You should plan this so that your are continually moving through ALL of the resources available on your product.  Don't ever let anyone know your product better than you.  

3)  Identify your competitors and especially the most competitive and the ones that you will come against the most often.  Find out what information is available from them that your prospect can access.  Get a true picture of what they have to offer and study the details of their product offerings.  Know how they compare to your product.  Always remember that the one thing they don't have is you.  What you are doing is making sure that you are a professional and that your competence is head and shoulders above any representative of any competitor.

These 3 steps to address product knowledge take strategic, consistent effort.  You have to be serious and passionate about your career as a professional salesperson to commit to these 3 steps.  If you choose not to commit then you will be like 95% of salespeople and you will work for a commission and focus on the quantity of your prospects and not be getting better and you will burn out.  If you do commit to these 3 steps you will be a PRO and your income will be 5-10 times that of that other 95%.  You will become invaluable to your customers.  They will be asking you who else to do business with in other areas of their lives.

This addresses the first step in buidling a referral business.  Nothing in your business can improve your quality of life more than improving your quality of prospect.

Expect to Win!

--Jim