Building a Referral Business - Step 2

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.  

Last week I introduced the 3 step process to building a referral business.  A referral business is what allows you to become as efficient as possilbe when it comes to the quality of prospect you primarily work with.  I also posted about step one last week.  Step 2 addresses how you present your product knowledge to your customer.

Becoming an expert on your product is the goal.  However, if you recite your knowledge to the customer you really haven't accomplished anything.  Does the feature of your product benefit your propect by improving their quality of life, give them peace of mind, make using it more convenient, save them money?  Do you get the idea?  If a salesperson is selling a car that has cruise control and they tell them that it has cruise and the controls are on the steering wheel.  That shows their product knowledge.  But, when he or she tells them that this feature makes driving more comfortable because it sets the speed and they don't have to keep pressure on the gas pedal for miles and miles and it makes the vehicle operation less costly because it keeps the speed consistent.  The salesperson shows their knowledge not only of the product but also exactly how it benefits the customer.  This step takes study of the product specifications but also the benefits of each and every feature.  Also, to truly embrace this means that you must talk to other salespeople about their experiences with the product and how it benefits their customers.  Then you need to aks questions of your customers about their experience with the product.  To truly become a professional in this area, you have got to continue this process.  You must be relentless in your pursuit of understanding exactly how your product benefits a customer.  If present the benefits to a customer after you have studied and researched the benefits, then their experience will be just as you told them.  Then they will tell everyone how much of a professional you are.

If you commit to Steps 1 and 2 of this process your will be in the top 5% of all salespeople.  You must remember, that these steps never end.  You must consistently, continually and relentlessly practice them in order to be effective in building a referral business. 

Expect to Win!

--Jim