Developing Sales Mastery © – Knowledge

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Benjamin Franklin

Management cannot always prepare their staff for all the challenges they’ll face but they can and should ensure a culture that builds comfortable and confident sales teams prepared to handle whatever is thrown at them.

Internal

Company product features and benefits along with the different processes of influencing your customers needs through your organisation.

This may seem like common sense to those in the business for a while but as a wise person once said “the person who named it “common sense” stuffed it up for all of us”. There is too much time to lose and wasted effort here to let staff sink or swim, that’s like throwing a brick to someone who is drowning.

Anywhere there is money and more than two people there will be politics, those on the pathway to Sales Mastery understand this and use their Self Awareness and Relationship Building Skills to get stuff done inside their business.

Commercial knowledge is also critical – there is too much blame and not enough control in organisations over pricing or costs putting pressure on margins and internal relationships.

External

Customers – ideal customer criteria, best returns, risk v reward, most potential, influencers and decision makers

Markets – structure and supply chain of manufacturers, wholesale, trade and retail; relative competitive advantage; sector challenges and opportunities

Legislative and economic factors – the need for sales people to step up is now a reality, I love the following from a “Conviction” by Peter Cook, Matt Church and Michael Henderson:

It is crucial for industry to enable their front line sales teams and build their capability ensuring their organisations not only survive but thrive in the face of the new world order.

Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge.
Mahatma Gandhi

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