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Product Knowledge
or
(How My Customer Knows More Than I Do)
I have recently
embarked on that wonderfully delightful journey known as car
shopping. I haven't bought a new car in about 10 years
or so, but I recently decided to give it a shot. Things
have changed so much with cars and the technology in them,
that I have had to spend a fair amount of time doing research.
I have trolled many of the car buying websites from Kelley
Blue Book, Edmunds, Car and Driver, and Consumer reports, and
many more. I have spent way too much time on the various
manufacturer websites as well. Needless to say, do this
for enough time and you get pretty well informed about the
various cars.
Now this brings me to my topic about product knowledge.
I don't pretend to know a lot about the various automobiles on
sale, but I do expect the salesperson who is showing me the
car to know about it. A few sales reps I have met have
been pretty well informed and one had strength enough of
character to admit when she didn't know the answer to say so!
Even more amazing, she offered to check with someone else to
get the answer. Unfortunately, she was the exception
rather than the rule. Too many sales reps I met with
would give me wrong information (at least it didn't agree with
what the manufacturer website claimed) or they just quickly
answered any question with a response they thought I would
want to hear.Me: "Is the
engine supposed to idle at 2,000 RPM?"
Car Guy: "Oh yeah. They all do that now."
Me: (thinking to myself) "Sure they do."
Product knowledge, being
straightforward with your customer, honesty, integrity...these
are all important in any sales situation. If you try to
fake your way through it, you never know when your customer
already knows the answer and is testing to see if you are
worth their time and money. Do your homework and shoot
straight with your customer. Admit it when you don't
have the answer. They'll trust you more.
The Car Search
Continues! |
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It's A Website...
Not A Hollywood Premier!
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This must be my month to rant.
I have spent way too much time on the internet lately, and my
head is starting to spin. But researching for a car will
do that to you. What I have discovered is that many car
manufacturers and some of their dealers have failed to realize
that a potential buyer goes to their sites to get information.
So many of these sites must be designed by frustrated
Hollywood directors. If I want to be entertained I will watch
one of the many episodes of Law & Order on TV. (I think Law &
Order or one of it's derivatives is on about 400 hours a day.)
I am amazed how may websites have become very slow and tedious
to use simply because their web designers have to thrill you
with their animation and moving graphics before you can access
the information that you are looking for. I can't
imagine what people with a dial-up connection must go through.
Too often we fail to think of our businesses and services from
our customers perspective. We become locked into our own
little world and assume that what is important to us must
naturally be important to our customers. Change your
thinking! Look at everything you do and ask yourself if
it is important to your customer or just to you. When
you become your customer, and think like your customer, it is
an enlightening experience.
I have heard a rumor that there
could be another version of
Law & Order coming out:
Law & Order
Meter Maid
(stay tuned)
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Now that most of
the country is on daylight time,
do we know where the extra hour of daylight came from?
For that matter where was it? |
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Don Speaks |
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Don speaks on matters of
sales, marketing and advertising. If your organization is planning a seminar, workshop
or some other kind of sales training event call toll free
877-366-9445, Don would like to talk with you. |
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How to
Reach Us
(and all that other stuff) |
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web
www.streetsmartselling.com
e-mail
don@streetsmartselling.com
telephone
877-Don-Zihlman
(877-366-9445)
DRZ Marketing Inc
42 Tall Pines Road
Scarborough, Maine 04074 |
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Member of the
Maine Association of
Professional Consultants |
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