One thing which is more important than Sales training

Some things are more important than Sales techniques. Many of my Mystery Shopping clients sped countless hours teaching each employee simply sales techniques.

There are the six steps to selling, or the 9 steps the selling, the Friedman method and so on. These usually involve some form of closing technique and or up-sell. All completely valid, but there is something even more important.

You have got to know your product.

In the car industry it is knowing the towing capacity, warranty, service intervals and options. In a café it is about having the knowledge to make the product.

In a study completed by my mystery shopping company in 2005, we found that in terms of importance, they chose knowledge over service as follows:

Knowledge 59%

Service 41%

Most selling processes are built of service, but don’t forget knowledge as a more important component.