A big part of a sales reps job is to make sure he or she is up to date on vendor products. Staying current is a must, especially for new items and services, and product knowledge typically comes from attending vendor training sessions. In fact, most vendors require their distributors to maintain a minimum number of training sessions per year.
Vendors take pride in doing a good job of explaining and promoting their products to the people responsible for selling them. We have all come away from training excited about what we have learned and thinking, “Why don’t we sell more of their products? Their equipment or service is outstanding. It should sell itself.”
Manufacturers are skilled at training their staff to embrace their products and services and to pass the merits of each on to you, the sales rep. These well-produced training sessions can lead to an over-abundance of enthusiasm on the part of trainees, who begin to envision their customer base snapping up the product without much effort on their part. Beware of being “blinded by the light.”
Remember, your customer must have a need for the product before you pitch the “should buy.”
Your job is to investigate each customer’s situation by asking questions and to determine the value the customer will derive from the products you are selling. If you present a product solution without following the proper sales process you run the risk of alienating your customer. Don’t let your customer think you are more concerned about selling the vendor’s products than helping him solve his company’s real issues. You’ll know when you’ve pushed a product, as opposed to a solution, by your customer’s lack of enthusiasm for meeting with you going forward.