Are you as smart as your customer when it comes to knowing how your industry operates?
Why should a customer make time to speak with us if we don’t have a level of industry knowledge they would find value in?
There are far too many salespeople going through the sales motions without a foundational knowledge about the industry they’re selling to.
If we don’t have knowledge about the industry we’re selling to, then what is the point-of-difference we can bring to the customer?
Our challenge as salespeople is to bring insights, not blank order forms for the customer to fill out.
We don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. We just have to be smart enough to hold our own in the room. This means we have to be taking time to truly understand our business and our industry.
The beautiful thing is that gaining industry knowledge has never been easier. In my job I get to work with numerous companies in a wide number of industries in countries all over the world.
I have yet to work in an industry where in 5 minutes or less I can’t find information about the industry via the internet and other resources. If I can find this information, quickly then why can’t salespeople?
Every salesperson, regardless of the number of years they’ve been in the business, should be spending 10 minutes each day learning / reading / studying their industry.
If you were to spend 10 minutes a day doing this, within 6 months you would be able to hold your own in almost any industry. No, you’re not going to know everything — far from it, but you are going to know enough to be able to ask great questions and engage in thought-provoking discussions.
How much do you know about your industry? Invest 10 minutes a day, starting today.
Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
