And now you ask, how am I supposed to gather account knowledge (customer information)?
Well its easy actually - read a book on basic selling.
Just kidding... It is my commitment to you as your online sales mentor to help you in your selling endeavors.
Here are the basic steps on gathering account knowledge:
1. Ask
Many sales people tend to focus on selling right away, saying that only action can result to a sale. But without any information about your prospect, you are like a soldier going to war without any kind of firearm.
It doesn't matter whether you're calling on a new prospect or a regular customer, asking a few of the key personnel greatly contributes to your selling success. Although the questions you ask will matter on how long that customer has been buying from you, but asking around always helps you. In fact, there are even times that you are able to handle customer-objections very easily based on the information you know.
Here are a couple of sample questions you may ask.
The prospects full name, key decision maker, competitors products, possible products to sell, buyer's name, capacity to pay, brand preference, etc.
Now asking doesn't have to be a tedious thing. You can just ask spontaneously to people like the security guard, owner's assistant, admin staff, owner's husband or wife, and many people who you think has an idea of the information you need.
2. Verify
After asking questions, do not directly talk to the prospect and march in like a cowboy crashing a bar. You still have to verify the questions that you gathered.
This too is very important since all of the information you have gathered are still considered "opinions" until it is verified as a fact by the prospect that is directly involved.
Also a verified information allows you to see the whole picture, hence giving you a more "customer-fit" strategy to approach each respective prospect.
3. Transmit
Lastly, the easy part in selling - transmitting your sales pitch. After asking and verifying the important account-knowledge that will be crucial for your selling it is now time to sell to the customer.
Now make sure that the information you have gathered are included in your sales pitch. Be specific on mentioning the benefits of your products and how it relates to your prospect's needs and preferences. Do not just follow a "sales story" given by your boss or company, make your own version that relates to the prospect that you are talking to.
An important note.
In transmitting the information to your prospect, ensure that you only mention facts to avoid conflicts with the prospect. This is one of the reasons the verification process is very crucial in selling, since it will move opinions to facts.
Congratulations you have just learn the basic background in selling, the OVT process (Obtain-Verify-Transmit). You can now start doing your actual selling in any product/service you wish to undertake.
