A guest post from Ben Kench. Ben is the author of Selling for Dummies. In this post he shares an extract from his book about making the most sales, as an employee. You can grab a copy of Selling for Dummies here and find Ben over at his personal blog aptly named Ben Kench.

Research your product before selling

Attend training sessions and read product literature
In truth, after your initial enrollment with your employer, there might not be much new material or product development to learn and you can  focus is upon knowing thoroughly the current offering.  However, should you work for a developing company or a company at a period of change then it is paramount that your knowledge is current and accurate.
For example, your company or the manufacturer of the products you represent may hold regularly scheduled training sessions about the product. If they do, then by all means go to these training sessions. They’re your best opportunity for learning thoroughly and correctly about your product from reliable sources.

And always attend these sessions with a list of questions and a notepad for writing down the answers. If the speaker doesn’t answer your questions during the presentation, I strongly suggest that you approach them politely before they leave and ask them any questions you mayight have.  They  will usually be very pleased to see some one as keen as them about the subject matter as they are!

It is true that many salespeople view these training days as either a ‘jolly-up’ and don’t not taken them very seriously or as a boring day, wasted instead of being productive in the field. Whilst it may be that these days aren’t all as constructive and entertaining as they could be, a professional salesperson will always attend them with an attitude that ‘“if I learn just one thing today that might be useful with just one client then it has been worth it’”.

In between training sessions, watch for e-mail or memo updates of product information from the company as well. If you really do work for a fast- moving, dynamic company and new stuff is happening almost all of the time, then it may be worth visiting your own company’s website every morning and checking for a product revisions, if those are posted on the site.

If something has changed in the past 24 hours, you need to read it and be familiar with it as soon as possible. After all, your new prospect may have read that information already, and you want to be able to show that your information is current.

Your company will probably provide you with brochures containing technical information on your product or service, even if they don’t offer specific product-training sessions. Set aside a specific amount of time in your schedule to sit and read such literature -but don’t just read through it the way a customer would.

Study it. Read it every day for at least three weeks.

You’ll need to know the terminology and how it applies in the field. By the end of that time, you’ll have memorised the information and know exactly what your customers are referring to when they ask questions. Nothing is worse than having to look to a higher source when your customer asks a question that you should know the answer to.

If training sessions and product literature aren’t available to you, and what you sell is a tangible product, get your hands on a product sample immediately. Be like a kid with a new toy: Play with it, experiment, read through suggested demonstrations, and try it out as if you’re the customer. Make notes on things you find hard to understand. Chances are good that at least one of your prospects will have the same questions or concerns that you come up with. Resolve those concerns now, and you’ll be well prepared for your demonstrations.

Try sending the questions you come up with to your customer support department online.

See how long it takes them to provide an answer and how detailed the answer is. What you’ll receive from them is what a customer would likely to receive when using that service after a sale. If the return time is unacceptable for the type of question you asked, see if you can do anything within the company to help speed things up. Or if you know the response time is slow, you may recommend, during your presentation, that your clients contact you directly with questions. This strategy shows that you provide added services and that you’re knowledgeable about the product.

Make sure that taking care of customer support questions and concerns doesn’t take up so much of your time that it interferes with your selling time. After all, you’re paid primarily to find and serve new customers for your business, in addition to keeping those you’ve already gained.

Ben