Yes, the number one ingredient to a successful sale is trust.
But the question remains: how do you win your customer’s trust? There are four main ways and this article is about the first way: expertise.
I got into sales through expertise. My first real job in a design firm was as a layout artist. I was a production person – a doer. In front of my glass layout board in the production room was a window into the conference room so potential clients could see us all busy writing, typesetting and designing. I watched them more than they watched me. I thought that sales looked like fun and I could do it.
One day, over lunch, we had a potential client stroll in without an appointment. To my amazement, she was the head of marketing, Jeana, for Mountain Bell, the telephone company for Colorado. This was before cell phones, when Mountain Bell was huge. She had just finished eating at the restaurant downstairs and just decided to “walk up and take a look at our set up”. Our execs and sales staff were all out to lunch so I just sat down with Jeana and took notes on what she wanted (talk about stumbling on a successful sales technique) for one of our real sales people to take over later.
Jeana asked me a few technical questions about telecommunicating typesetting, which luckily was right in my wheelhouse of expertise. I had done and read everything related to this subject that I could get my hands on. Jeana liked that I was a “doer” and had ground level expertise. When our execs finally arrived, Jeana had to leave. She left her card and insisted that I handle her account. They explained I was not an account rep. She replied “He is now”. Expertise generates trust. I managed that account for 14 years for three different companies, including my own.
Expertise Matters
Expertise matters to people. Part of Best Buy’s incredible success is their Geek Squad. No matter what you think about the quality of the Geek Squad – who was going to provide expert help at Circuit City, CompUSA, Computer City – now all defunct.
Expertise as a Brand Separator
Expertise can separate your company’s brand from the crowd. In many fields like business products for instance, where every retailer is selling the same brands: Swingline, 3M, HP etc. expertise is a large separating factor. Independent dealers can thrive due to their expertise in special areas like managed print services, office furniture systems design, premium coffee service as examples. Having experts on your sales staff will augment your sales immeasurably over the years. Expertise is more than Product/Service Knowledge.
What is expertise exactly?
It’s goes beyond mere knowledge. In fact, know-it-alls are never true experts. To demonstrate — my wife and I have a buying system which you may find familiar. We call a company to get something we want – everything from a special item, to an adjustment in the bill, to faster shipping. The first person we get is usually what we call the “stiff”. They have product knowledge and they follow the rules to the letter. We say thank you and goodbye immediately to the stiff. Then we simply call back again. We keep calling until we get the “expert”. This person not only knows something but more importantly knows how to get things done. The expert is someone we know we can trust. Meeting face- to-face, you can see expertise immediately. You can even hear expertise on the telephone line. Expertise is a combination of knowledge and know-how. Your customer knows that an “expert” exists in your company. When they find that person – they will not let go.
Brand well and prosper!
Andy Cleary