The recruitment of a candidate for your sales position, "seems to product knowledge" on the surface of a smart move. Do not believe it! Product knowledge is highly overrated by the majority of sales managers and has little to do with the ability of a representative of sales in the vicinity. Although most of today conducted sales training focuses on learning the intricacies of the products is a company focused on products or services of the knowledge is nothing but a waste ofTraining period. If you switched to "order taker" and not sales professionals to put the focus on looking for candidates with industry experience and product knowledge
I sat in a meeting with the president of a bank and several vice-presidents are trying to sell them on a sales training package for their customer service when he said in answer to a question from me, the training of managers that the bank did not even think my training unless I hada way of measuring its effectiveness, with their CSRs. On the day before that sales meeting, The $ Elling Edge, Inc. was the dealer for a one-bank-tracking software package that would measure actual CSR cross-selling ratio. I knew what to do, the software, but had no opportunity to show its advantages, because all the brochures and demo CDs were in the mail. Nevertheless, cut, before leaving the meeting on that day, the control of the bank a cashierCheck for $ 8795 for the tracking software and the bank one years training for their CSRs and tellers required. Knowing how to sell my company had to sell the first software package. Product Knowledge played no role in the process at all.
Two weeks after joining the sales staff of a major oil and gas companies tax breaks, I was invited to meet my boss at the Merrill Lynch office in Indianapolis to watch my first official presentation of the tax products. Twenty minutes beforeThe presentation should begin, I received a call from my boss, whose plane had been delayed, and they told me I'de have to lead the demonstration to 40 experienced brokers alone. I knew nothing about the oil and gas industry and was responsible for training, such as hydrocarbons are produced according to weekly meetings at Indiana. I was not sure how the "preferential treatment" worked in the tax havens, nor did I understand all the nuances of the products, but when I finish myPresentation, some brokers said that it was the best proof that they ever had on the topic. I succeeded with the group, because I knew how to sell – not because of knowledge of oil and gas tax havens.
Hire candidates who can sell. It does not matter whether they know anything about your industry or your products or services. Product knowledge in the hiring process and selling skills seem to be under-estimated by many managers today. Ifyour candidates can sell, learning what they need to know about what it is you sell can be accomplished in quickly.
Check out our sales management self-directed learning manual at:
http://www.thesellingedge.com/team.htm
Knowledge Management Articles 