By Neil Phillips.

With customers spread out from coast to coast and accessible through everything from messaging and Facebook to conversations, it’s easy to lose track of the core of good selling activities.  As a leader, you can easily get carried away trying to answer technical questions.  Along the way, you forget that the core pieces really stay the same across all the alternative selling venues. Summer is a good time to go back to training on the basics.  Here are two important things to remember that will help make your job of training new sellers easier.

Every seller knows more about their product than the buyer.  When new consultants remember this, their confidence goes up and selling becomes easier.  Of course, it has to be true.  One easy way to support new sellers in learning about their products is to explore product features and benefits.  A feature is an attribute of the product.  A benefit is the way that the feature can makes a difference to the customer.  A simple way to train new sellers in features and benefits is to take a sheet of paper, draw a vertical line down the paper, and then list features on the left and benefits on the right.  When the consultants start to get comfortable with the process, you can start to push their thinking by asking some key questions:

  • What makes this important to the customer?
  • What makes this better than _____________ (alternative brands or ingredients)?
  • What’s the competitive difference that the customer will want?

Ask more questions than you give answers.  Once the new consultant is confident about their ability to discuss the products, they are ready to start learning the second part—asking questions.  I’ve found this is easier for leaders who think like a coach.  When the leader understands asking powerful, curious questions, then she can support new consultants learning to do the same thing.  The used car sales rep leads with questions; the successful direct seller seeks to understand with curious questions.

That’s it.  As you take your team back to the basics of selling, focus on product knowledge and curiosity about potential consumers.

What are the important basics in your mind?  How will you keep selling simple?

Want to Know What Other Leaders Say? Ask in the DSLN on FB!

Every Friday, we offer a quick five minute Facebook live in our group, the Direct Selling Leaders Network. You and your future leaders are welcome to join the group. We have no cross recruiting and no daily sales pitches. PS: Our Friday topics for the next few weeks are about building and sustaining a business on Facebook. Interested? Join today!