Creating Product Solutions

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6
Creating Product Solutions
2
Learning Objectives

• Explain the importance of developing a product
  strategy
• Describe product configuration
• Identify reasons why salespeople and customers
  benefit from thorough product knowledge
• Discuss the most important kinds of product and
  company information that salespeople use in
  creating product solutions

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Learning Objectives

• Describe how knowledge of competition improves
  personal selling
• List major sources of product information
• Explain the difference between product features
  and buyer benefits
• Demonstrate how to translate product features
  into buyer benefits

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Product Strategy Defined

• The product strategy is a well-conceived plan
  that emphasizes becoming a product expert,
  selling benefits, and configuring value-added
  solutions.

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Strategic/ConsultativeSelling Model
6.1
FIGURE
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Solutions

• Are mutually shared answers to recognized
  customer problems
• Are more encompassing than specific products
• Provide measurable results
• Require a greater effort to define and diagnose
  the customers problems

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Tailoring the Product Strategy

• The product strategy should be tailored to the
  customers buying needs

FIGURE
6.2
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Tabasco
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Explosion of Product Options

• More than 30,000 consumer products are turned out
  each year
• The good news is greater consumer choice
• The bad news is with more choice, buying process
  is more complicated

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Product Configuration

• Shows how different parts of your product mix can
  combine to solve the customers problem
• Product configuration software
• Incorporates customer selection criteria
• Identifies options, pricing, delivery schedules
• Can integrate with contact management software
  like ACT!

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Written Proposals

• Many clients ask for written proposals and some
  provide detailed guidelines
• Most written proposals include
• Budget and overview
• Objective
• Strategy
• Schedule
• Rationale

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As a Salesperson,You Need to Know
?

• Your products
• Your company and its policies
• Your competition and industry

?
?
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Product Information Categories

• Product development and quality improvement
  processes
• Performance data and specifications
• Maintenance and service contracts
• Price and delivery

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Product Development and Quality Improvement

• Development
• Be familiar with product history
• Know stages of product testing
• Link key features and customer needs

• Quality
• Quality control involves measuring against
  standards
• Extensive sales-force training is key element of
  quality control

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Performance Data and Specifications

• Most clients interested in product performance
  and specifications
• Salespeople must be prepared to answer
  performance-related questions
• Data often critical whencustomer compares
  various products

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Sea Ray Salespeople Know the Product
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Maintenance and Service Contracts

• Provide service-related information in proposal
  and/or at the time of sale
• Understand customers service and maintenance
  requirements
• Customized service agreements add value

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Price and Delivery

• Clients expect salespeople to be well versed in
  price and delivery policies
• Giving salespeople price and delivery decision
  power yields strong position
• Price objections often common barrier to closing
  the sale

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Quantifying the Solution

• Process of determining whether proposal adds
  value
• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis using costs and
  anticipated savings
• See Table 6.1 for an example (next slide)
• Calculate a return on investment
• Key decision makers respond favorably to ROI

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Cost-Benefit Analysis
6.1
TABLE
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Know Your Company

• Salespeople sell their company as much or more
  than they sell a product
• Organizational culture is a collection of
  beliefs, behaviors, and work patterns common to a
  firms employeesinfluences customer orientation
  of salespeople
• Many prospects use a firms past performance as
  index for current products/services

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GEAR for Sports
See the Website
23
Edward Jones Past Performance
See the Website
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Know Your Competition

• Acquiring knowledge of the competition is an
  important step
• Knowing strengths and weaknesses of competing
  products allows you to emphasize your benefits
• Prospects do raise questions about competitionbe
  prepared to answer

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Discussion Questions

• How would you respond if a customer asks you
  about a competitors service, which you know from
  all accounts is horrible?
• What would you tell a customer who has just said,
  I think that salesperson from your competition
  is unethical. What do you think?

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Handling Competition

• Avoid referring to the competition during sales
  presentations
• Never discuss the competition unless you have
  your facts straight
• Avoid criticizing the competition
• Be prepared to neutralize competitor proposals by
  adding value to yours

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Be an Industry Expert

• Salespeople need to become an expert in industry
  they represent
• Need to move beyond product specialist to
  business analyst
• Knowledge of industry must be both current and
  detailed

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Industry ExpertiseIts Never Too Early

• Process often starts in college experience
• Read trade journals
• Regularly attend industryseminars and
  conventions
• Become active in industryassociations many
  havespecial student membership rates

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Sources of Product Information

• Product literature, catalogs, Websites
• Plant tours
• Internal sales and sales support team
• Customers
• The product itself
• Trade publications

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Features and Benefits

• A feature is data, facts, or characteristics of
  your product or service
• A benefit is whatever provides the customer with
  a personal advantageor gain
• General benefits
• Specific benefits

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Slipit Features and Benefits

• Visit the Website to see how Slipit translates
  features into benefits

See the Website
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Bridge Statements

• Transitional phrases linking a feature statement
  to a benefit statement
• Sample bridge
• This product is nationally advertised, which
  means you will benefit from more pre-sold
  customers
• Best method for presenting benefits to customers

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Bridge Statement Application

• For each of the following cell phone features,
  write down a benefit for the customer, then use a
  bridge statement to link them.
• Features
• Small and lightweight
• Has voice-command capability
• Has wireless Internet capability
• Can store MP3 files/comes with earbuds
• GPS technology can provide onscreen directions

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Benefits Not Features

• I dont think that we understood our real goal
  when we first started Federal Express. We thought
  that we were selling the transportation of goods
  in fact, we were selling peace of mind.
• Frederick Smith, founder of Federal Express