Are You A Knower Or A Learner When Selling?

when one appointed for selling the product is know as salesman. The company only gives training on selling skill and advertise and highlight the best uses and advantages of the product. The manufacturer or service provider never highlight the disadvantage.

Therefore, when one sells to customer he/she knows about the product but when the disadvantage is shown or asked by client he act as learner.

It is not a TV Advertisement where either a celebrity or the same ad is shown everytime. Each Customer is different where the Sales pitch should be different and cut according to the customer.Even Ad sometimes has to changed may be different one or time or channel becouse of your Target audience or may be competition.Once Hunger to Know should always be there

Hi,

I started as a Radisson Hotel Trainee in Marketing Department, and currently am working as Marketing and Project Co Ordinator in Water Treatment Industry(10 months now).

In both the places, I have seen, with every new customer coming in, with every new prospect we look at, we are looking at an entirely new dimension of Marketing. Every new Project brings a new perspective to handling Projects. Marketing is something that brings in new tricks tips ideas and insights, every time we look to making a penny more for the company.

Its more like creativity leading to innovation. and need leading to invention.

There's another Catch to being a learner when in business, anything is new, only till it reaches the first few 100 clients, then it becomes an experience, then a thing of past. So no experience, as long as it be, is worth more than the clients it carries. If something Pays, it sells. If something sells well, it wont sell for long. Hence redundance of experience is another aspect we keep on ignoring.

The way we say, only thing permanent is CHANGE. Experience counts, when backed with latest learning only.

I'll be a learner throughout my life. 

Please see throgh my blog for a new perspective of looking at Sales and Marketing. http://kabirdaskalyugi.blogspot.com/2010/02/market-dekhe-kavijan-barbas-nikle-bol.html

Regards,

Sujeet 

My Job involves selling a house, a Dream for many..and I have come to realise that though you can be a know it all..there are still something you do not know. There have been so many instances when i have doled out all the gyan on my project and then I have the client tell me things I have never known, things as simple as what lay on the plot before, what could be the future developments cause then the client would be involved in a project related to developing the infrastructure around the place ,vaastu shastra principles and a lot more. So in my job I have earnt to listen to the clinet more and learn.. 1) it helps to know my client better and position my product better 2) I learn more in the process.

I agree with Adithya's argument. Though Ideally you are supposed to know everything about the product practically you know very less.  Every customer you interact with will come up with different query for the same product.  So it has to be a continuous learning process.

Attitude problem is the worst enemy in marketing.  You should be open to learning and also educating without ego issues.

A person is a lifetime learner. when a person is doing selling he is actually learning many things dynamically. like how to describe product so that the prospect will not be confused about the product. because all the time we are facing different people of different nature so while interaction we are learning how to talk, how to explain, how to bahave. knowing the product is did not mean that you are knower. knowing the product is also a learning process.

It is good to be a knower but it is not possible as day by day new technology is being introduced, market conditions and cosumer requirements change frequently therefore to cope up all these changes you have to learn - learn and learn

Yupp........gotta be Learner........Be it at any level of sales.....with the innovation comming into picture every single day you just cannot think that you know 100%.....to be Successful i nsales i think you shd be a good learner rather than Knower!!

Thanks!! 

Selling is an affable conversation, where one is learning to sell better, and the other, learning about the product. It's not a battle or about winning or losing. By exhibiting staunch presumption of knowledge or while sufffering from the "know it all syndrome", one can only satiate self belief of being a sales person.

Well.......selling is broad concept...it more of means with the skills and talent..

nobody , if someone saying that i am a knower, is perfect.......to understand various aspects of sales lots of talent is required and nobody is so called knower.......because to understand the selling......first you have to understand the consumer behaviour......which is still a very complex subject for all of us.

In every stage of selling we learn something then only we know about the product.Without learning how would you know about the product?And without learning the selling skills how would you know how to sell?Without leaning how would you improve your selling skills?So every stage you learn something then only you can implement that.

Nobody can at any point in life be a knower.We all keep learning at evey stage of life. The same applies when we are selling a product. It is important to know as much as possible about the product before approaching the customer, so as to answer their queries as far as possible but it is not possible to know everything. We learn some new things when the customer asks us certain doubts about the product which we wouldn't have thought of otherwise. When different salespeople meet, they exchange ideas which again stimulates a learning process.

Therefore i feel every individual is a learner at any point of time and the very fact that someone claims that they are a knower, is a proof that they are still learning.

I totally agree with Aditya. While  selling the product or service is the only fixed factor. The rest are all variable factors that influence a sale.  Thus every discussion in sales teaches the sales person something new.  If a sales person feels he/she knows everything, this may the reason for him to loose orders.

Selling is a troublesome work, when one thing is sold it gives relaxation while fail to sell increases B.P.even if one is very well known to product.

Hence I if be a salesman am always a learner.

This seems to be a good discussion...

In my personal view we never say to our customer that we know each & every requirement that you expect from our product. So we are always ready to learn what the customer is expecting from our product. If we start our discussion saying that we know your requirements very well, it may let us down somewhere when the customers ask for such functionality which we are not aware of or which is not a part of our product. So better be a learner & say that we can implement that in our product. 

Mr. Khamari, to know about the product requires learning and to identify the needs of the customer is also learning and as you have rightly pointed out, that since "customers have different needs and wants the marketer can learn a lot of things from the customer". And lastly, observing is also learning. Mr. Khamari, you are reflecting exactly what I have been saying all along. Thank you.

In their respective arguments Mr. Wohra & Mr. Ghosh have conceded to the fact that a sales person should be a learner. They have stated that the sales person should be a knower and it's obvious that knowing comes only from learning. I agree with Mr. Ghosh, when he says that, "in selling knowing has a much bigger role to play", and that knowing can only come from constant learning. I thank Mr. Wohra for emphasising the point I have been repeatedly conveying down this column, by differentiating the fact that one is a knower for the prospect and a constant learner for oneself.

It is a humble request, at least read arguments posted on this side of the column, before posting. Thank you.

If, being a learner is perceived as behaving, or acting dumb in the presence of a prospect, it's the prerogative of those who think so.

However, let me attempt to explain the issue in a simple manner. A person selling vacuum cleaner's will first, learn about the product, which should enable a capable presentation of the product. Thereafter, the learning will be from the experiences in the field. The knowledge gained, due to the product and from the interaction with potential customers is termed as experience. These experiences are individual in nature, and, it is not necessary that all sales personnel have the same experiences. Therefore learning from one's own experiences, of the product from the prospects, is necessary, to apply the accquired knowledge to future sales attempts.

Hey Guy's, I get a feelng the "know it all" supporters are not even reading, let alone learning from our well intentioned discourses. Ha, Ha.

I think the attitude worn by a salesperson should be as a learner, as knowledge is always insufficient. In the course of selling the salesperson should learn the need of the customer as well as dynamics of selling product or service. Although the salesperson should have the art to hide his/er ignorance. On the other side if the salesperson sells as a knower he may get arrogant anytime and can break the deal any moment.

Mr. Vishnu,

When a person joins a SALES force ina company, its mandatory that heattends an ORIENTATION course to understand what the gentleman is going to handle! Its a HR norm.

Thats where he begins learning. From then on not only he understands the Production facilities / procedures but he understands what the product is, what is its utility and its application. He also has to understand the AFTER SALES SERVICE aspect! He LEARNS of the product and its strength and short comings too!

When he is armed with this KNOWLEDGE, he is then taken through a process of MOCK CALLS to understand the consumer behavior, reaction and its acceptance! That is the learning process that leads the sales guy to plan his call and his negotiation skills. I would say only then is a man ready for SALES!

This process of LEARNING has to be imparted to the guy in question!

Over to you Vishnu Sir!

It is always better to be candid with the prospect rather than behaving as if you know. Tell the prospect you don't know, but will find out and get back asap on the topic. Creates credibility.

We are talking of knowledge beyond the basic attributes of a product. One starts with learning about the product, then starts learning from the reactions to the product. The longer the tenure of selling the product, more the exposure to varied reactions. This provides experience in responding to various reactions and situations. Richer experience means increase in knowledge and that, everyone will agree is due to the product.

Learning from the product has nothing to do with your status or relationship with the prospect. Most arguments are portraying learning as if it were demeaning oneself in front of the prospect. Learning from the product is an independant excercise a sales person indulges in to gain experience.

It is not the question of acting like an amateur, or behaving like a knower. Pertinent is how much you get to know of the product during your tenure of selling the same. When a person starts believing that he knows all about the product, he/she stops learning. Then as a knower, it will also be true, that a person with 10 days experience of selling a product will be at par with the seasoned salesman having 10 years experience. And that would mean the knowledge of selling the product and capability of both are on level.

It is, but logical to conclude, that 10 years experience relates to deeper knowledge of the product and of selling it, than availabe with a 10 day novice. What a product teaches in ten years, provided one continues learning, does not equal to what is learnt in 10 days.

I partially agree with Mr.Makrand.Only if you try something,you will be able to know about it..agreed...but don't you think so that if a salesman is himself learning about the product he is supposed to sell to the customer then will he be able to persuade the customer to buy the product or will he be able to create trust about the product in the eyes of customer......would like to have your response to this.

To KNOW the product you have to LEARN what it is, its utility and its applications! Only then will you be able to rattle off the attributes to a consumer! LEARNing begins from there itself! Only if you LEARN you will KNOW!

If I happen to ask you what is the latest camera on the film making circuit, how many of you would know?

Ok, let's put it this way, when you step out of office you know all about the product. Then you confront 10 to 20 prospects with the product. The reactions to the product will not be exactly the same across all prospects. There are bound to be some novel reactions and reflections. With 50 more there will be additional varied responses. When this is happening, the product though inanimate, is screaming, LEARN SOMETHING MORE!

Learning never ceases!

While selling its natural that you need to learn the product that you sell first. Then it is equally necessary to learn the customers needs. Once a need is established then the sales call process will help you learn through the consumers body language if he is 'interested' or not! So the process of learning never ceases at all! Learning about the consumers habits and body language leads to a happy smiling salesman!

Product knowledge helps you understand how to prepare for a sales call, but learning consumer habits and his body language helps you make the cash register ring!

i learn while selling .

because selling is an artistic process and i am a great believer in enjoying what i do

As mentioned earlier, it is essential knowing about the product. But more important is learning about the propect, to whom one is selling. It is required that the perspective of the prospect regarding the product, be known. The product is important, but the client is more important. One should be a keen observer and receptive to information. Listening and learning about the nature, needs, apprehensions of the client, and then, using those inputs in an ethical manner, to close the sale will always be appreciated. Know it all attitude, may help one close a sale or two, but in the long run will lead to the "death of a salesman".

Even if you know your product 200%, you can not assume the you know the world. I think my friends have misread the question Mohit has asked, and as said by Mr. Ghare even if you are a seasoned hardcore sales person who knows the product inside out still at every point of sales discussions you are a learner. I think every one who oppose the argument will agree with me. After every successful sales meeting team members have come out with some interesting and mind boggling views, opinionsand experiences, and same is used for next meeting. Isn't it learning?

You know your business but at the time of discussions, negotiations you are always a learner, every time I sell some thing I learn new things.We meet different customers with different temparament and while discussing with them we get to know how and what the other person is thinking or his point of view. so better be a learner than a knower. Good for us.

I think if you are a learner, then trust will be high in your sales conversations. When trust is high, the time and effort it takes to make a sale decreases and the likelihood of making the sale increases.

Being a knower you have to face some disadvantage .A prospect automatically distrusts a knower. A prospect distrusts someone who tells them how they can solve their problem when they don't even know what their problem is. It's the same as you walking into a doctor's office and before you have even sat down in his chair or uttered a word, he hands you a prescription and says "Take this and you'll feel better." Would you trust the doctor or the prescription?

So it is better to be a learner.