I have been traveling round the country with DSGI.
It was their product learning roadshow and Beyond The Box were asked to support them and deliver training on the Get Connected stand.
We introduced colleagues to the benefits of mobile broadband.
It really does make web connection accessible almost anywhere and it’s so simple to connect.
I love the mobile routers available. They mean you can place the router where the best connection is and work in comfort within a radius of its signal.
In addition to product knowledge we focused on how to create customer desires to help them find the correct solution.

Take a look at below Natasha and me in action!

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Last week we welcomed two new members to the DSGI training team.
Most of the time Amarjit and Jay will be working from the Gloucester Product Learning Centre. They will be delivering product courses on Vision, Major Domestic Appliances and Audio.

Take a look at the following pictures where they were ’snapped’ working at the recent DSGI PLC roadshows!!

Amarjit and Jay can be seen here during DSGI PLC roadshows …

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Here are some great top tips from me for you to create the best rapport on the telephone. Check out the link below to see my article on behalf of Beyond The Box posted on callcenterhelper.com.

http://www.callcentrehelper.com/top-tips-for-building-rapport-on-the-telephone-2646.htm

This topic should be of particular interest to all in the business world.  Do let me know your own thoughts on the subject,  perhaps from your own personal experiences!

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I am still amazed at the number of times I go into a store to make a purchase and end up selling it to myself. How do I do this? I end up giving the salesperson all the answers to the questions he doesn’t ask me. I do wait to be asked it’s not as if I jump in and present my needs on a plate before giving an opportunity to be asked anything. If I waited much longer in some stores I wouldn’t be able to sand the silence between us. 

This isn’t always the case I admit some salespeople are highly interactive and have mastered the art of good questioning techniques leading to great customer interaction. In these instances the shopping experience is so much more enjoyable and I leave with the product I really need rather than a poor excuse. This happened on one occasion when I was buying a laptop in PC World. The salesperson was brilliant, uncovering every need I had and recommending the right product for the job.  Sadly I can’t say I have the same experience everywhere and I amazed at the light hearted way many salespeople accept the first answer they hear when they do engage in questing in techniques to identify customer needs. So many key generic features appear on most manufacturers products. The key differentials and the ones that could identify if the product is the right solution for the customer. Sadly the questioning stage of the sale rarely drills deep enough to identify it they would be of use and it needs to. When customers arrive in store many are totally unaware what today’s products can do for them to make their life easier, save time, money improve their carbon footprint etc. Quite simply ‘we don’t; know what we don’t know’! and we need the salesperson help us identify if we can make use of them. It could mean the difference between owning the right or wrong product and difference to the retailer in trading up to more marginally attractive sales – everyone benefits!  

The NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Metal Model offers a perfect example of how important it is to drill down to fully understand the customer needs. It uncovers the information omitted in any answer due to deletion distortion or sheer generalisation. 

Deletions – Important information is left out of the conversation 

Distortions – Information is twisted in such a way that choices are limited 

Generalization – One example is taken to represent all and this limits possibilities 

ExamplesDeletions – This camera isn’t right for me. Response – What stops it from being right for you? (we can identify what isn’t right so we don’t present it on the next model) 

Distortions – Your service is no goodResponse – What leads you to believe that? (Their belief could be based on someone’s comment, or past your history. If you know what you are dealing with you can re educate correctly)  

Generalization – I’m always on the phoneRespond with – ‘If we can define always I can help you find the best tariff for your mobile phone. How often is always? (Always can be anything to anybody if we can clarify we are in an excellent position to offer the correct product) 

Drilling down with questioning techniques will speed up the sales process and ensure that your customer leaves with the right product for them a winner if you want them to return.

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Avoid introducing technical jargon as much as possible. You want to get support for the product, not provide excuses for not selling it. Also, all questions should be welcomed and not ridiculed. Some questions may appear trivial and foolish at times but our intention is to overcome all hurdles.  

Provide “Hands On” Training - it is important to give an explanation of how the product works, but it is also important for users to actually “touch and feel” the product. They may not come away from the training class as experts, but at least you will have overcome their fears.

Get Management Support - If staff sense the slightest lack of support for a product, they will use it as an excuse not to sell it.

Create excitement to sell the new product - this can be achieved by incentives and bonus schemes. Another option is to train the staff in stages, e.g., taking key “features and benefits” and making them proficient in them. Let the trained staff spread the word to the rest of the employees. This allows the other staff to get an unbiased opinion as it were.

Some general tips you should be aware of as a trainer:

Be organised - prepare a well thought out agenda and stick to it. I used to be a big believer of the tell, tell, tell approach. This is great for presentations but I found that when I was being trained using this approach; it used to go over my head. As my knowledge of being a trainer increased so did my training style. I know use the ask, ask, ask approach. This gets the trainee involvement and helps me identify their learning styles.

Know your audience - understand their intelligence level and interests, and design a training program around them. By working within their limitations you will be able to accomplish more.

Dress and speak appropriately - your appearance and how you present yourself says a lot to the trainees about your product. If you dress and act like a geek, the staff may look at this as another harebrained scheme by the Manufacturer. The appearance and presentation of the trainer reflects the credibility of not only the speaker, but of the brand and product as well.

Stimulate the trainees - keep the training positive and upbeat; inject humor where necessary.  Allow periodic breaks, but keep them short and sweet. Make use of other aids like metaphors and games to embed messages and get the mind working.

Provide training aids - such as handouts, brochures or perhaps a CD/DVD with a copy of the presentation.

Get feedback from the training program - allow the trainees to evaluate the training course. Their feedback will hint as to your success and may point out problem areas that need to be addressed.

In conclusion the trainer’s mission, therefore, is to explain, demonstrate, and convince the trainees how the new products will not only benefit the company, but the customers as well; and communicate it in a way that the trainees will understand. Remember; keep it simple as lots of technical jargon impresses no one.

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Sue’s put together some tips on getting more information out of people when you’re marketing products in store.

Here’s the video:

And as ever, here are the notes in case you can’t view the video:

Hi, I’m Sue Abbiss from Beyond The Box, I’m a Field Marketing Manager. I’ve spoken about top tips for sales, and we mentioned open questions, so I’m going to talk a little bit about that.

Open questions require an answer, not just yes or no, so who, what, where, why, when.

If you were to ask a closed question for example “did you go to the pictures last night?” you would get a short yes/no answer. If you were to say “where did you go last night?”, they might give you more information.

So just remember, a good sales tip - use open questions - who, what, where, why, when - to gain information.

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Sue’s got some tips to help selling in retail stores:

Here are the notes, in case you can’t view the video:

Hi I’m Sue Abbiss from Beyond The Box, I’m the field marketing manager.

Today I’d just like to go through top tips on selling.

1. Make sure you that you approach every customer in store, say good morning, etc.
2. Build rapport, it’s important to ask friendly questions, be open with them.
3. Identify a customers’ needs by asking who, what, where, why, when.
4. You can then match those needs to a product that you think is right for them.
5. Once you’ve done that, overcome any objections and answer any questions that they have.
6. Then ask for the sale. don’t be afraid to ask for the sale.
7. Once you’ve asked for the sale, close the sale.

It’s as simple as that!

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Field merchandising can take on many forms, but predominantly merchandisers make sure stock is available and well placed on the shop floor for the consumer to see. Merchandisers can check stock levels by checking the store systems, make sure all products are placed out on the shop floor, or by going into the warehouse and unboxing products if necessary. Once the product is on the shop floor, a merchandiser will make sure that the product is placed in the best possible vantage point, make sure all POS is correctly placed and that the product is clean and tidy. So it will be the first product the customer will see when entering the store, and if the product looks good, customers are more likely to buy that product.

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Point of sale can have enormous benefits when designed correctly. If the design is poor and the thought process for designing it minimal it becomes confusing for the customer and can in fact, have the opposite effect.

Here are two examples of how it can differ. Both are designed to advise the customer on an electrical appliance but one is far superior and will inform the customer of the product more effectively.

First of all I want to raise the guidance given to staff by companies, quite rightly they ask them to talk to the customer about how a product will benefit. The benefit tells them what the feature will do for them; a feature may be limited in its ability to educate the customer by revealing its use. Despite this, some retail outlets persist in creating customer information in the form of point of sale which refers only to the feature, totally contradicting the sales training they give to staff.

Consider the picture below, POS for a camera. Unless they have previously completed their own research about the product or have a technical background, would the customer know why they should select a camera with 72 mega pixels as opposed to one with more or less?

Is ‘compatible with PRO Duo’ an important feature? Only the customers that know what ‘PRO Duo’ is would know the answer to that. What about 3x optifocal zoom and 6x digital zoom, will every prospective customer know if they need it? It leads me to ask the question ‘What’s the point’ of point of sale that doesn’t tell the customer anything. Perhaps the thought process is to encourage the customer to ask a member or staff. Easy for the confident customer to do if they can find a member of staff, but what about the unconfident customer who may feel foolish if they admit to having little knowledge about the product.

In my mind the presence of the feature indicates that the author is concluding that the reader should already know the benefit. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news – some don’t and any store displaying such POS could potentially alienate customers and lose sales.

If we compare the POS on the picture below a key feature with its benefits is displayed clearly and boldly. Straight away the customer is informed how the large 1.8” screen and easy to use interface on the MP3 video player will benefit them.
Following on key features are displayed as icons with a simple clear associated benefit.

Reading this information has given me a much greater knowledge of the product. As a customer I can make a more informed decision to buy or decide if the product is suitable or insufficient for my needs without the help of a sales person.

This is a great example of simple and effective point of sale with ‘a point’.

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Sean describes how to increase sales at point of purchase:

Here are the notes to go with the video:

5 tips on how to produce successful point of purchase solutions

1. The first thing you need to do is check the compliance issues of the stores that you’re citing your displays within, check the criteria because they vary form one outlet to the next. Secondly, undertand the target audience. Understand and research them thoroughly.
2. Secondly, understand the target audience. Understand and research them thoroughly.
3. Thirdly, make sure you that you portray a clear brand message with the display that you design. Make sure you put over the essence of the brand correctly and that it’s clear and to the point.
4. Forth, simplicity of design. Make sure the design of the unit or point of sale display is simple, they are by far the most successful units in store. Don’t make it too complicated because it won’t work. Keep the wording to the point. Make it simple and clear. Use pictures because people won’t always read it.
5. Finally, allow time for mishaps. Because when you’re developing something bespoke, even though you may have prototypes signed off, there’ will always be something that could crop up during manufacture.

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