Education
Management
|
Your
Experience |
Your
Solution |
My
product is not that simple. How do I educate the sales people in the
stores?
Shall I start by educating the buyers at the headquarters? |
Your
energy must focus on the stores. Face-to-face education is the most
effective but also the most time-consuming/expensive.
There are alternative effective ways to reach the sales people. Using your website actively is a key to your success. |
Education of buyer/headquarters Utilize the printed information you already have given them. The headquarters does not have time to go into detail regarding your product.. If you try face-to-face education, make sure you bring all the material when you visit the buyer - and the demonstration had better be good. Do not expect to use more than 10 minutes on this part of your meeting. Instead, focus on Category Management and future plans. You might get more time with a buyer if you invite the buyer to an attractive off-site sales demonstration. It can be tactically wise to invite buyers from competing chains to the same sales demonstration. You and the buyers could all benefit from a personal relationship. Some buyers may even only come to meet their colleagues. This is a sensitive area and you have to be aware of the ethical and legal issues. |
Education of sales staff The sales staff needs to be educated in your products and the best people to do this are from your own company. However, you compete with all the other vendors and the retail stores headquarters for time and attention from the sales staff. Most chains plan their education and training programs several months in advance in order to maximize the limited time available of the sales staff. To increase your chances of being able to implement a face-to- education program with the sales staff it is critical you inform the headquarters of your plans. To avoid any negative reactions and misunderstandings with the buyers, communicate directly with them and not the retail stores themselves. You never know, your training program might very well fit into the headquarters own plans. However, there are alternative ways to educate the sales staff if you cannot do face to face training. Make the information on the package so good so that the sales staff can obtain all the necessary information and even customers understand your unique selling points (USP).
Provide incentives for sales staff that complete your educational program. They could i.e. get a diploma, picture on your website, free samples, bonus trips etc. (use your imagination). Make i.e. a website and call it your name University.
Jens
Welling |
The author of this article Jens Welling has worked with retail purchase, retail sales and retail marketing over the last 15+ years. Jens Welling has written a number of articles as a good source for any new and established company who want success with retail sales. Below are short descriptions and links to other articles. |
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Why You Have To Do Your Homework Choosing Sales And Distribution Channels Category Management Unique Selling Points (USP) Price Strategy What The Buyer Wants To Know Exit Strategy Price Setting |
Negotiation Tactics Rejection From Buyer Marketing Strategy Education Management Warranties Building A Brand Logistics Keeping Your Store Sales Alive Product Development |