Was:you might be... Now: Sales

[rjtremor at core.com (Matthew H.)]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan Smith" <sad_rocc@yahoo.com>
To: "scirocco list" <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: you might be a rieger rocco owner if...


> I guess I'm one of the very few that doesn't think it's that big of a
deal. They don't sell sciroccos or rabbits or anything like that and never
will. If I was hiring, it wouldn't make a bit of difference if they could
name the VW watercooled models or not. In the mechanics bay, that might be a
different story. But even then, I don't think it'd matter much. Do you
expect a Dell customer rep to be able to rattle off every previous model?
The McD's counterboy to tell you all the previous special limited sandwiches
that have led up to the current special sandwich? As long as people know
what they're currently selling, I think they're educated enough.
>
> Dan

[babble]

It's actually a good point, for sure. Long as you know the products, that's
what matters in most respects. Personally, for me, having worked retail
before(Electronics sales at WallyWorld), I like to feel I can connect with
my customers and give them that extra little bit of confidence in what I'm
selling, know what I'm talking about, and even have experience with it in
the past, maybe just to warn them of shortcomings, or why one thing's better
than another. To me, that's more than just selling the product. That's
selling repeat business, because if someone knows you've got a bit of an
inside track, they'll send others to you, and they'll come back themselves.
I had a lot of repeat customers, and a lot of people that recommended me.
One thing I will note about the previous models thing, for example... there
might be or might have been a feature that was either better or worse on a
previous model of a computer I would sell, and then I'd tell my customer
about it to get them hyped for the "latest model", or I would tell them
where they COULD get the feature, back it up with a few extra incentives,
and see if they'd bite. If they did, whoo. If they didn't, oh well.

So in my own opinion, I feel it's good to be highly informed of the
products, familar with them, and so on. 'S too bad my job thought I didn't
do anything around there, or I'd still be there. ^.~

If I knew my salesman was an enthusiast for the brand they were selling, I
would personally be more apt to get the car from 'em, because that fact in
itself is a vote of confidence. If they didn't like the cars, why sell 'em?
Personally, I DO wanna sell 'em, one of these days. Though I can see where
yer comin' from as well. As an enthusiast, you know what you want, and more
or less, you wouldn't need the help of a saleman who's also an enthusiast,
because enthusiasts have their own opinions about cars. ^.^ The salesman, in
some cases, is better-suited to be the middleman.

There's probably lots more to say about this that I'm not thinking about,
but hey...

[/babble]

~Matt