Client Knowledge | Travel Research Online

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Client Knowledge

Recently, I was speaking to a colleague about a new salesperson he had just employed. The salesperson was complaining the company did not have a  presentation brochure. If only the company would produce a professional presentation, the salesperson assured his boss, the sales would come flying through the door. My friend wanted to know what I thought, and I told him.

Good sales materials are important, but more important are the clients’ needs.  Company-produced literature, particularly in a 1:1 scenario like travel consulting, was secondary to speaking intelligently and compassionately with the client.

ThinkstockPhotos-186319706I’ve said before that sales and marketing knowledge will surpass product knowledge in a few short years in the travel industry. The best travel consultants of tomorrow, the ones earning six-figure commissions, will be professional salespeople. They will know the travel industry for sure, but they will know more about professional marketing and sales.

The art of selling is not about your products, your history, the places you have been, or the people you know. You could have an exhaustive brochure on every aspect of your company; you can be the absolute expert on a dozen destinations, cruise lines, and Disney and still miss the sale by a mile. It happens all the time. In fact, it is very typical for a salesperson to spend their time during a sales opportunity attempting to educate their prospect on every aspect of their products, their services, or the history of the company.

But an encounter with a potential client is not the time to prove how much you know about the travel industry. Instead, its an opportunity to find out what your client really needs.

Launching headlong into a sales presentation is a surefire way to lose a client. Doing so misses the point. Your job is to form a relationship based on your perception of your client’s needs. Your earliest conversation is an opportunity to find out what you don’t know about the client. Meet their needs, and you have a client. Recite a dozen facts that hold little interest to him, and the client will begin to look at their watch. Your client is interested in your history, your experience, and your company, only to the extent those things benefit him. You cannot know what will benefit your client until you know what your client needs.

Here’s the key: Quit telling and start listening. Quit selling. Hold a conversation. Form a relationship.

Certainly, your expertise is important – but you have to fully understand what the client’s needs are before you can begin to apply your knowledge. If you fail to show a real interest in your client, you will sound like you are trying to sell something. Authentic sales require a real skill set – the ability to craft your presentation not out of a can but in response to the needs of your client.

My friend’s salesperson did not need to know any more about the company than he already knew. He may well have needed a new presentation brochure. However, good sales collateral is ancillary. A professional salesperson will get up, get out the door, and spend all of his time learning about the client. Then, and only then, can the appropriate sales presentation be crafted.

If you are a bit reticent to be deemed a salesperson, get over it. The best of you know you are in sales, and product knowledge is a passion – so is client knowledge.

Client knowledge- that’s the hard part – and it’s the only part about which your clients really care.

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