Kenny Chapman argues salespeople need product expertise, not just likability. A St. Louis server who knew the menu cold sold better and created a better experience. Companies should train staff to actually know their stuff.
Hey, everybody, I'm Kenny Chapman, the blue collar coach, your partner in profitability. This month. I want to talk to you about something that doesn't get enough attention, and that is the knowledge of your product. One of the things we train on all the time is the importance of connection. Credibility, likability, trust, all those things when you're connecting with your client early on in the call, before you ever even make a presentation or generate any options that this customer might want, need, or desire. But one of the things that we forget sometimes is that's not enough just in and of by itself. See, you can make a good connection, but if you don't know your stuff, then the customer doesn't have anything to go on. If you don't know your stuff and you're making an offering, if there's some things on that option sheet that you don't really know about, but you're asking your customer to invest in those, then you're doing nothing more than just trying to sell them something. And that's not what this is about. That's not what you're about, and that's not what we represent in our companies. This is about becoming an assistant buyer to help your customer make a good decision based on their wants and needs and desires and your understanding of the product, which they shouldn't have to know about. So this became really, really crystal clear for me last week. I was on site in St. Louis with the lovely Christy. We were doing one of our In Shop experience workshops. And we got done on Friday night. And the next morning, before we flew home, we wanted to see the arch and check out some sites. We booked a little bit of a later flight. We went to brunch. And as we walked into this restaurant, we could tell it felt pretty good, pretty good energy. But then suddenly, our server arrived and everything changed immediately. Water glasses filled, all this kind of thing. So both Christy and I were on the fence between two different menu items, and she was looking at one, some sort of a tofu omelette and something else. And I was looking at a. At a short rib omelet or, yeah, short rib omelette. And so it doesn't matter, but we're between these things. Right? Well, so the. The waiter comes back and he starts, you know, do you have any questions? The normal standard thing that you get, right, you get that in all the chains, you get that everywhere. So we're not expecting that much said, well, here's the thing. I'm between this and this. Christie says she's between this and this, and he launched into an explanation. I thought Wolfgang Puck himself had materialized out of nowhere and was explaining to me how he creates the dish, how he makes the dish, how he presents it on the. On the plate. This guy knew his information so well. It was amazing. We both made a good decision. We had a great experience, a great meal. So when he was coming by and we were paying him, I just said, you know, I really appreciate you knowing your stuff. So many people don't know their stuff. And he said, sir, thank you, but really, our food's way too good for me not to know my stuff. I don't want to penalize my guests with as good as our food is by not being able to match a menu item for what they're looking for. So let me ask you, what about you? What about you? When it comes to your company, to your product, to your stuff, how well do you know it? How well are you training your techs? For them to know it? They've got to make the connection. They've got to build the trust. But then they have to know their stuff. I'm Kenny Chapman, the blue collar coach. Until we talk again, have a better than fantastic day, and I'll see you next time.
