What are some effective ways for Sales Managers to learn about their company's products?

Understanding the products you represent, and having the discipline to continue the learning journey, are some of the most important strategies a sales person can deploy. Today’s customers are much more sophisticated and they are looking for competent people who can help them solve businesses problems. Long gone are the days of “Jimmy Diamond”, the flashy, smooth taking sales guy who closes every deal with a wink and a smile. Today’s professionals need to be competent in their field and provide value in every customer interaction.

There is no substitute for walking in the customer's shoes to understand your own product (a virtual "walk the store" 🏪). A good example while I was working at Google is the $1/day Adwords account every sales team member had access to. I could go out and make real ads with a virtual budget, and this let me understand the nuances of account structure, automated bidding, and overall account optimization. When I got into client-facing discussions, I found it much easier to empathize with customers, grasp their feedback, and make recommendations. I had no problem opening up the UI and confidently walking through it as both a seller and a user.

Es kommt auf die Anzahl und Bandbreite des Angebotsportfolios an … - Schlüsselprodukte sollten selber ausprobiert werden - zielgruppengerechte Produktschulungen sind unabdingbar - als Vertriebsleiter würde ich mir die Produkte im Dashboard ansehen … welche Umsatzträger haben welche Lebensdauer, wie sieht die Neuprodukt-Innovationsquote an, welches sind strategische Produkte und wie ist deren Absatzkirve: daraus ergeben sich sicherlich Fragen, die man analysieren sollte und somit einen Überblick bekommt - Renner und Penner identifizieren und ansehen

A great way to to learn your product is run a product demonstration to a friendly . That way you can make it enjoyable and learn at the same time. Ask for feedback on what worked well and what could be improved .

100% fully utilize the product if it is something that lends itself to that. Using the product and watching others in your company use it will help you understand it. The problems you encounter will be problems others will encounter and you need to be aware. You can also bring those problems to leadership and hopefully they will fix. Using the product will also help you understand what onboarding and training will be necessary for success.

Product training where you have interactive feedback on the benefits of different features and how those benefits turn in great outcomes for clients. Also questioning techniques around product capabilities to draw out interest.

Product training is key when selling. You do not want to be uneducated when speaking with a prospective clients about a product. This will also boost your confidence when speaking.

Invest in your team's professional growth. Provide training opportunities and product involvement to enhance their skills. This demonstrates your commitment to their success.

Visit actual users of said products. Satisfied and non. Feedback improves products. ..... . ... ................. ............ ......................

Getting feedback from customers is critical. There is not telling how they are using the product and what challenges they are facing unless you ask. Even better would be to see the use in action. If this can be done online, terrific. If they can record their use for you to see, that's great too. And if you can go on site and see it in action, do that. It's amazing what you will find.

Use the products yourself, but if you’re not an expert, you may not notice the truly critical details your customers care about. Three ways I’ve seen Voice of Customer work well for sales managers: 1️⃣ Understand specific ways your product is valuable to highly engaged customers 2️⃣ Understand why unengaged customers don’t value your product even though customers in similar circumstances do; reconcile the gaps between engaged and unengaged customers. 3️⃣ Create a process to collect VOC feedback at scale. Teams need an easy way to collect VOC from customers, submit it internally, and surface it to sales leaders and product owners. This creates an ongoing cycle for sales managers that goes beyond simply learning about their own products.

To gain a nuanced understanding of the company's products, collaboration with other departments emerges as a powerful strategy for Sales Managers. Engaging with product development teams provides firsthand insights into the intricacies of products and allows for real-time updates on features and enhancements. Regular interactions with the marketing department offer valuable perspectives on positioning and messaging, ensuring alignment with customer needs.

One thing I have found very useful are the apps Klue and a Seismic. These are great for sharing information across teams as well as sharing with customers both existing and prospective. I would say the main thing is make sure you keep any video content to under 3 minutes. I have found anything over that time frame is not as effective. Also, Seismic allows you to receive feedback on what your customers are watching and when.

Compile detailed information, specifications, use cases, and frequently asked questions into a centralized repository. By curating this resource, Sales Managers can not only access critical details themselves but also empower their sales teams with a go-to reference. Regular updates ensure the knowledge base remains current, reflecting product developments.

Role playing on how a specific product or service can add value for your prospective client . Understanding your clients needs and matching these value is a wining formula.

Listen to sales calls & stop every time a customer asks a question, practice answering it in your own words & then listen to your rep answer it. If you can’t answer the question, you’ve got work to do. Run your own sales calls from time to time, outbound yourself. Spend a week in support. And yes, use the product. It’s your responsibility to understand the product and how customers do & don’t use it.

Go to your customer. Ask them for help in understanding how they use the products. Watch. Absorb. Learn real-time. If you show genuine interest and desire to be better, with their assistance, in the act of ultimately making them better off, then you are on the right track of developing your product education. Make your exercise of edification about improving in order to serve and your customers will want to ensure you are well prepared for your profession and future.

Product knowledge is important for businesses, as it serves as the foundation upon which successful sales, customer service, and overall business operations are built. This knowledge enables employees to better understand and effectively communicate the features, benefits, and unique selling points of a product or service. It contributes to enhanced customer engagement, increased sales performance, improved problem-solving capabilities, credibility and trust-building, competitive advantage, and a reduction in errors and returns. By investing in ongoing training and development to product knowledge among employees, companies can position themselves for long-term growth and success in their respective markets.

The best product knowledge comes from the shop floor. Every Sales personnel must visit the production to develop a thorough understanding of how the manufacturing process, the QA standards that the product goes through. Most of the Quality issues that are raised by the customer can be answered effectively if one has complete knowledge of the above.