‘Cash is king’ is an age-old adage often used to explain its importance in the survival of both businesses and individuals. The lack of adequate cash flow for both entities can lead to serious difficulty, and even result in bankruptcy.

As a sales professional you are responsible for generating cash for your organisation, and at the same time earning cash as part of your compensation plan. However, sales professionals need another form of it, KASH to continue being relevant in their profession.

In the next four weeks, we are going to be discussing the components of what I call the KASH Sales series which focuses on four characteristics that are crucial to the success of a sales professional: being knowledge, attitude, skill and habits. So now let’s start with the first characteristics on the list of KASH Sales: knowledge.

Knowledge is power It is said that “knowledge is power” and at the heart of the success of a sales professional lies this knowledge. Whereas intellectual knowledge is important, the most important is experiential knowledge - a meaningful understanding of something through a personal familiarity. For sales professionals, the lack of a profound “experiential knowledge” can hamper your sales career development. Here are the seven areas sales professional require experiential knowledge:

Company Knowledge It is important to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the company you work for. As a sales professional, you are an ambassador for the company and should know its operating structure, so that you know where and who to go to for help and information – both for you and your customers. Secondly, a grasp of the company knowledge positions you to confidently build credibility in your interaction with prospects and customers.

More importantly is whether for instance you believe in your company’s image through your experiences as an internal customer) and what it stands for, which gratifies you and leads you to work hard to achieve goals?

Product Knowledge You must be confident about the features, benefits, pricing and availability of the product and service you sell. Your aim should be to have an intimate knowledge of your ‘Core Products & Services’ – those that the majority of your customers should buy from you, and if they don’t are likely to buy elsewhere. For instance in order to become confident about your product requires you to have experienced the benefits of the product. As a customer, would you buy from a life insurance agent selling you a policy when they themselves haven’t taken one?

Industry Knowledge Professional salespeople have, or develop, an in-depth understanding of the industry in which they work. They are always following the news in the industry, subscribe to journals, magazines as well as attend conferences and seminars. This helps to keep up to date with current and future trends, and how these will impact on their sales.

Successful sales professionals are those who can “smell” industry changes ahead of time and begin to take advantage of those changes. On the client side, to be successful, you also have to acquire enough knowledge about your customers’ businesses and you’ll earn their confidence by showing that you’ve taken the time to understand their industry. Having limited client and your organization’s industry knowledge will put you in a serious competitive disadvantage.

Competition Unless you are in a monopolistic industry, every sales professional has to confront and learn how to compete against competitors. In the current business environment where in some industries you’d find not less than thirty rivals, sales professionals need to know about competitors’ strategies, prices, benefits of their products, capabilities of their sales force, trade terms and many other variables.

The lack of competitor knowledge has resulted in customers “playing” competing sales people against each other. Little competitive knowledge on your two or three top competitors will make you vulnerable to manipulation by knowledgeable customers.

Prospects & Existing Customers Do you know why, when, what and how your prospects and existing customer buy? For instance do you understand their decision making process – how they reach decisions (alone or by working with other people); as well as hard facts that will be vital to the customer in making decisions e.g. delivery terms?

Are you aware of their buying Motives – emotional factors that may influence the customer? For example, is it service or loyalty to a longstanding supplier? What about their goals, attitudes, needs and problem? Unfortunately, as a customer I believe you come across sales professionals who just don’t know how their target prospects buy, neither do they understand their needs.

Sales process A sales process is a standardized approach to selling your product or service, and during the customer interaction. Does your company have a way of selling? If so, then it is imperative on your part to learn and know how to implement that sales process. If your company doesn’t have one, research into approaches which have worked for you and your other colleague in the past, document them and then begin to apply it to the sales interaction. Implementing a sales process enhances the interaction between you and your prospects.

Business knowledge As a Professional your business knowledge should be one of your biggest assets. In the main, customers respect and value an individual who will offer them advice, options and new ideas on the business issues that impact on their businesses and lives. This is a key area, which differentiates the ‘Professional’ from the “Other” sales people. Used effectively Business Knowledge brings a dimension to a relationship, which the average salesperson never offers. Most importantly it is knowledge that customers see as ‘value’ and are prepared to pay for.

Conclusion Knowledge is understanding what, how, and why sales professionals have to do something. Peak performers know what it takes to win. However knowledge without activity doesn’t make a difference in your performance. Apply yourself by acquiring all the necessary knowledge for a successful career. GB

The writer is the CEO of Salesmark Services, A Sales Management & Training Firm. He is also a sales consultant, trainer & coach For a free consultation, you can reach him at E-mail: mocloo@salesmarkservices.com