From the Branch Office: It's Quiz Time

How well does your staff know your products and services? A client has been reviewing a series of products with his staff so they can better cross-sell them. I put them to the test. I put the employees in small groups and asked them to list the five products they had reviewed and what the main features and benefits of each were.

The groups struggled a bit and they decided to go get the manual. I stopped them right there. If you are going to serve your customers at your strategic best, the information needs to be well known and not recited from a manual.

It takes too much time, seems too insincere, and it becomes selling for the sake of the sale and not for the sake of helping out the customer with a need.

When all employees understand the most important products that fit the strategic focus of the company and fully understand the benefits and features of those products, then the company has a defined message and customer approach, and can really focus on what the strategic competency is.

Test your staff. Take your best-selling five products and ask them to list the benefits (what the customers get out of using the product) and features (what the product does for the customer) from memory. No notes needed. This will give you some insight to your sales process, your strategic focus on the front lines, and how well you are serving your customers' needs daily.