Presenting Products Vs. Solutions

Products vs. Solutions

The goal of most manufacturers has been to build a quality product, provide stellar service, and hire good salespeople to represent and broadcast that message to retailers.

There are numerous problems with this way of being “product focused”.

When business is good, people are often product focused, rather than partner focused. The underlying need for total marketing solutions that will propel a retailer forward still exists, but it is not obvious when the market is good. When the market is good, you are focused on finding a product to meet demand, rather than a way to create additional demand. One of the most common issues that face American Industry as a whole is that we get comfortable and complacent during these good times, and only a small percentage of professionals truly take the opportunity to compound that good growth into a vehicle that dominates the market. When the market begins to slide however, the true underlying need for real business solutions exposes itself rather quickly. When this is realized, it is only after working capital is down to a minimum, and the ability to invest in growth oriented solutions is severely minimized, or depleted altogether.

When you are product focused, you bring very few items that are truly “important” to the retailer’s attention. We have all heard that we “sell ourselves first”. That the retailer buys us, as salespeople first and foremost, and that is absolutely true. But why limit ourselves to just one or two primary separating factors (you and the product). We know that when we visit a retailer and promote our product, that retailer will also have other salespeople or marketing experts in their door, feature benefiting their special items as well. So when you are product focused, the only way to get the retailer to buy from you is by either making a major impact on that retailer personally (over and above the multitudes of other salespeople that are trying to get their business), making that product stand out significantly above the competition, provide them with a financial incentive, or do it all. But let’s be completely honest with ourselves. What are we truly doing that “no-one” else can or will do? When you are product focused, you are bringing just you and the product to the table, and that is nothing short of what every-single other competitor is doing.

If you want an example of where your business falls in all this, just take a look at your sales teams last several phone calls. Have your retailers been calling your salespeople to discuss their latest marketing plan? Have you salespeople been calling retailers, promoting new marketing ideas, finding out what competitor’s are doing and relaying information appropriately? Are they promoting new “branding ideas” and building excitement? Or have they been taking order requests, fielding complaints about product, or trying to “buy” business? If they have been spending most of their time fielding complaints and buying business, then the focus has been too heavily focused on product. Not partnership, and not solutions based selling.

I have heard and fielded numerous phone calls from retailers who were not happy about a salesperson being dismissed from his/her position. They usually are upset because they felt the salesperson was a “good person”, and that they “took care” of them. The question that first pops into your head might be “well, if they were so good, why wasn’t the retailer buying product”? But we all know there could be numerous underlying reasons why they weren’t buying, so that may be an unfair question…

But what if you were to ask the retailer what that salesperson did most recently that helped the retailer move their business forward? What were the last three marketing ideas that salesperson shared with the retailer? How much of a financial burden is it placing on the retailer that the salesperson was replaced? I am not advocating that you share these questions, but it should shed some serious light on the situation...

The problem is that, chances are, you're salespeople are so avidly focused on where they are going to get the next order, that the thought hasn't occured to them that it is their responsibility to help that retailer create opportunities to physically get that next order...Why isn't the retailer calling them for advice? Why haven't they discussed marketing opportunities with the retailer? Why haven't they been sharing non-confidential marketing information from other retailers that are more successful?

You don’t want your salespeople spending the majority of their time fielding service and quality calls. You aren’t hiring them to be “order takers”, as most people can do “data entry” work. It is truly unfortunate how many talented salespeople get wrapped into a situation where they become “overpaid” salespeople. It is truly unfortunate for the manufacturer, the retailer, as well as the salesperson who doesn’t move forward and can become either complacent or dissatisfied, compounding your opportunities to stimulate additional front-end momentum.

Well, know you have a great opportunity to assist in changing all this. You can be the one to begin sharing information and ideas that have likely never been shared with your staff...

As you move more into these trainings, you will begin thinking of new ideas you have never considered before.

For now, you have learned that although you certainly still need to be product focused, it is not as important as being solutions driven. All of your competitors are product focused, and we you will find a lot of training on how to seperate your product from the competitors. But for now...You are seeing that it is more important to begin partnering with a retailer in a way that will help them truly create more opportunities, and be much more likely to move forward with your business and your business only...see that you will begin opening up to new and innovative

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