Bluff Manufacturing and its distributors work tirelessly and in tandem to achieve common goals to increase sales performance, profitability and customer satisfaction. To attain this goal, our partnership with our distributors must be strong and our selling techniques must be in sync. So distributors, let Bluff Manufacturing train your sales representatives for you. By training your reps, we have a higher chance of achieving greater conversion rates and greater opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell across the product portfolio.
As manufacturers, we work hard to make sure that the products we produce exceed customer satisfaction and in so doing mutually benefit everyone involved – end users, distributors and manufacturers. While distributors are the key players in dealing with our end users and ensuring their needs are met, manufacturers are responsible for creating products that meet the customer requirements. For Bluff Manufacturing, its strongest tool is its market research and the data we receive from the field on customer requirements. Using this information, we manufacture products that complement and supplement other products. It is very vital that distributors and manufacturers train their representatives to up sell and cross sell.
This is where Bluff Manufacturing can contribute greatly. Our training programs will provide your representatives with thorough knowledge of the Bluff products you carry as distributors. Important techniques in selling across or up involve understanding the customer’s real pains and not just pushing a product in hopes of creating a bigger invoice. When a customer opts to purchase a product, a knowledgeable sales representative with presence of mind and a clear understanding of buyer behavior can anticipate other products or additional products that the customer may also want to purchase. For instance, if you were managing a paint shop, and a customer walked in to buy a couple of gallons of paint, a helpful sales person would ask the customer if they also needed paintbrushes, masking tape, a roller handle, etc. These are supplementary products a customer needs (if they don’t already have them) to finish the task of painting. It not only shows a genuine concern on the sales rep’s part but also helps cross-sell.
Up sell is enabling a customer to buy an upgraded version of a product. Without being pushy, a perceptive sales representative can gauge whether a customer might enjoy an upgraded product with more features or if he/she is satisfied with the lower-end model. It never hurts to politely enquire if the customer wants a higher end model that has more features. If the customer doesn’t want it, then they will indicate that, but if they are interested in a higher-end product, then as a sales representative, you have just sold up. Customers that have already purchased from you are already in a buying mood and may not be averse to buying up or across depending on their needs. But you will not know until you ask.
In our industry, training from Bluff Manufacturing will help point out all the opportunities for selling up and across. We will help you gain thorough product knowledge and help you anticipate customers’ needs even before the customers are aware of their own needs. For example, every forklift dealer knows that a customer probably requires a dock board to bridge the gap to transport the forklift from the truck to the warehouse and vice versa. It’s a perfect opportunity for a cross-sell. Training with Bluff will point out such critical opportunities than can be harnessed to increase sales and build the sales pipeline.
This sort of combined effort in selling helps increase conversion rates and profitability for both the manufacturer and distributor. Because of the personalized effort they receive from sales representatives in helping them identify their shopping needs, customers are loyal and this helps in retention and repeat purchases.
