The first of the five elements to the acronym for the HEART of sales is History.
- History
- Expertise
- Appearance
- Readiness
- Teachable
History: Learn All You Can About Your Company's History, Products, Competitors and Industry
Studying and knowing the background of your company and the history of its products will help you immensely in conversing with your customers. You can intimately get to know the answers to questions like:
- How long has your company been in business and who started it and why?
- Is the history of your company tied to the development of one of its products or services?
- Who are the founders?
- Why are their products different?
- Who are their competitors?
- Are they leaders in the industry or are they brand new innovators?
These are just some ideas to get you thinking about what to include in your study.
There is also a benefit that finding out this information will produce in you a sense of pride for the company you work for. This is always a good thing because your customers will pick up on it and share in that feeling when they make their purchase.
You may be thinking that the product or service that you sell is much more important than the background of the company. I can tell you that it is equally important, because when your customer enters into a buying relationship with you, they are not just buying your product they are buying a piece of your company. It is not so unusual for a customer to want to know details of the history or a background of the company because this is often their means of discovering whether a company shows signs of stability or not. Customers want to feel assured that the company will always be there and stand behind their product or service.