The significance of a perfect and up dated knowledge need not be overemphasized, because it has its own standing in salesman career. It goes without saying that an ignorant salesman is a liability to the employer, enemy to him^lf and the threat to the customers.

A salesman with half-baked ideas and insufficient knowledge is a total flop form the angles of himself, employer and customer. The benefits of perfect and thread-bare knowledge of products on the part of salesman can be highlighted as under:

1. Sales Personality is not All:

Sales personality in important is making a successful sales career. However, it is only one third of the input required for that brilliant success. Personality supplements the product knowledge. While it does not supplant it, Personality is an imperative in creating good starting impression. Sales personality is like a powerful entry of a character or an actor on the stage, His real colour is exposed soon the way he presents his interested in goods and not necessarily in the sales man or his personality. It is not to undermine sales-personality. However, it plays a secondary role. A salesman with exact product knowledge is excused even if he does not have that charming or magnetic personality. Physical differences are overcome or overlooked for his ability to solve their buying problems.

2. It Strengthens his Self-Confidence:

Self-confidence is the off-spring of self-faith wedded to knowledge, One may possess unlimited self-faith, but still lacking self-confidence because of sheer ignorance. One may have implicit faith in his ability to become a good salesman, but, if he is ignorant and not fully acquainted with the product technicalities, he shall lack self-confidence. Self-faith is an in born or an innate attribute which may be fostered and developed by self-confidence which springs from knowledge of all particularly products and services. Perfect knowledge of products builds his confidence in his products and in himself as he is professionally equipped to handle the situation.

3. It Makes Selling a Pleasant Task:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The work of a salesman must not be a drag or a drudgery or a pull in stead, it must be a game which is entertaining, pleasing and giving much desired satisfaction. The salesman must enjoy his sales job and it is possible to do so when he has the job satisfaction. A well-informed salesman takes pride in his profession because, his knowledge gives him great mental satisfaction in addition to the material gain. If a student solves the problem with full understanding, he has the unique feeling of achievement than mere a mechanical arrivers at final answer. The happiness of laughing at a joke is altogether different when one understands it and laugh than joining others in laughing because it is a joke.

4. It Projects the Perfect Product Image:

A successful salesman sells not the product but its features, facts, merits and benefits. Salesman has selling specifications while a customer has buying specifications. There should be perfect integration of consumer and seller specifications for charging a deal and developing after its click. It is the effort of the salesman to place the product on the mind of a customer to impression for sale.

5. It with stands the Rigors of Competition:

Another name for modern world is competition. Competition is the breath in every walk of life which is a source of new ideas, quality improvement and cost efficiency. In this competitive sales world, a salesman who knows the latest products, their features, benefits, uses will keep pace with the changing requirements. This knowledge as to how to deal with new products, what they do for the user. How they are more effective ? How economical they are ? How different they are from the existing one? — all will help him competing away the business of others. Such a person becomes a successful swimmer in deep water; he becomes competent to swim against the current. His courage, daring, dashing, nature are fully supported by up-to-date knowledge of products that are on the move.

6. It Multiplies His Earnings:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

As a matter of principle, a salesman is said to be above material gain or reward for his work. It is one of the essential features of a profession that a professional is to earn just sufficient to his line. However, we must not forget that salesman is also a human being and has his inspirations and ambitions to be fulfilled. He has to fit in a social scale and to day’s society courts his earnings than the services his earnings are correlated to sales. Higher sales and larger sales-volume will mean increased earnings sales is his ability to sell well; his ability to sell is conditioned by his ability to know more and known through the products he sells. A dissatisfied customer is the outcome of good salesmanship based on perfect product knowledge. It is his knowledge which turn even a disgruntled customer into a satisfied one as he is fully charmed and connected.

7. It pulls through the sales Interview Effectively:

A salesman who has a thorough and up-to-date knowledge glides through sales interview like a duck in the water. The secret of lovely and easy gliding duck is that it peddles water constantly underneath, which is concealed. It means that knowledge alone is not sufficient to guarantee a success. What is more important is its intelligent and skilful use at the nick of the hour.

8. It Generates Sales for the Organisation:

Sales are not some thing that appear out of thin air. It is salesman who is responsible multiply the company’s sales through their product knowledge, increase of companies sales will mean moving up from lower portion to higher position. It may be a company with—its present positions as a “market follower”, it might turn to be a market challenger, and from “market challenger” to “market leader”— the highest position. This upward movement speaks of effective sales organization and its support system and the competent and aggressive sales —force. When company come up it is a matter pride and achievement of these sales people—and, therefore, other departmental people.

9. It paves the way for Growth and Expansion:

Once the tempo of turnover starts rising and rising, the reserves are built, and with reserves « programs of expansion and diversification on the other create new employment opportunities which are prestigious and paying on one hand challenging and thrilling on the other. For such M. posts, it is these seasoned professional salesmen stand a chance to be up-graded than taking from open market. This practice binds employers and employees together more closely and strengthening the organizational structural roots and tentacles. Sales people generate posts for new salesman and other departmental people in the areas of productions finance, and personnel.