FMS / Acquire product information for use in selling
Knowledge of product means and includes details of use, its utility, its composition, service offered, and so on. To be more clear, knowledge of the product means a thorough knowledge regarding the probable information about the products which the customers generally inquire about. A salesperson or marketer needs this knowledge in order to describe product features or service advantages, to overcome objections, to answer questions, and to acquire confidence in the merit of his offerings
Methods:
Sources of product knowledge are many and varied. However, these sources can be classified as basic and subsidiary. The fundamental sources are called basic sources; whereas collateral are called subsidiary sources
GeneralEducation is a must for all sales staff.When joining a sales organization, he/she is given special training so become an expert. Some firms have their own institutions for training, whereas others send their staff to technical institutions. Training increases the knowledge of sales staff
Experience is the most important source of information. Initially he/she works under the guidance of a senior salesperson. As an independent salesperson, he comes in contact with hundreds of customers of different types. Contact with every new customer enriches his knowledge and experience institution
Use of the product enables a salesperson to know its real worth. By using the product, he knows all the advantages of it; and also the gap between its description and actual use
Advertisements contain all the salient features of the products. A salesperson, therefore, should study the advertisements of his own firm to acquire valuable information about the features and selling points of products
Sales meetings and conferences are also important sources of product knowledge. Manufacturers arrange meetings and conferences of salesperson at regular intervals. In these meetings, senior sales staff and sales managers deliver lecturers and demonstrate important features of the product
Visit to factories / showroom are arranged to many factories, which is a rich source of information about the production process, raw materials used, quality control system, method of packing etc
Sales literature
Sales manuals are books published by the manufacturer. This book contains information about products, the procedure to be followed in selling goods, maintaining stock, maintaining the expense accounts, selling reports, credit facilities, discounts, delivery facilities and so on
Trade Journals are technical journals containing technical points and details about the products. Companies manufacturing drugs and medicines publish monthly journals and send them to customers. Trade associations publish their own monthlies. The members give advertisements to them emphasizing the main features and selling points of their products. Thus, these journals can serve as a good source of information for acquiring product knowledge
Sales bulletins are published periodically to provide additional and up-to-date information regarding products. It is supplement to the sales manuals. It contains new information regarding product, its selling points, its improvements or additions etc
Sales portfolios are meant to retailers and wholesalers. It contains actual photographs of the product, instructions and advises regarding method of display, clippings, and names of users in a book form.
FMS / Advertise to communicate promotional messages to targeted audiences.
FMS / 2 / Analyze company resources to ascertain policies and procedures
A set of policies are principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach its long-termgoals and typically published in a booklet or other form that is widely accessible
Policies and procedures are designed to influence and determine all major decisions and actions, and all activities take place within the boundaries set by them. Procedures are the specific methodsemployed to express policies in action in day-to-day operations of the organization. Together, policies and procedures ensure that a point of view held by the governing body of an organization is translated into steps that result in an outcome compatible with that view
- Does the student consider media policies?
- Is their plan realistic?
- Participant demonstrates and adheres to the following policies and procedures as stipulated in the case study:
- Customers can make special orders for an extra fee; and,
- When signing an order form, customers are told that the delivery date can fluctuate 7-10 business days
- Given these policies, the participant might acknowledge that the store should have informed the customer (judge) immediately when the customer called to make the change of wedding date, as an act of good customer service
- The participant may be innovative in devising solutions or new policies for the store insofar as they do not contradict any of those already mentioned. Examples of such policies are:
- For deliveries that are late at the fault of the store, the customer may choose another item to be express delivered for their occasion
- Customer may pay an additional fee for express delivery on the existing order
- Customer may pick up the item directly from the wholesaler
FMS / 5 / Analyze employer expectations in a business environment
Employer expectations are communicated in the job description and in detail through the job training process. They form the basis of performance evaluations which may be used to determine performance bonuses and/or promotions. Both the employer and employee are responsible for ensuring communication of these expectations are clear and understood so they can rely on each other to achieve common goals. Expectations may include professional development for employees to upgrade and stay on top of the latest trends in the industry
Did the participant explain their expectations of their employees in terms of:
- Job performance
- Customer service
- Professionalism
- Ability to handle conflict
- To be on the job as required
- To be punctual
- To be reliable
- To be honest and ethical
- To take initiative
FMS / Apply effective listening skills
FMS / 2 / Assess appropriateness of marketing research for the problem/issue
- Participants should make the connection between business records and business decisions based on those records. Points to address this may include:
- Inaccurate records could lead to an under or over projection of the business’s financial position in its
- financial statements
- Since these statements are used to make business decisions by management and investors, it can lead
- to misinformed business decisions as well as billing and delivery errors
- Business records are also used as reference points if and when the company is audited, thus these
- records must be accurate and maintain for future use.
FMS / Assess information needs
Determining who users of the information will be
What type of information is needed and what they plan to do with the information
What type of information is already available?
Costs involved
Timelines (how soon do they need the information?)
A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need. The need can be a desire to improve current performance or to correct a deficiency. A needs assessment is a part of planning processes, often used for improvement in individuals, education/training, organizations, or communities. It can refine and improve a product such as a service a client receives. It can be an effective tool to clarify problems and identify appropriate interventions or solutions. By clearly identifying the problem, finite resources can be directed towards developing and implementing a feasible and applicable solution. Gathering appropriate and sufficient data informs the process of developing an effective product that will address the group’s needs and wants. Needs assessments are only effective when they are ends-focused and provide concrete evidence that can be used to determine which of the possible means-to-the-ends are most effective and efficient for achieving the desired results
In this case there are 2 sets of needs to be assessed. The needs of those seeking information on the companies through the evaluations of others, and the needs of those companies in wanting fair and ethical assessments.
FMS / 5 / Assess product-packaging requirements
Some of the requirements might include:
- a box large enough and strong enough to hold the deep dish style pizza (since it is heavier than the average pizza)
- careful placement of the logo so that customers are able to recognize the brand
- clear instructions for cooking and storage
- Participants may include a visual created during the prep time of what their ideas are for the package
- Green packaging – compostable, reusable, recyclable – sustainable resources used in packaging – minimal packaging where possible
- Full disclosure in labeling – labeling as a means of promotion and branding – use the label to sell the unique nature of this product line
- Packaging – must give impression of quality – will enhance contents
FMS / Bag merchandise.
FMS / 2 / Communicate core values of product/service
FMS / 4 / Coordinate activities in the promotional mix
The four elements of the promotional mix are: advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling. All elements used should be coordinated to achieve the company’s goals. All initiatives should be coordinated to target the identified markets, clearly communicate the same underlying message.
- Advertising includes any paid presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor (Ex. Print ads, radio, television, billboards etc) Place advertisements that would appear locally promoting the award-winning coffee in newspapers, direct mail, posters/billboards Recognize that TV ads would be created for national chain by the national chain itself
- Sales promotions Incentives designed to stimulate the purchase or sale of a product (Ex. Coupons, sweepstakes, contests, rebates etc. Offer sample coffee taste cups at popular local events and venues) . Sales promotion includes media and non-media marketing communication in order to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability
- Public relations includes paid intimate stimulation of supply for a product, service or business unit by planting significant news about it or a favourable presentation in the media and sometimes include direct marketing and sponsorship Contact newspapers and radio stations to come review or feature the restaurant or Sponsor local events
- Personal Selling is a process of helping and persuading one or more prospects to purchase a good or service or to act on any idea through the use of an oral presentation (Ex. Sales presentations, sales meetings, sales training) Each waiter should up sell by recommending products, especially our award-winning coffee
FMS / Create promotional signs
FMS / 2 / Defend ideas objectively
- Support ideas with facts
- Leave opinion and emotion out
- Be conscious of tone of voice
- The company must answer complaints quickly and to the customer’s satisfaction
- Supporting their ideas and answers with facts and business terminology
- Answer questions effectively and in detail.
FMS / 5 / Demonstrate a customer service mindset
A service mindset is an outlook that focuses on creating customer value, loyalty and trust. A business with this outlook wants to go beyond simply providing a product or service. It wants to create a positive and indelible imprint in the customer's, or even in the prospect's mind. To do this, a business has to care about the customer or prospect experience and work continuously at enhancing it
- Listen carefully to the customer’s complaint and acknowledge that you are there to help—in this case that the business meeting has been disrupted
- Explain that you appreciate and value the business that the customer has given you and that you would like the relationship to continue
- Provide customer surveys to get feedback from the customers. This could be done by a card with the bill, a website address or a phone call to important customers. There could be an incentive such as a discount or free dessert if they fill out the survey
- Use interpersonal skills to handle customer requests and questions, Understand management’s role in customer relations, understand procedures for handling difficult customers, explain business policies to customers and handle customer complaints.
- you should view negative customer interactions as opportunities to learn even more about the customers’ needs and expectations
FMS / 7 / Demonstrate appropriate creativity
Creativity in the workplace is the next step up from problem solving. It is a real asset to employers hunters, if they can show how they bring additional value to the employer, and preferably prove a dollar value to that creativity. Initiative and good ideas are now much more appreciated than they were in the old hierarchical corporate jobs. Ideas are valuable, and so are employees who can get more value out of the endless possibilities of new systems.
Some people actually make much more of a career out of ideas, rather than just doing a job. The opportunities are always there. Everybody, on any job, soon figures out a better way of getting things done.
Most value adding is about dealing with volumes of work. Just as well, too, because that's how efficiency is achieved. It's a natural use of skills to make work easier and more productive. That's also why many people who are quite efficient in organizing their own work don't even recognize why they're efficient. They think it's common sense, but it's actually part of the creativity in the workplace effect. Think about how you've organized your own work to suit your own needs. There will be something. You may not have redesigned the whole workplace, but you will have done something to make yourself work more efficiently.
Now comes the rest of the question, how to show value in your creativity.
Work value is measured by:
- Profit
- Savings
- Improved time frames
- Increased efficiency in your own work
- Increased efficiency which carries through up the work chain to others from your own work
So you have to express the value of your creativity in those terms, to the judges, and show them why it's valuable. If you've come up with a better way of doing things, or a more efficient or obviously quicker way of doing your work, you've answered the question effectively, and made your point.As with all interview questions, you must structure your answer so the interviewers can see the processes involved, and the value of your work.
In this case, creativity is a very broad range of possible subjects, but you can simplify and clarify your answer:
- Explain the work, and the processes.
- Explain your idea and its benefits in terms of the productivity criteria.
FMS / 4 / Demonstrate connections between company actions and results
Most companies will compare their actions and results by having set some specific objectives and seeing how closely they are meeting them. In this case, the company will probably be setting goals involved with an increase in revenue and/or an increase in profit. They would want to have the results of the catering function kept separate from the results of the regular restaurant activity although there would be some carry-over of fixed costs between the two practices. They might even separate the activities into two separate companies. In any case there should be a measureable difference in the company in terms of profit.
Brochures, ads and web pages are not results. A marketing department needs tangible objectives and deliverables. But it is easy to fall into the trap that looks at these deliverables as ends in themselves. A new department in the store means nothing if it doesn’t in some way contributes to improving the state of your business. Similarly, brand awareness isn't a result. It is also a means. Building brand awareness may be a reasonable objective but only if your marketing team can articulate how it drives results. . Opening a coffee shop is not a result.
That's all the more reason that your marketing efforts need to be focused on the right results. Because it is difficult to measure directly the effects of many marketing tactics, it is important to design those tactics with appropriate end results in mind
What are your most influential economic engines, and are your marketing efforts focused on them? Do you make significantly more profit on a small number of loyal customers than you do on a large number of transactional customers? If so, do your marketing efforts focus appropriate energy on building customer loyalty, or is the lion's share of your efforts focused on finding new customers? Does opening a coffee shop add significantly to the profitability of product sales?