Doors of knowledge
- January 9th, 2012
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The only source of knowledge is experience. Little did I know that these words said by Albert Einstein will inspire Eureka Forbes to be the largest knowledge enterprise today.
A salesman knocking at your door today is no longer a person selling a product alone, he is a catalyst for building relationships and extending brand experience to customers. Today, when I look back from the time I began my career in direct selling, I see a paradigm shift in the behaviour of customers. Earlier, the customers looked at the relevance of the product and value for money but today they are more aware about the available choices. It is no longer about selling a product but also extending a brand experience that binds the consumer with the company.
The biggest challenge in direct selling industry is that a salesman has only one chance to create a successful brand experience. It has been seen that a salesman near to closing a sale is, at times, unable to convince a customer because of lack of complete information, inadequate soft skills, not able to gauge the situation, losing confidence, etc. Eurochamps (salesman of Eureka Forbes), while visiting households, not only give a demonstration of the product but also deliver an experience.
How did we make a difference? We identified the roadblocks in the way of direct salesforce and realised the need to change our behavioural and selling patterns. Even in this digitalised world it was impossible to stay connected with our eurochamps since most of them are on field and don’t have access to internet. So, we decided to make use of mobile phones to the advantage of the customers and the field salesmen.
Inspired by a popular TV programme, we came up with the ‘Euro phone-a-friend’ concept. We realised that eurochamps are no less than a person on a ‘hot seat’ in the popular programme. When the eurochamp is provided with a ‘helpline’ or guidance from a specialist, it helps him to continue in the game and reach his destination. In this case, destination is closing a sale. The ‘helpline’ number allows a caller to directly interact with a product specialist and seek advice on his queries. It guides eurochamps in time of need to ensure their effectiveness and also successfully addresses all the customer queries. On close observation, we found that this helpline not just helped the salesmen on the field to convert their demo into sales but also improved their overall knowledge and confidence quotient. Over time, they became more knowledgeable and more matured in their outlook. There are other industries as well that need extensive educative explanations to the customers. For instance, financial products are complex in nature and difficult to understand by
