You would rather lose the sale for lack of sales knowledge than product knowledge. This simple truth is at the heart of effective sales language.
Product knowledge alone does not sell. True. This speaks to the inability of translating product features into customer benefits. Sales knowledge that is not informed by product knowledge runs the risk of inadvertently misinforming, or worse, outright lying to the customer.
In both instances, the sale is lost or does not survive the close. But, if you must choose one, the former beats the latter every day.
Product knowledge vs selling skills– what really drives a sale
This is the often-misunderstood difference between product knowledge and selling skills—one informs, the other converts
Typical of in-house training telling your sales people what the product has, does not translate to what it does, or means, for the customer. It lands differently. It is also the hidden gap in how to turn product features into persuasive sales conversations using effective sales language.
For example, you tell your banks sales reps: “We have waived joining fee on our credit cards. This should make your selling easier so we expect more sales. As you have reported several times it was limiting your selling.”
“Yes,” the excited sales people respond as a chorus.
A month later there is no increase in sales. “We tell them joining fees have been waived but they aren’t buying,” the now dejected team laments. All except one. The top dog, Juma.
Translating features into customer meaning is effective sales language
“Juma, your sales have skyrocketed; what are you doing different”
“I open the sale by telling the customer, ‘Excuse me Sir. Do you know the bank is giving away credit cards for free?”
Juma understands that effective sales language is not about accuracy alone—it is about meaning. About how language influences buying decisions in sales. So he translates product features into customer benefits. He speaks language the customer understands.
Effective sales language: when product knowledge fails to convert
Enter Ahmed who sits in the front office. A customer walks in and says, “Tell me about your Fixed Income, not Money Market, Fund. I saw it has a very good return. What are the costs besides withholding tax?” This is clearly a discerning customer and should be treated as such. Unfortunately, nothing of the kind registers with Ahmed.
So he recites what he knows. “Our MMF is like our Fixed Income Fund. FIF just has a better return. There is withholding tax and excise duty.”
The customer’s eyes light up. “Is there a performance fee or moratorium?”
“No.”
“How do I register?”
“Go to the website….”
And that is how the sale was lost—an everyday example of the hidden cost of poor sales conversations in banking, in this instance.
What sales knowledge looks like – moving from recitation to action
With sales knowledge, the response would have been an instigation: “Let me have your ID and while I make a copy, please complete this form (or, sign here and here and I’ll fill in the rest for you). How much would you like to start with? The minimum is 10,000 shillings.
Yet, I insist that is better than this.
The danger of sales knowledge without product knowledge – mis-selling in action
“Don’t worry about the terms,” another rep says in a similar situation, leaning in with misplaced confidence. “There are no hidden charges. What you see is what you get. Returns are guaranteed.”
The customer pauses. “Guaranteed?”
“Yes, guaranteed,” he repeats, eager to close. “You won’t lose anything.”
The form is filled. The money is deposited. The sale is celebrated.
Three months later, the statement arrives. There are charges the customer does not understand. The returns fluctuate. Questions emerge. Calls are made. Clarifications given. Trust erodes—reminding us that effective sales language without accuracy is not persuasion, it is risk and does not build trust.
Ineffective sales language is the hidden cost of poor sales conversations
The sale did not just die; it decayed.
Because when sales knowledge runs ahead of product knowledge, it does not merely miss the sale. It poisons the well.
A poorly handled sale can be recovered. A poorly informed sale cannot.
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