Various categories exist in selling, and your sales strategy must be fine-tuned according to which category you are in. The two main categories are products and services. To better reach your ideal client and meet their needs, determine upfront which category your offering falls within. This will benefit you in the short run by helping you make the sale, and in the long run by helping you to deliver on the sale, increase referrals, and further improve your sales process and win rates.   Product A product is of course a tangible offering. It offers immediate usability, benefit and gratification to the purchaser. Products have the ability to be resold — just think about the success of Ebay or of used book stores. If the client is not satisfied with the product they may usually return it to the seller for a refund. The salesperson can repair or replace the product for the customer (if there was a defect) and try to make up for the inconvenience to win the customer back. When the returned product is perfectly intact, they can resale the returned product to a buyer whose needs it better fits. What are the implications to the salesperson? There is an upfront benefit for the salesperson to thoroughly understand the product and how it fits the prospect's needs. The salesperson must also be available to work through the initial set-up and use of the product, so there is a higher

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Selling a service demands higher involvement from the salesperson, as well as from the prospect. It involves more of a relationship building process with a longer sales cycle. For the purchaser, buying into a service is more of a long term commitment, so the salesperson needs to address the long term benefits provided.

Ultimately, the salesperson is responsible for the quality of service provided. If the service is not to the client's expectations they may choose to cancel the service and possibly gain a refund. In this case the service could not be resold, so what would have been revenue has now turned into an expense.

Product and service sales meet when the product requires the service of the salesperson for maintenance or enhancements. It is of the seller's best interest to provide high quality service, such as answering calls and questions from the client and scheduling timely maintenance, to keep the client happy. Service may be required to help the client fully understand the usefulness of the product. In these scenarios not only will your product outperform the competition, but your service will also.

Understanding the offering will allow you to focus your sales plan for success, as well as prove your company of higher value to the client. When your product and service exceed client expectations, referrals will exceed your expectations.

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About Sales Focus Inc. Sales Focus Inc. is a consulting, training and outsourcing company that focuses strictly on sales. We help our clients during these difficult times to take business away from the competition. In down economic times, focused companies will not only survive, but also thrive! We offer cost containment and profit enhancement solutions. Profit enhancement is a different mindset than cost cutting. Cost cutting means doing less of something; profit enhancement implies doing more of something that will boost the bottom line. We represent the concept of focused profit enhancement solutions.

Sales Focus is driven towards a single goal: "Generating Immediate Revenue for our Clients!" Whether it's implementing our S.O.L.D. Methodology, Developing Specialized Training Programs or Launching an Outsourced Sales Force, we remain focused on the goal of TACTICALLY GENERATING RAPID REVENUE.

For more Information or to see if we are a good fit with your company, contact us directly, 866.840.8305 or 410.442.5600, send us an email at info@SalesFocusInc.com or visit our web site: www.SalesFocusInc.com. Request a free white paper while calling us or visiting our website.

Sales Focus Inc. 3210 Florence Road, Suite B Woodbine, Maryland 21797 P. 410.442.5600 F. 410.442.5102 Toll Free: 866.840.8305 URL: www.SalesFocusInc.com