3 Steps to Showcasing Expertise to Your Buyers

So you want to be seen as an expert in your industry, and don’t we all? In today’s world of constant noise and technology it’s hard to have your business stand out against the others. Your current customers and potential buyers are inundated with a constant stream of information and ads all screaming LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! We’ll I’m here to break down 3 simple and actionable steps you can take to ensure that your voice isn’t getting lost in the shuffle.

First, let’s take an example. Let’s say I’m a sales distributor who sells cleaning equipment to long-term care facilities across the US. I represent a territory that includes over 50 facilities that are all looking for new equipment and products and look to me as the expert to tell them what brands they should purchase.

Since I’m busy and have my customers asking me a thousand questions a day, and since I’m not financially incentivized to sell any one manufacturer, I usually sell whatever’s easiest for me to push and promote. A sale is a sale, and I don’t care whom the customer buys from.

You may be thinking to yourself, well shoot – that’s super selfish of you, cleaning equipment distributor, but unfortunately it’s a fact of life for everyone in nearly every industry. People are naturally lazy, and if something isn’t easy, fun or financially rewarding; they probably won’t do it.

Now you’re probably asking yourself – well, what can I do to make my products fun and informative so my distributor will push my product over the others? What can I do to make my distributor’s job easier so I hit my revenue goals this quarter? That’s exactly what I’m going to tell you in these 3 steps to showcasing your expertise to your buyers:

1. Start a Blog

If you don’t already have a blog, start one. You may be sick of people telling you this. You may think blogging is weird and stupid and something your teenage daughter does for fun on her Smartphone. Well you’re right (and wrong). Blogging might feel weird, so don’t think of it as blogging. Think of yourself as a teacher and if you want to be the best teacher on your brand, you have to teach people about what you do and how you do it.

2. Engage Your Distributors and Your End Users

Find out where your distributors and your end users spend their time online and start some conversations. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, if your buyers are spending time online in these places then you should too. If you can get your distributor and your end user excited about your products, then you’ve killed two birds with one stone. Your distributor will eagerly push your products and your end users will start asking for it directly now that they know how much better you are then your competitors.

3. Follow Up

Follow up with your distributors and your end users. No one likes it when someone pays a ton of attention to him or her and then disappears after they get what they want. It’s selfish. Turn your one time customers into repeat customers. Better yet, turn them into brand evangelists, showcasing their loyalty to you and your company by telling everyone they know and trust about your brand. You can’t afford not to stay in front of these people; they’ll sell on your behalf if you’ve done steps 1 & 2 and have a phenomenal product.

No one likes to feel stupid. You will develop a better relationship with your distributor if they feel informed about your products. By informing your distributor about what you do and how you do it they’ll be able to sell your products more confidentially. 

These steps aren’t systems that will get you results overnight, but they are fairly easy and free to implement into your business. Are you already working towards some of these steps to improve your sales? If so, leave a comment sharing your greatest successes or your most difficult issues; I’d love to hear how it’s working for you.