The consumer electronics market has not been going through its best times. The rising prices for commodities, inflation and stiffening loan conditions bring the purchasing power down.
As the direct advertising is no more efficient, the competition for every single customer is increasingly high. People are more meticulous in their choice of the necessary goods, and they prefer to do their shopping in multibrand stores and federal store chains as they provide the best value for money. According to our internal analytical data, two thirds of all customers make up/change their minds about the purchase following the sale associates’ advice. That is why BrandRecommend believes its task is to make allies of associates to promote your branded products.
The consumer electronics market has its own distinguishing features which should be taken into consideration while working with sale associates. Let us have a look at those features and see how they can be most efficiently applied:
At least once a year, all manufacturers completely renew their product ranges. So every time it is necessary to train the associates, tell them about the new products and features and explain in what ways the company’s products are different from those of its competitors. After that, one has to adjust the sales scripts so that the sale associates could know the whole product range, e.g. which products are budget versions, which are flagship ones. Thus, it is of utmost importance to directly compare products to the rivals to determine the latter’s weaknesses and focus on the company’s strengths. This way the associate gets hands-on knowledge enabling him\her to persuade a customer if he\she feels like buying a rival product.
This approach is put into practice in the LGSeminar reference community working for the LG Electronics Company. For them, we have launched a catalogue of products where apart from highly detailed technical specifications. Each model is contrasted against some rival models in the same price range. Our brand’s strengths are visually highlighted with golden asterisks.
The goods sold at this market have plenty of technical characteristics and their presentation with all the descriptions takes on average more than 30 pages. One should remember that sale associates learn all these in his\her spare time so to make sure the information is clear for them, it has to be considerably simplified, put into comprehensible terms, contain only key facts about the products. Instead of explaining the features in complicated technical terms, it is much better to present their benefits for the buyer.
For instance, a fridge is equipped with an inverter compressor. What does it exactly mean for buyers? First of all, it means saving power, noiseless operation, long service life and a higher quality of temperature control which allows products to stay fresh for a longer time. That is the way we interpret all technical data.
As we have observed, the average employment in sales does not exceed 6 months. Due to the high staff turnover, sale associates have to be trained non-stop and involved in the incentive programs. Besides, it is vital to remember to remove previous associates from the company’s database. Because, as they accumulate, they continue to take part in closed competitions inside a reference community and become the so called “prize snatchers.”
Sales associates are for the most part young people, the millennial generation. They have a clip thinking being unable to concentrate for a long time on large amounts of information if it is of no interest for them. The traditional approach makes them bored, they are not going to waste their free time on webinars, presentations, lectures and tests. The edutainment approach is far more efficient here. It means teaching while entertaining and involving in game scenarios.
The consumer electronics market is highly competitive. All manufacturers have similar models in their product ranges and their own incentive programs. If one simply showcases the prizes and starts handing out money to everyone, it will cause war among marketing budgets. What is really necessary is to boost intangible motivation: to issue certificates for learning the products’ specifics, to introduce some elements of gamification to promote competition among the community members, to distribute the prize fund in a way that provides a wider coverage and to use other methods to permanently keep the sale associates’ focused on the program.
The consumer electronics market is also characterized by strong seasonality. Two most important seasons are New Year’s Eve and “back to school” time. Incentivizing programs should be activated during these bursts of activity. And in downtime, for instance, in summer one could focus on various entertaining activities to show the audience that the company has more than just commercial interest in them.
Today no one is surprised when they hear about classical motivation programs, so they are no longer a competitive advantage. If a company wishes to attract some attention, to stand out in the crowd of other manufacturers, it may do so by creating a large-scale reference community involving dozens of thousands of members.
We suggest the creation of a genuine associates’ club and to nurture your brand’s advocates. Our idea is essentially different from a mere incentivizing program as it provides a complex of teaching, motivation, entertainment, gamification and edutainment. It is a long-term program covering both bursts of activity and changes of product ranges. It also takes into account a number of other parameters, such as a prize fund and its logistics, the audience in- and outflow, regional distribution.