At Small Batch Learning, we use the term product enablement. It’s a fancy term for something simple: enabling your key channel partners to sell your product, by helping their customer-facing teams feel confident recommending said product, by training them with the right information.

And… by leaving the fluff out.

To achieve this, our brand lessons always include three selling points. These selling points are arguably the single most essential pillar to your training, so deserve careful analysis. (If you read to the end, we’ll share three examples we think hit the mark.)

Thankfully, after speaking with hundreds of retail and hospitality staff and gathering thousands of pieces of lesson feedback, we’ve done the analysis. Here’s our tear-down of how to craft selling points that sell:

1. Focus on the customer and the customer benefit
2. Specifically, answer the customer questions “Who is buying this, and why?”
3. Don’t assume your approved marketing messages answer the above (although your consumer-focused images may help with the second – eg, Stone & Wood, above)
4. Skip details of your brand’s heritage (but don’t worry, we carve out space for cool historical anecdotes or founder backstories elsewhere in your lesson)
5. Develop a highly sensitive cliché filter!

Tips 1-2 enable customer-facing teams to best understand when to recommend your product (and when not to). Remember, staff ask open questions first, to understand the customer’s needs, then make their recommendations. All in about 30 seconds of interaction.

Tips 3-5 make sure that the knowledge shared isn’t diluted by end-consumer marketing lines that sound great delivered by an A-lister with a million-dollar smile, but sound much less compelling coming from someone like you and me.

(Admit it – if a 21-year-old retail assistant held out a bottle and declared “This spirit embodies centuries of know-how born from generations of respect for the land”, you’d just raise your eyebrows and move quickly along.)

Here are three selling points that we think work:

• Attracts non-gin drinkers thanks to lemon’s broad appeal. With its zesty flavour profile, Bombay Citron Pressé capitalises on the popularity of lemon-flavoured drinks, and presents a sales opportunity even with shoppers who usually avoid gin. It’s also perfect with soda, for customers who don’t like tonic.
• Bang for buck, one of the best tequilas on the shelf. Customers won’t find much choice around the 60-dollar mark when it comes to 100% agave tequila (the higher-quality tequila category, made only from blue agave plants – tequila’s defining raw material). Espolòn Blanco gives them a great option.
• A refreshing red, best served chilled. When shoppers are looking for something lighter in style, but still fancy a red, you can recommend Tarrango as sitting somewhere between rosé and Pinot Noir.

Takeaways:

1. The focus is on the why.
2. Simplicity is key, so aim for 50 words max per selling point. Anything longer won’t be remembered by the learner anyway.
3. Be specific about your customer – in terms of budget, motivation or taste preferences.

To find out more about Small Batch Learning’s product enablement platform and how you can reach key retail and hospitality partners with kick-ass training content for your brand, click the link below. 

Find out more