Why your sales people need knowledge NOT information

Salespeople are inundated with information. The problem is that they will very often waste a tremendous amount of time sifting through masses of content to find exactly what they need. Clearly, that is a very inefficient process.

What salespeople really need and want is just-in-time sales knowledge that is specific to their company, customers, competitors and products. Information alone simply isn’t nearly as valuable as the knowledge gained from your company’s past sales experiences. While information is simply a collection of facts and data about a specific subject, knowledge comes from the study and analysis of those facts as well as an understanding and experience of that subject.

However, it is estimated that some 80 percent of sales oriented knowledge – the collective wisdom, intelligence, experiences, best practices and information that sales people have gained over time – is not documented. The knowledge that is documented is constantly changing and the people within an organization who have that knowledge aren’t always accessible or available when it’s needed.

This is why providing a sales knowledge management system that delivers salespeople with the sales knowledge they need, just-in-time when they need it, is a huge asset to the whole organization.