RECOMMEND PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CANDIDATE RESOURCE WITH SIMULATED ONLINE BUSINESS ASSESSMENT BSBPRO301A
Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd 44 Bergin Rd, Ferny Grove, QLD, 4055 Email: info@precisiongroup.com.au Website: www.precisiongroup.com.au BSBPRO301A Recommend Products and Services ISBN: 978-1-74238- Copyright Notice No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information retrieval system without written permission from Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Legal action may be taken against any person who infringes their copyright through unauthorised copying. These terms are subject to the conditions prescribed under the Australian Copyright Act 1968. Copying for Educational Purposes The Australian Copyright Act 1968 allows 10% of this book to be copied by any educational institute for educational purposes, provided that the institute (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. For more information, email info@copyright. com.au or visit www.copyright.com.au for other contact details. Disclaimer Precision Group has made a great effort to ensure that this material is free from error or omissions. However, you should conduct your own enquiries and seek professional advice before relying on any fact, statement or matter contained in this book. Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd is not responsible for any injury, loss or damage as a result of material included or omitted from this material. Information in this module is current at the time of publication.
Table of Contents 2 Legend 3 Qualification Pathways 4 Qualification Rules 5 Introduction 7 BSBPRO301A/01 Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Key Points Actively and regularly research knowledge and understanding of industry products and services using authoritative sources Use available product and service documentation to identify and understand characteristics of products and services, and to make comparisons with other products and services Accurately document and maintain information on products and services in a format consistent with organisational requirements Apply acquired knowledge to improve quality within personal work areas 13 True or False Quiz 15 BSBPRO301A/02 Recommend Products and Services Key Points Ensure that recommendations on products and services are in line with organisational requirements Provide recommendations that emphasise product and service issues relevant to client needs Ensure that evidence in support of recommendations is verifiable and presented in a suitable format Structure recommendations to identify clear benefits to clients and the organisation 21 True or False Quiz 23 BSBPRO301A/03 Advise on Promotional Activities Key Points Provide advice that is clear, is supported by verifiable evidence and is compatible with organisational requirements Ensure that promotional documentation and materials are appropriate to presentation of the organisation s products and services Ensure that costs of promotional activities conform to budget resources Estimate impact of promotional activities from verifiable customer feedback sources Evaluate the benefits of promotional activities and incorporate in plans for future promotional activities 31 True or False Quiz 32 Summary 33 Bibliography 35 Assessment Pack 1
Use considered risk taking in your grey area...and others will follow you! Legend This symbol indicates the beginning of a new element. These will help you to find the information for your assessment activities. Activity: Whenever you see this symbol, there is an activity to carry out which has been designed to help reinforce the learning about the topic and take some action. This symbol is used at the beginning of each element to indicate the summary key points. This symbol is used to indicate an answer to the Candidate s questions or notes to assist the Facilitator. 2
Qualification Pathways There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it s easy. Source Unknown This unit of competency is provided to meet the requirements of BSB07 Business Services Training Package although it can be used in a range of different qualifications. The BSB07 Business Services Training Package does not state how a qualification is to be achieved. Rather, Registered Training Organisations are required to use the qualification rules to ensure the needs of the learner and business customer are met. This is to be achieved through the development of effective learning programs delivered in an order that meets the stated needs of nominated Candidates and business customers. 3
Qualification Rules You re either part of the solution or part of the problem. Eldridge Cleaver Qualification requirements include core and elective units. The unit mix is determined by specific unit of competency requirements which are stated in the qualification description. Registered Training Organisations then work with learners and business customers to select elective units relevant to the work outcome, local industry requirements and the qualification level. All vocational education qualifications must lead to a work outcome. BSB07 Business Services Training Package qualifications allow for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to vary programs to meet: Specific needs of a business or group of businesses. Skill needs of a locality or a particular industry application of business skills. Maximum employability of a group of students or an individual. When packaging a qualification elective units are to be selected from an equivalent level qualification unless otherwise stated. 4
Introduction Whether as an individual, or as part of a group, real progress depends on entering whole-heartedly into the process and being motivated to make you a more deeply satisfied human being. Source Unknown This unit of competency BSBPRO301A Recommend Products and Services is about being able to use the skills and knowledge required to provide advice and information within an organisation about the development and distribution of its products and services.. This is one of the units that make up Certificates in Business. This manual is broken up into three distinct sections. They are: 1. Develop and maintain knowledge of products and services 2. Recommend products and services 3. Advise on promotional activities. At the conclusion of this training you will be asked to complete an Assessment Pack for this unit of competency. The information contained in this resource will assist you to complete this task. You will then have demonstrated your ability to provide advice and information about the development and distribution of products and services within your organisation. 5
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ELEMENT 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Key Points Element 1 Business organisations are coming to view knowledge as their most valuable and strategic resource, and bringing that knowledge to bear on problems and opportunities as their most important capability. Your company or the manufacturer of the products you represent probably holds regularly scheduled training sessions. Schedule a time to sit and read brochures and technical information about your product or service but don t just read them the way a client would. If training sessions and product literature aren t available, and what you sell is a tangible product, get your hands on a sample. 7
Element 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Key Points Element 1 continued If you work with intangibles, get as much feedback as you can from the people who already use and benefit from what you sell. If possible, survey some of those people to find out what they think of what you sell and what their experiences with it have been. Ask to go on a demonstration call with the top person in your company or someone who is currently on the rise to success to see and hear how others present your product. When you are in a learning mode, it s important to set the stage for learning. Whatever product you sell, try to create an opportunity to tour the facility where your product is designed and built. Most companies designate a person or department to gather information on the competition and to prepare analysis of that information for the sales staff. Before the advent of desktop computers and electronic databases, everything was neatly labelled and indexed and stored away in filing cabinets. In the electronic age it s a different game altogether. It s important to have an enterprise-wide storage management policy, because everyone will need to be able to access the product information. 8
Element 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Product Knowledge All organisations are required to undertake work that requires them to have a good knowledge of the goods and services that are on offer within their organisation. This process allows them to ensure that they are able to provide the knowledge to their customers about those things which are most important to them. In order for modern organisations to remain competitive in the marketplace, there needs to be a good amount of knowledge about the types of products that are on offer to their customers and looking at ways that this knowledge can be communicated. In order to be effective at selling the products and services that you have on offer within your organisation, you need to know, at a minimum: What products you have on offer What new models are available Whether the newer versions improve on the older versions and in what way they do this Attributes such as cost, colours and the like The ways in which the product is operated How much inventory is available to you What the cost of the product is Whether financing is available to customers What materials it is made from. Seek out Product Information You are likely to find that your organisation is going to hold sessions on a regular basis for training your staff in the requirements and product information needed. You and the other staff will need to learn as much as possible about the products and services that you have on offer. If you find that your organisation is offering these types of sessions, make it a point to attend as many of them as you can. Learning about the various products and services that are on offer is critical to your development. You may find it useful to sit down before the session and think through a list of questions that you need or want to find answers to. In this way, you can be sure that your development and knowledge improves over time. You also know that you will have a knowledgeable person there to assist and answer any questions that you might have regarding the products and services on offer. Other ways of gaining the relevant knowledge include: Reading brochures Reading product manuals Playing with the product and learning everything there is to know about it through experience. 9
Element 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Interview Clients and Colleagues You may learn a lot by actually talking to those people who buy your products or services. That is, talk with the customers. They understand the best way to use the products, the services and the benefits that can be gained by using what your organisation has to offer. You may like to survey people, ask questions and just find out what people think of what is offered and where improvements could be made. This could assist you in recommending the relevant products and services. You may also find it useful to talk with managers and other sales people about the products that are being sold, in particular because there can be knowledge about things which is never documented anywhere. So by getting this down on paper, you can definitely find ways of improving your knowledge about them. Create a Respectful Environment Make sure that you take time to actually sit down and get yourself into a mode where you want to learn about the products that are on offer. Bring all the information you need together: Brochures Documents Manuals A product to play with. Read everything thoroughly and spend time reading through everything multiple times. The more you can read everything, the more likely you are to retain that information. Go Directly to the Source A particularly useful means of gathering this information is to sit down with the designers, buyers, and manufacturers and discuss the product offerings with them or go directly into the factory and learn as much as you possibly can about everything that is on offer to you. Learn how they were built, learn how they were designed, and learn about the research done into the product s use the inspiration behind the product being developed in the first place. Learn the product from the inside out, learn everything there is to know about it even some secrets which you may be able to give your customers that makes them feel like they know a lot about the product, or something secret that they can pass on to others. With changes occurring so quickly in product offerings, visiting the place where the product was designed and assembled can give you insights into changes that are going to occur in the near future and prepare you for these changes actually occurring. 10
Element 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Check out Your Competitors Products You can actually learn a lot about products in the market by going out and seeking information from those products that are in competition with everything that you are selling. For example: Where do our products do better? What are we doing wrong? Where could we improve? Where are we winning? Product Information Storage Once you have begun the process of collecting the vast amount of information needed to make headway of the products and services that you have on offer, you need to consider the ways in which you will store all this information for a later date. We need to have easy access to all of this information to enable us to make the right decisions as to what recommendations we are likely to give our clients and customers. You may find it useful to think through the methods that you will adopt for this process. Will you file everything physically, scan and store electronically? How will you retrieve the information or make it easy to sort through? If your organisation has a policy on how things are likely to be done, make sure you are completely familiar with this, so that you can ensure that you are meeting with the requirements that they have in place for information storage and retrieval. This can work to ensure that everything that you do is correctly stored, easily found, and most importantly, retained as required or thrown out as required. If you find that your organisation does not have such a policy in place, set up a storage plan that works for you think through exactly how you are hoping to achieve your goals and objectives in making sure that you are fully aware of all the information required to give your customers the best possible advice. Personal Application Product knowledge is a critical aspect of anything that you do in customer service. Answering questions, recommending advice for a given situation or simply just giving customers information requires you to know everything you can about what you offer. You do not want to look foolish in front of your customers. The best advice is: Gather as much information as you can Attend any training offered Read and reread any information you have available to you Understand your customer and their needs. 11
Element 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Activity One Discuss with the group the method used by your organisation to disseminate and store product and service information. Consider what you could implement in your organisation that would improve the method currently used. 12
Element 1: Develop and Maintain Knowledge of Products and Services Element 1 - True or False Quiz Please tick True False Your company or the manufacturer of your products would be unlikely to hold training sessions. Business organisations are coming to view knowledge as their most valuable and strategic resource, and bringing that knowledge to bear on problems and opportunities as their most important capability. If you work with intangibles, avoid as much feedback as you can from the people who already use and benefit from what you sell. Before the advent of desktop computers and electronic databases, ledgers and box-files were just left to stack up. When you are in a learning mode, it s important to set the stage for learning. Top salespeople have information about products that they will never share. It is unimportant to be aware of the information storage policy and process. Most companies designate a person or department to gather information on the competition and to prepare analysis of that information for the sales staff. The aim of gaining product knowledge is to explore the application of greater information when recommending products or services to customers or clients. 13