Do You Play Hard to Get ... in Sales?
People smell desperation!
When I was younger I was keen to win the woman of my dreams! During this time I saw an interesting pattern emerging. If I was single, I found it very hard to interest a potential girlfriend. But plenty of people seemed to be interested in me when I was with someone!
Too much eagerness put people off. A lack of interest in other people from my part seemed to create interest in others.
Print sales has certain similarities with trying to find a girlfriend
Buyers also smell desperation. They know when a salesperson is keener than they should be to win business. They will make the most of the opportunity and drive a very hard deal.
As a buyer, I saw plenty of salespeople like that. The ones that got my attention were the ones that didn’t seem bothered - whether they won my business or not. They interested me much more.
I spend a lot of time trying to get prospects to say no
It gets rid of time wasters. But it also helps prospects overcome objections themselves. They make up their minds to place business with me without me having to persuade them. It makes for a much easier sales process. And I end up with better clients as a result.
Naturally, winning clients on this way makes me busy. I have to push back more on prospects and warn people that they may not be able to work with me for several weeks. That usually even makes prospects more interested in using me because they see that I am popular.
It’s pretty much like when I was in the market for a girlfriend!
P.S. Find out more ideas on how to increase sales with today’s buyers: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them.” You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Many printing companies are frustrated how hard it is to engage buyers in today’s world. That’s where Matthew Parker can help. He is a gamekeeper turned poacher. Parker has bought print for more than 20 years and received over 1,400 print sales pitches. He now uses his buyer’s point of view to give practical advice to printers. He helps them engage with prospects and customers to create profitable relationships.
Download his free e-book, "Ten Common Print Selling Errors And What To Do About Them" and check out his recently launched book, "How To Succeed At Print Sales: Setting targets, planning the right activities and making sure goals are met."
