The End of the Sale

The job has shipped. From start to finish, it's taken you months to go from that first meeting to where you are today. Along the way, there were bumps and negotiations and competition and some pretty scary moments when you thought you were to lose this order.

But you didn’t.

At last, you are able to put those final pieces of paper into the file, walk over to the cabinet, and store all of the documents away until it’s time to think about a reorder. Given the fact that the client ordered nearly a year’s worth, you don’t need to think anymore about this order for quite a while.

And thus begins your journey to losing this piece of business.

If you think your job is done when the order ships, you are setting yourself up for failure. The sales process never ends.

Ever.

There is a reason why they call it the "Sales Cycle." It’s not linear. It’s circular. After the job ships, you need to start thinking about keeping the client happy, staying on top of their needs, and making certain that whatever solution you just printed is hitting the mark.

We complain that customers lacked loyalty. But unless we continue to give them reasons to buy from us, they will continue to listen to our competitors whispering in their ears that we are no longer working to earn their business.

A couple of weeks after the job ships, call the client to see if they were happy. A couple of months later, check in to see if there are any suggestions for changes the next time. Stay in touch with the client and your chances of getting the reorder uncontested increase.

See your job as being finished once the job ships and you are bound to be 100 percent correct: Your job IS finished.