Would you like the ability to time travel?
Dr. Who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary. His ability to zip forwards and backwards in time appears to have saved our universe quite frequently.
Most of us will have had a project where time travel would have been useful. The ability to move back in time to put things right would have saved me a lot of trouble on more than a few print jobs!
However, sometimes we shouldn’t need time travel to get us out of a problem
Sometimes the signs of trouble are right there at the beginning of a project. Usually, it’s the people involved that are the cause of all the problems.
This is something that salespeople should bear in mind. Often the most difficult buyers can be easy to spot within a few minutes of meeting them.
Here are three signs that a prospect will turn out to be a nightmare client
Firstly, these people often tell you all about the problems that they have encountered with other suppliers. They are quick to highlight all the issues that they have had with previous relationships. But you don’t hear them talking about supplier relationships that have gone well.
If you hear a lot of stories like this you should be cautious. The chances are you’ll end up as a problem story told to another supplier if you start working with them.
Another sign of a problem client is that you have to work really hard to win a job. They make you jump through all sorts of hoops. You have endless meetings. At the end of all this, you are rewarded with a tiny job. Was it really worth all that hard work for such a small payback?
Sometimes problem prospects are even more obvious. They start telling you about everything they expect from their suppliers. Many of these demands are pretty unreasonable. However, suppliers are expected to keep to them: they are not negotiable.
Put all of these signs together and you may risk taking onboard a nightmare client. So if you spot these signs in a prospect, what should you do?
Do you really want to deal with a client like this?
There is huge pressure to win printing jobs at the moment. However, sometimes the cost of dealing with a nightmare client outweighs the benefits. If the warning signals are present, you should discuss whether this is a sales opportunity that is really worth following up.
Sometime we may look back in time and wish that we’d never met certain clients. Dr. Who is highly skilled at dealing with Daleks and Cybermen, but even he would struggle to cope with some nightmare print buyers...
P.S. Get instant advice on how to avoid running into problems when selling printing services. Download Matthew’s free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them” right now at http://profitableprintrelationships.com/e-book/
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- 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."