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3 vital print sales activities

Can you imagine eating a curry without spices?

Some things just do not work. If any restaurant served me a curry that didn’t have spices, I would send it straight back. It would be bland and tasteless.

If you want a successful curry, proper spicing is essential.

Just like curry, sales needs the right ingredients

Print sales people that carry out the right activities will find it much easier to achieve their targets. They will be more in control of the sales cycle. They will also find that they create stronger relationships with their clients.

Sales people that don’t carry out the right activities won’t create the same level of relationship. They will find that their sales efforts are much more disorganised. They are going to struggle to achieve the results that they are actually capable of.

Here are three of the most important activities that you should carry out every week.

Referrals

Every sales person should make a note to ask for referrals every week. It is a much more effective way to build sales than cold calling. Prospects are much more likely to talk to you if they have been recommended by someone they know and trust.

Some people are concerned that asking for referrals may be seen as cheeky. Remember that, if you carry out a good service for your clients they will usually be more than happy to recommend you to their network.

However, not all referrals ay be right for you. That’s why the second activity is so important.

Qualifying clients

Many sales people pursue prospects no matter what. If they are talking to you they must be interested in your services – right?

Wrong!

Buyers may be talking to you simply to see what your pricing is like. They may want to see if you have cheaper pricing simply to use this to beat down prices at their current suppliers.

That’s why it is vital that all sales people have a process for qualifying prospects. It is important to make sure that you are talking to people who are serious about the possibility of working with you. Once you have found prospects and clients like this it’s time to move to the third activity.

Upsells

When I worked as a buyer I asked for a lot of quotes from suppliers. Nearly everybody came back with a detailed, accurate quote. Few people gave me other options.

Today’s buyers rarely know much about print. You have the ideal opportunity to educate them. You can show them exactly how to get the best results from the print that they produce. The result can be that the client improves their business results and they spend more money with you. It’s a win-win situation!

If you really want to get ahead with improving your print sales, here are two action points

Put a 30-minute slot in your diary every week. Use this time to read about and implement new sales strategies.

Invest in “How To Improve Your Print Sales: The 1% Change Plan”. Every week you will receive a detailed outline of a sales process that is simple to implement. Each outline costs less than the price of a nice cup of coffee.

You’ll soon find that your sales activities have the right ingredients. You will be well on the way to spicing up your results!
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PS If you want more ideas on how to engage with prospects succesfully, download this essential resource. You’ll also be signed up to the “Views From The Buyer Community” at no cost, where you receive useful resources, tips, rants and stories three time a week.