Why closing the deal doesn’t work
Sales people are always being told to close the deal There is no shortage of advice for sales people on this topic. Apparently, if you say the right sentence you can move straight into closing the deal. Here are some of the phrases that are recommended according to one blog article that I read recently: “Is there any reason, if we gave you the product at this price, that you wouldn’t do business with our company?” “So when should we get started on implementation?” “If we throw in [freebie], would that convince you to sign the contract today?” “Why don’t…
Why you will lose sales if you keep on doing the same old thing
Here is a proven winning strategy It’s called the aggregation of marginal gains. It is covered in an excellent article by James Clear. Here’s what he had to say about it: “In 2010, Dave Brailsford faced a tough job. No British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France, but as the new General Manager and Performance Director for Team Sky (Great Britain’s professional cycling team), Brailsford was asked to change that. His approach was simple.
Change your sales results next week!
Welcome to 2017! It’s the start of the New Year. So it’s time to start planning what you are going to do to make 2017 your best year ever! Remember, it you want to achieve better results this means doing things differently. Here are three things you can do to get your year off to an excellent start: Decide to carry out some different sales activities from last year
6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub
Do your customers drive you to drink?! I’m very lucky: I love all my customers and they rarely give me problems. Having said that, I am partial to a beer or two. So I can occasionally be seen visiting a good old British pub. A few weeks ago, I visited a local pub with a friend of mine to have a catch up and enjoy a few drinks. We were intrigued by a sign that we saw near our table. We then had a discussion about whether this notice was necessary or not. Our conversation about the sign led me…
Don’t give your customers too much choice
Part 1 of “6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub” What’s the first thing you do when you enter a pub? Most people head straight for the bar and choose a drink? And at the pub I visited, there was plenty of choice! I counted at least twelve beers on tap, plus bottled beers. Naturally, that left me with plenty of decisions to make.
How to stop a prospect from buying
Part 2 of “6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub” Here’s how to put my friend off his beer with one word If you mention citrus he will automatically refuse to taste it! He is also keen to avoid any beer that mentions mango, passion fruit or grapefruit. I suspect that it actually has nothing to do with the taste of the beer. He simply dislikes that sort of description. When we went to the pub on our recent visit we discovered a dark beer that was supposed to taste of roasted malt, coffee and…
How to create better print profit margins
Part 3 of 6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub Have you heard of a beer bat? A beer bat is a small wooden plank with three holes in it. Each of the holes holds a small glass of beer – usually one third of a pint. The idea is that, instead of having a large glass of a single beer, you get to taste three different beers. I like to try lots of different types of beer. So when I went to the bar I was delighted to see that this pub offered beer…
Will you lose customers because you don’t use enticement?
Part 4 of 6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub Pubs have to work hard to keep enough business Loyal customers make up an important part of every pub’s turnover. If a pub does not have a large group of faithful customers who keep on visiting regularly then it is doomed to failure. The pub that I visited recently does a lot of activity to make sure that their regulars keep coming back. This pub is located in the middle of a city, so pub goers are more fickle than if the pub was in…
Why it’s important to state the obvious when you sell
Part 5 of 6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub “Warning: Metal post exposed. Please be careful” There was a nearby broken table in the pub when my friend and I sat down with our drinks. This was the sign that was fixed to fixed to the top of the metal post where there should have been a table top exposed. Our first reaction was: “Is this really necessary?” It seemed to be stating the blindingly obvious. It was clear that there was a metal post at this point. It wasn’t hidden or in bad…
What the printing industry can learn from craft brewing
Part 6 of 6 lessons about selling print learned from a visit to the pub Do you have a volume based business or a high margin business? The pub that my friend and I went to was definitely based on volume. It is a big building in the centre of the city that is expensive to run. They need a lot of customers to keep the venue busy and profitable. In order to attract enough business they also need to keep their prices keen. Selling extra premium expensive beer is not going to win them enough business. They sell good…
