LoudPrinting
New Member
Hello all,
I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season.
I wanted to mention a sales tactic that I have found to be very effective.
We all know the big fish we want to catch...whether it be a print production manager at an ad agency, a purchasing agent at a large corporation, a regional manager of a retail chain, a marketing manager of a professional sports team, event coordinator of a large convention or some other person that is in a position to order a TON of stuff.
How do you go about landing that big sale? And MORE importantly, how do you keep them coming back?
Here is a process that I have found effective.
The first step is to find out who that person is. You need a name and a phone number. This is usually as easy as looking on the company website or giving a call to the company and just asking about that position.
The next step is calling that person. When calling them, it is important to be positive, friendly and direct....and if possible a little funny or unique. Something to the effect of "Hi, my name is so and so from so and so company. I heard that you are the one with all the power there. (said in a fun manner..this usually gets a laugh) I do large format printing and wanted to see if you have a second that I could come meet with you." I would say that 4-6 people out of 10 will let you come by (remember sales is a numbers game! YOU WILL BE REJECTED!! However, with the rejections there will be some that LOVE you)
So you arrive at the meeting in a shirt, tie and slacks (equivalent for women). You will only have about 10 minutes with the person, so you have to make sure you know what your goal in meeting with that person is. You goal is NOT spill out as much info about your company as you can. Remember facts tell and benefits sell. You want to tell the benefits of your company, which are that you are friendly, helpful, reliable and just get the job done right. Provide the customer with YOUR cell phone number and tell them that they can call you anytime. The key is to use the phrase "I want to be on the speed dial of your cell phone and be the first one you think of calling anytime you need printing..whether it be one decal or 1000 banners. And even if you need something besides printing, I know of a lot of resources and would love to help you out."
VERY SELDOM will they make and order right then and there with you. This is for two reasons...they most likely already have a vendor and they don't have a project at the moment....You can overcome both of these by doing the following. Sending a thank you card and check in regularly after that..BUT NOT IN AN ANNOYING WAY. Try to be funny and nice in your follow ups. Send a funny thank you card. Stop by with doughnuts. Never just call them and say "How are you? Do you have any printing for me now?" This is the worst thing you could do.
You cannot force them to call you, but sooner or later they will. And you know what? You MUST treat that phone call like gold. You have to go above and beyond anything they ask for. If they want a banner printed, print it immedialty and drive it to them before the end of the day. If they have a question about a product stop everything, get in your car and go meet with them. If they have a project in mind and want your input, stop everything and get in the car to go see them. This is where the sale happens!!!
The goal is to impress them SO MUCH that they get a feeling of "Wow, it's like instant relief when I call this guy...he is on my side..we are a team!"
When you can impress a customer to that point, you have started on the path of winning them over. But don't stop there! you need to keep going out of your way to impress them. You need to treat them like gold. Even if they need help on something that is not sign related, you need to be there helping. After all, this is a person that can bring you thousands and thousands of dollars of business. Heck, I would even wager to say that all you need is 10 HUGE accounts rather than 100000 small accounts and life is a lot better.
I know that my retail business has been built on a only a few clients, but each one of those clients orders a TON of printing.
I hope that provides some valuable input to you all.
Matt at LP
I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season.
I wanted to mention a sales tactic that I have found to be very effective.
We all know the big fish we want to catch...whether it be a print production manager at an ad agency, a purchasing agent at a large corporation, a regional manager of a retail chain, a marketing manager of a professional sports team, event coordinator of a large convention or some other person that is in a position to order a TON of stuff.
How do you go about landing that big sale? And MORE importantly, how do you keep them coming back?
Here is a process that I have found effective.
The first step is to find out who that person is. You need a name and a phone number. This is usually as easy as looking on the company website or giving a call to the company and just asking about that position.
The next step is calling that person. When calling them, it is important to be positive, friendly and direct....and if possible a little funny or unique. Something to the effect of "Hi, my name is so and so from so and so company. I heard that you are the one with all the power there. (said in a fun manner..this usually gets a laugh) I do large format printing and wanted to see if you have a second that I could come meet with you." I would say that 4-6 people out of 10 will let you come by (remember sales is a numbers game! YOU WILL BE REJECTED!! However, with the rejections there will be some that LOVE you)
So you arrive at the meeting in a shirt, tie and slacks (equivalent for women). You will only have about 10 minutes with the person, so you have to make sure you know what your goal in meeting with that person is. You goal is NOT spill out as much info about your company as you can. Remember facts tell and benefits sell. You want to tell the benefits of your company, which are that you are friendly, helpful, reliable and just get the job done right. Provide the customer with YOUR cell phone number and tell them that they can call you anytime. The key is to use the phrase "I want to be on the speed dial of your cell phone and be the first one you think of calling anytime you need printing..whether it be one decal or 1000 banners. And even if you need something besides printing, I know of a lot of resources and would love to help you out."
VERY SELDOM will they make and order right then and there with you. This is for two reasons...they most likely already have a vendor and they don't have a project at the moment....You can overcome both of these by doing the following. Sending a thank you card and check in regularly after that..BUT NOT IN AN ANNOYING WAY. Try to be funny and nice in your follow ups. Send a funny thank you card. Stop by with doughnuts. Never just call them and say "How are you? Do you have any printing for me now?" This is the worst thing you could do.
You cannot force them to call you, but sooner or later they will. And you know what? You MUST treat that phone call like gold. You have to go above and beyond anything they ask for. If they want a banner printed, print it immedialty and drive it to them before the end of the day. If they have a question about a product stop everything, get in your car and go meet with them. If they have a project in mind and want your input, stop everything and get in the car to go see them. This is where the sale happens!!!
The goal is to impress them SO MUCH that they get a feeling of "Wow, it's like instant relief when I call this guy...he is on my side..we are a team!"
When you can impress a customer to that point, you have started on the path of winning them over. But don't stop there! you need to keep going out of your way to impress them. You need to treat them like gold. Even if they need help on something that is not sign related, you need to be there helping. After all, this is a person that can bring you thousands and thousands of dollars of business. Heck, I would even wager to say that all you need is 10 HUGE accounts rather than 100000 small accounts and life is a lot better.
I know that my retail business has been built on a only a few clients, but each one of those clients orders a TON of printing.
I hope that provides some valuable input to you all.
Matt at LP
Last edited by a moderator:
We get more sales, you get more sales....I like how you work LP - thanks.
