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If they don't know you care… |
Stuart Elflett, Colour Tech Copying Pty Ltd, SA |
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I entered the world of sales many years ago - I earned my stripes as an Outside Personal Contact in the Real Estate and Timeshare Industry in Surfers Paradise, in Australia, and quickly found my way to the top of what was a cutthroat field, stopping and pre-qualifying tourists on the street.
While it's a world away from what I do now, working with my clients to ensure they get the very best printing, establishing relationships to help them make their business grow and prosper, it was still somewhere you needed to consistently do one thing if you wanted to succeed - let the customers know you care…
In any field, we have competitors - it's one of those ways you know that you're in the right business - and in the printing field, that's hugely evident. There are probably a dozen or more alternatives for your clients in almost any given area, and with increasing usage of the internet these days as a marketing tool, that's a number that's steadily going up, too… making a point of showing that you care about your client is one place where you can potentially shine over the also rans…
There's an old saying - "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care…", it's attributed to lots of people, but notably Zig Ziglar said it at a seminar when he visited Australia, and that was the time I heard it, and took it on board…
I've lived by those words in sales, and they've made the biggest impact of any of the many tools I've used in 20 years of selling - simply show the customer you care about their business. Here are just a few of the things I've done over the years to ensure my clientele know that I have them in mind, not the next sale:
Follow up on price quotes.
Do you have any idea how many people seem to not realise that if someone gets a quote from you, even if they don't buy, they're a pre-qualified client - they're going to get that job printed somewhere - follow them up, ensure the job went well, even if you didn't get it - let them know they're more than welcome to talk to you next time, too - far too many people just give a price, and leave it at that.
Ask about them, and their business.
Be interested in your client as a person, not as a sale. Find out what they do for fun, even if you don't have a common basis for conversation, referring to the subject in the future will show you pay attention to what they say. Likewise, if you know what they do, you stop just being 'the next' salesman and start becoming someone who knows them.
Follow up on the sale.
Call your client after the sale - make sure they received the job - yes, you know they did, or they'd be riding you about it right now, but asking shows you're interested in what happened next…
Ask if it was what they expected.
Be it your service, the quality of the product, or the time it was delivered in, the best thing you can hear here is a complaint - honest! Only one in eleven people will tell you that they weren't satisfied, the others just go away quietly - asking if they're a happy customer will dramatically increase the chances of finding out about dissatisfaction with things, before it becomes an issue - and you're still reminding them you care.
Thank you cards.
Nope, they're not just a smart marketing gimmick - a handwritten thank you card shows you actually take time to think about your customers at a later date - do a few each day, it soon becomes a routine and also gives the client a refresher on you - putting your name in their mind a month after a jobs finished will always help get the next one, too.
Mugs, Calendars, Pens, Memo Pads.
Yes, they're a marketing tool, too - but giving out an attractive Calendar or Coffee Mug helps keep your name 'up there' in the clients mind, often on a daily basis - we all use these things - and if you have a good design, you'll usually find other people in the company asking for them too - now you're getting your name all over their desks and offices, they're getting something they want and use, and if you're lucky other people are seeing them too. Yes, these sorts of promotional items do cost money - but so does getting new clients, too - and usually a lot more than the investment you make to give a small promotional gift out. Reward your customer for their business, and reap the rewards yourself.
Using just a few techniques to show customers you care will increase the response to your sales proposals - isn't it worth investing just a little time to show them that they're more than an account?
From: Stuart Elflett, Colour Tech Copying Pty Ltd
Stuart Elflett is the Sales & Marketing Manager for Colour Tech Digital Printing & Copying in Adelaide, South Australia - http://www.colourtech.com.au - He has been in the printer industry for over 12 years.
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