Communication and Follow-Up

Watch this week's Short Attention Span Sales Tip here.

Good morning!

You are meeting with a prospective customer, trying to make a case for becoming the incumbent vendor.

You could compare hardware:

“Our equipment is beige and uses electricity.”

Or what about capabilities?

“Everything you are getting now? Yeah, we can do that, too.”

If you really want to stand apart from the competition, let them know:

“I do two things really well: Communication and follow up.”

Time and again when buyers are asked what they want most from a vendor, communication and follow up are at the top of the list.

1. Communication — Buyers want prompt acknowledgement, speedy answers, and Amazon-level communication. They want to hear back from vendors in a way that makes them feel like a priority.
2.  Follow up — After a job has shipped, let the buyer know you will make sure everything went well, the customer is satisfied with the quality, and any changes for next time are noted.

Chances are, you will not bring anything new to the customer they don’t already have. Print, signage, labels, promo, packaging … they’ve got it covered. That leaves some basic variables that have nothing to do with technology.

I promise you two things:

1. Their current vendor has stopped trying to impress them with prompt service.
2. Their current sales rep doesn’t call to ask, “How’d everything go with the trade show?”

You can differentiate yourself from the mediocre service they are currently getting simply by being the kind of sales rep you, yourself would want to work with.

That should be a bar you can reach.

How’s business? Need some instantly-applicable sales ideas? The Sales Vault has best practices covering every aspect of your job. Learn more and join at SalesVault.pro or by calling Bill Farquharson at 781-934-7036.