Should You Fire This Client?

Should You Fire This Client?

copyright 2006, Rosalie Marcus

The Promo Biz Coach (tm)

http://www.promobizcoach.com/

http://www.promobizwoman.com/

Rosalie@promobizcoach.com

A reader asked, "I have an immediate question and something that has given me sleepless nights. I'm into keeping all my customers happy, just like you suggest.I'm contemplating firing this customer.

Problem is, in the past they've sent in an awful lot of business. As a
company, the revenue is large, but in the first few months of working
with them, they have not been as profitable as we would like them to
be. They are very difficult and irrational when I try to educate them
on this industry, and I believe they may be shopping my ideas and only looking for the lowest price.

Do I fire this customer, or continue spending most
of my days and nights with a very unhappy group of people?"

Answer: Do you understand why they are so unhappy? Do you know what is most important to them? Is it price, or is there something more that you're not providing? What do they value most in a promotional products consultant?

Without knowing the complete picture it's hard to answer your question but... after you have done everything possible to communicate with them, try answering the questions below.

You can use these questions to evaluate all your promotional product accounts.

--Are they profitable? On average can you make at least a 35% gross
profit margin on the orders that you sell to them?

-- Do they accept the price you give them as a fair value for your services?

-- Do they pay in a timely fashion in 30 days or less?

-- Do they respect your ideas and your input without "shopping it?"

-- Do you enjoy working with them?

-- Do they have the ability to give you larger orders and repeat
business?

-- Will they be a source of referral business for you?

If you answered yes, to most of the above it sounds like you have a good account.

If not, evaluate your relationship. There are times when getting rid of an account makes sense.

As a promotional products consultant, your good health and happiness are directly linked to your sales success. Think about what this customer is costing you in terms of time and aggravation, and then I am sure you'll make the right decision.

What do you think? Have you ever fired a client? How do you evaluate your clients?

Have a great day!

Rosalie Marcus
Rosalie@promobizcoach.com

Professional sales coach and promotional products business expert Rosalie Marcus is the creator of How To Make More Money in Promotional Products Sales the Ultimate Business Boosting Program! For more information about her products and programs reach her at Rosalie@promobizcoach.com or 215-572-6766.

Visit her web sites: http://www.promobizcoach.com/ , http://www.promobizwoman.com/

Six Big Voicemail Mistakes and How To Avoid Them!
Copyright 2006, By Rosalie Marcus Rosalie@promobizcoach.com http://www.promobizcoach.com/
http://www.promobizwoman.com

Those of you that have taken classes with me know that I believe cold calls are one of the least effective ways to get new business, but regardless of whether you make cold calls or not, you'll still need to use the phone to return messages, call suppliers and contact referrals. Below are six things to avoid when leaving a voice mail message and how to easily correct them!

1. Rambling. Decide what you want to say ahead of time. The fastest route for your prospects and clients to hit the the delete key is to leave a long, rambling message. Practice what you want to say before you make that important call, and keep it short and to the point.

2. Talking too fast. This is especially important if you're leaving a telephone number. Speak slowly, but with authority. Leave your telephone number twice; once at the beginning of the message and once at the end.

3. Being self-serving. Here's the cold, hard truth; the prospect you're trying to contact doesn't care about you or your company, but they do care about the RESULTS your company can get for them. Instead of saying: I'm calling to introduce myself and my company say I'm calling because I help companies like yours decrease lost time accidents...Increase trade show traffic...build brand awareness quickly and I've got some great ideas I'd like to share with you. You get the idea!

4. Not asking permission. If, per chance, a live person does pick up the phone, the first thing you need to know is if this is good time to speak. Nothing will turn off a prospect faster than a salesperson calling at a bad time. Always, get permission to proceed first.

5. Being defensive. Not everyone is a good prospect for you. Don't take it personally be polite and move on if you get someone that is clearly not interested. Pushy and aggressive sales techniques went out with the last century!

6. Giving up too soon. Here's another cold, hard truth. Most people won't return your call, but that doesn't mean they're not interested; they're just busy. Use your intuition. When a prospect has good potential there's no reason to stop trying. Just space your calls, and make your messages enticing. And if the phone messages you're leaving aren't getting the results you want, try contacting in a variety of different ways. A personal letter, a spec sample, an interesting article with some useful information may get a better response.

Have a comment about this posting?

What's your biggest voice mail frustration?

How have you gotten past the voice mail barrier?

I'd love to hear from you!

Just comment directly to this blog by clicking on the comment bar at the bottom of this posting as a thank you for responding I'll send you a FREE copy of my best selling e-book: Grow Your Sales: 125 Success Tips For Promotional Products Distributors

All comments are welcome!
-----------------------------------
About ROSALIE MARCUS:
Professional sales coach, speaker and author Rosalie Marcus is the creator of the Ultimate Profit Boosting Program, a comprehensive Program For Making More Money in Promotional Products Sales!

Rosalie specializes in helping new and emerging promotional products sales professionals boost their sales, increase their income and work smarter, not harder!
Reach her at: Rosalie@promobizcoach.com or 215-572-6766