Sales is hard. It always has been. It always will be. There, I said it. Moving on… Nope, there is no shortcut. There is no “easy” button. Earning sales takes persistence, and embroidery and apparel decorating sales is no different.
That being said, how can you achieve success in your embroidery business? Once more, it takes persistence.
Send a sales letter. And then follow it with a phone call. Then send another sales letter. And an email. And a phone call. Maybe, just maybe, by about the seventh or eight time you put yourself in front of a potential customer, or even an existing customer, your abilities will resonate with a need they have just at that moment. Effective sales are based on sales CAMPAIGNS, not a sales letter.
Use the two sample sales letter we provided in the recent blog posts as part of your campaign. Develop a list of 3 questions you can ask any potential customer on one of your phone calls, such as:
- Your [company/organization/school] colors are [fill in the blank, based on some quick online research]. Which is the dominant color for your brand? [Only ask this if it is not self evident.]
- With whom should I follow up to provide some samples? [Great way to get your foot in the door]
- What is the best thing you’ve ever received with a logo on it?
And then thank them and get off the call. Really! You are building rapport. Forcing yourself on to their calendar is not going to make them eager to do business with you.
Then send them a letter, and reference a product in their color, price an example of their favorite item with their logo, and let them know you have followed up with Jane/John Doe, if they named someone other than themselves.
Let me give you an first-person example of the customer’s process. Let’s say you need a new pair of pants:
- First sales letter – “Dear Brain, I need a new pair of pants.”
- Second sales letter to your brain – you do the laundry, and realize, hey, I really do need to get that new pair of pants.
- Email to your brain arrives as you are driving home from work and you pass the mall. Yup, really need to get back over here and get that pair of pants.
- Sales call – these pants will not work for tomorrow night.
- And then you finally stop at the mall and get the pair of pants, when the need is imminent.
The sales cycle is exactly like that! You must be present in their consciousness when their need is imminent. When you switch your thinking about your interactions with your customers and it becomes a process, not a single event, you greatly improve the chances for growing your sales.
