We Should All Get Great Big Orange Stickers!
I stopped at the local hardware store the other day. I was so excited to be there just strolling up and down the aisles wandering aimlessly into the deep abyss and wonderment of the “man’s playground.” Whew-weeeee! I just love this place! Oh yeah, I forgot, why am I here? That’s right. I am putting together the “honey do” project of the weekend -- assembling my children’s swing set and getting some major “brownie points!”
Oh, I almost forgot, I needed a drill. Of course I knew exactly where the drills were. I have been here every waking day of my married life, sometimes in frustration, sometimes in joy, but always from necessity (that’s what I like to tell my wife.) I see all the drills lined up like criminals just waiting for me to pick one. But that’s when I noticed one in particular. It came in a big black box like all the others, but it was different.
The drill box had a dent on the right side where my hand was. Below my thumb were deep scars and scrapes like a truck driver had kicked it out of frustration while unloading. The drill box was still dusty and tattered on the left side with ripped cardboard. The most noticeable marking of all was a great big orange sticker that shouted “60% off!” “Hmmm,” I thought. I looked around to the left and to the right to make sure no one was watching me; then I opened up the box. The drill looked perfect and nothing was missing but I was still a little suspicious. But hey, for a 60% discount, it was worth a shot.
I got the drill home and immediately plugged it up. I tried it out on this hole and that screw…everything worked fine. Even though I was still a little leery, it turned out to be a very good purchase. As I was testing the drill, I could not help to think how much we treat our businesses like this. We spend all of the money in the world developing our product and getting the word out about our services only to be discounted in the end because of our presentation. The drill I bought worked liked a $250 drill but I was only willing to pay $100 for it because of the box that presented it.
I have known friends of mine to spend $9000 in offline advertising to get people to go to their $65 website. I have seen an owner of a plumbing company spend $100,000 getting his licenses, insurances, tools, van, truck and office set up only to hand a prospect a cheap, ragged, and torn business card with a black outline of his thumbprint on it.
Our “Image” to our prospects and potential new customers starts with their first exposure to us; whether this is through a business card, a flier, a yellow page ad, in person, or a website. Our customers will make a decision on the quality of the products or services we offer without ever seeing how good we are by their initial impression. Without paying attention to our presentation we can be automatically discounted us just like the drill I bought.
When dealing with prospects, we need to make sure:
· our appearance is good
· our presentation materials are top notch
· our websites are clean and neat
What our prospects and customers think of our initial presentation is what they will think about our business. We must be presentable or we might just as well get great big orange stickers.
I hope this helps,
Chris
About the author:
Christopher Morrissette has been a top sales producer, with a Fortune 500 Sales Company, for 6 years of his 7 year career; regionally and nationally. Christopher has been crushing sales targets repeatedly before launching his first company, Easy Giving, and now his new company For Free and For Fun. Now, Chris teaches sales people of all industries how to ask for the appointment and get it! You gotta’ love this stuff!
To order the book Chris wrote called ‘For Free and For Fun – How to Ask for the Appointment and Get It,’ get yourself over to http://tinyurl.com/crrbhe (AMAZON)
For a FREE Expansion CD set of the book For Free and For Fun – How to Ask for the Appointment and Get It please visit www.forfreeandforfun.com.
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Christopher Morrissette
For Free and For Fun
More Fun… More Success!
866-280-4973