When I was a kid, 'You must need glasses' was a pretty common insult. I remember saying it to other kids, and once to a Little League Baseball umpire. (That got me thrown out of the game). It turns out, though, that printing salespeople do need glasses. Specifically, they need rose-coloured bi-focals, because success in the modern marketplace requires good near vision and far vision, and a fair share of optimism. IT has been my experience that most salespeople do not focus well on what is right in front of them. There is usually some opportunity to gain more value from current customers. Notice that I did not say gain more business, but rather gain more value. As I have written before, I believe that every current customer provides you with three levels of value: the value of what they are buying from you now; the value of what they could be buying from you; and the value of influence. Working backwards, the value of influence is all about testimonials and referrals. When was the last time you actually asked one of your customers for a testimonial or a referral. When was the last time you got a real referral out of whatever networking group(s) you belong to?
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