In my early career, I’ll never forget Richard! He was the senior member of a 5-man sales team at a printing company I once worked for. His sales were huge, and they just seemed to pour in without him doing any prospecting, cold calling, or appointment setting, etc. How unfair!
Then there was poor me. I worked my tail off to get new business and produced enough to be valued. I cold called like mad, set appointments and made pitches day after day. It was a constant struggle to sustain business growth as it ebbed and flowed in spite of my mighty selling efforts. But Richard just sat there on the phone discussing business and taking big, fat orders. Either that or he would meet his clients at the plant and entertain them as they brought him more projects.
Richard’s cup runneth over while mine was either half full or half empty, depending on my attitude.
The real kicker about Richard was this. Most of the new business inquiries calling in would ask for him even though he didn’t spend time prospecting. What did he have that the rest of us didn’t?
Never Compromise Quality
Richard understood quality and he never cut corners. While I was trying to figure out ways to lower costs or match competitive price quotes to “win” an order, Richard could smoothly negotiate price increases making sure to add value to the total package.
The primary value that Richard added was quality-assurance. Richard’s clients knew that if they worked with him, they would get the best quality products available. No shortcuts, no surprises; just predictable high quality at a fair, negotiated price.
I assumed price meant everything and I was wrong.
When Richard sensed cheapness or price challenge from a new business prospect, he would usually refer them to competing manufacturers whom he knew would cut profits to keep their machines running. Better they get the difficult clients.
Quality Fuels Word of Mouth
If you’re looking for more qualified sales leads, focus more on delivering premium quality to all your customers every single time you do business. Word of mouth referrals are the best inbound leads. Quality reputations can only be earned, and if you’ve earned yours, then go ahead and promote it!
Promote the one thing that separates your quality from the rest. If a prospect happens to see your company promotion and call you after also getting a referral, the sale is yours! And that was Richard’s secret to easygoing sales success. He promoted quality assurance and all his customers backed him up.
Best-in-class quality is the goal. Your marketing and sales efforts will work better as the quality seekers in your market find what they’re looking for in your brand.
