Fill in the blank:
"I came here to sell ____________ , why are you here?"
Let's say you are selling smoked sablefish.
"I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?"
This aggressive, confrontational expression should be at the heart of any sales encounter. It should only be actually expressed to get rid of someone who is talking but not a buyer. But otherwise it should be in mind before any sales encounter, so you think in terms of the sales encounter before the fact.
I present this as a corrective to those people who go to trade shows with some other attitude in mind, such as
1. emotional blackmail - "I am helping the underprivileged by selling these products.
2. entitlement: "You should have heard about us."
3. labor theory of value: "I work hard to make this."
4. support my hobby "I have a passion for making wine."
Write down how come people should buy from you, and then be cold hearted in assessing if that is true, or better yet, ask customers if that is true. (And if true, and you are struggling, perhaps that means you are attracting the wrong crowd with your USP.)
Now notice how "I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?" trumps any view you may have of yourself, and why people buy from you. One of the most dangerous things in life is to believe your own PR. And your imagined USP is an expression of your PR. (USP = unique selling proposition, PR = public relations.)
Say there is a trade show coming up, then to think of the trade show in the terms of "I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?" is to begin to prepare properly for the show. That is, identify the best customers that would be attending the show, and approach them about buying from you.
For the sales process is about Approach, Qualification, Agreement on Need, Sell the Company, Fill the Need, and Close the Sale. If exporting, I need maybe three companies in all of China to which I might export (sell) and showing at a trade show in Shanghai, I should be pushing maybe a half-dozen companies as far through that sales process as I can before I attend the show. Of the six companies, each I managed to get to some step in the sales process. Then the big advantage of the show is instead of visiting six companies in six cities over ten days and knock myself out, I can visit with six companies over three days in one booth. I know where each company is in the sales process, so when the reps of that company come to the booth, I can proceed from the point in the process that company happens to be, toward a sale. The point of being in the booth is writing orders, legally binding contracts (although in international trade, contracts are far stronger, they are morally binding, rather than legally binding). If the booth does not generate sales, I literally have no business in the booth.
Aside from those buyers I have targeted and engaged, if in a new market, the booth displays the company's old products (old products to new customers, now products to old customers.) I want to sell my MOQ FOB to as many companies as possible, so there is as much searching and learning about markets as possible.
Now, this attitude may seem aggressive: "I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?"
But guess what? It matches the attitude of a real buyer: "I came here to buy smoked sablefish, why are you here?" If you are in a booth guided by any version of those four attitudes mentioned above, or any other delusional premise, a real buyer is going to spot it instantly an move on. Real buyers cannot waste time working with the delusional.
"I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?" "I came here to buy smoked sablefish, why are you here?" Perfectly matched, orders get written.
If you have a booth to sell products, and you are not stripped down, oiled up, and ready for a cage match with a ready, willing and able buyer (tautological), do not go to the show. The MOQ FOB is the tool to present to a real buyer, and the attitude behind the MOQ FOB on the part of the seller matches that of the buyer.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
"I came here to sell ____________ , why are you here?"
Let's say you are selling smoked sablefish.
"I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?"
This aggressive, confrontational expression should be at the heart of any sales encounter. It should only be actually expressed to get rid of someone who is talking but not a buyer. But otherwise it should be in mind before any sales encounter, so you think in terms of the sales encounter before the fact.
I present this as a corrective to those people who go to trade shows with some other attitude in mind, such as
1. emotional blackmail - "I am helping the underprivileged by selling these products.
2. entitlement: "You should have heard about us."
3. labor theory of value: "I work hard to make this."
4. support my hobby "I have a passion for making wine."
Write down how come people should buy from you, and then be cold hearted in assessing if that is true, or better yet, ask customers if that is true. (And if true, and you are struggling, perhaps that means you are attracting the wrong crowd with your USP.)
Now notice how "I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?" trumps any view you may have of yourself, and why people buy from you. One of the most dangerous things in life is to believe your own PR. And your imagined USP is an expression of your PR. (USP = unique selling proposition, PR = public relations.)
Say there is a trade show coming up, then to think of the trade show in the terms of "I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?" is to begin to prepare properly for the show. That is, identify the best customers that would be attending the show, and approach them about buying from you.
For the sales process is about Approach, Qualification, Agreement on Need, Sell the Company, Fill the Need, and Close the Sale. If exporting, I need maybe three companies in all of China to which I might export (sell) and showing at a trade show in Shanghai, I should be pushing maybe a half-dozen companies as far through that sales process as I can before I attend the show. Of the six companies, each I managed to get to some step in the sales process. Then the big advantage of the show is instead of visiting six companies in six cities over ten days and knock myself out, I can visit with six companies over three days in one booth. I know where each company is in the sales process, so when the reps of that company come to the booth, I can proceed from the point in the process that company happens to be, toward a sale. The point of being in the booth is writing orders, legally binding contracts (although in international trade, contracts are far stronger, they are morally binding, rather than legally binding). If the booth does not generate sales, I literally have no business in the booth.
Aside from those buyers I have targeted and engaged, if in a new market, the booth displays the company's old products (old products to new customers, now products to old customers.) I want to sell my MOQ FOB to as many companies as possible, so there is as much searching and learning about markets as possible.
Now, this attitude may seem aggressive: "I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?"
But guess what? It matches the attitude of a real buyer: "I came here to buy smoked sablefish, why are you here?" If you are in a booth guided by any version of those four attitudes mentioned above, or any other delusional premise, a real buyer is going to spot it instantly an move on. Real buyers cannot waste time working with the delusional.
"I came here to sell smoked sablefish, why are you here?" "I came here to buy smoked sablefish, why are you here?" Perfectly matched, orders get written.
If you have a booth to sell products, and you are not stripped down, oiled up, and ready for a cage match with a ready, willing and able buyer (tautological), do not go to the show. The MOQ FOB is the tool to present to a real buyer, and the attitude behind the MOQ FOB on the part of the seller matches that of the buyer.
Update: If you are in the SF Bay Area late February, I'll be Foothill DeAnza College is hosting an all-day import-export startup course.
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You may enroll here....
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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