sales tip

[gmoney]

When calling on a very SMALL company and asking to provide services, consider NOT emphasizing the massive clients you have...

Makes me wonder, if you have these massive clients, why the hell do you need our business? And won't their projects take precedence over mine?

Or is this just my low self-esteem talking?

[Bertha Venation]

1. "won't their projects take precedence over mine?" --

BINGO.

This isn't a matter of low self-esteem. It's a matter of very poor salesmanship. Have they lost the sale?

[gmoney]

3. not sure if there was a sale to lose

It's actually a salesperson I knew a while back, starting with a new company, so probably just going through her old Rolodex. I'm not in the market for most of what she described, and for the things I may actually need, I'll probably stick with my usual suppliers who I know I can count on, who are also not 45 minutes away.

[Richardo]

2. Another thing: Don't brag about your sales ability.

I'm in purchasing, and it's pretty off-putting to be handed a business card with 'Sales Champion' or 'Million Dollar Club' emblazoned on it. It's like being told in advance you're being taken for a sucker.

And no, it's not your low self-esteem - yours is a very good point.

[gmoney]

4. Glengarry Glen Ross comes to mind...

"We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?

"Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired. "

[gmoney]

5. Which calls to mind "Glengarry Glen Plaid"

Excerpts from the new Land Ho! catalogue,
as it would be written by David Mamet.
(by Frank Cammuso and Hart Seely, in the New Yorker, 1994)


OUR FLANNEL SHIRTS
ARE WARM AS A CUP OF COCOA!


The great flannel shirts you had, what do you remember about
them? Not the pattern. Not the sleeves. Maybe it was the collar,
the way it caressed your neck. Maybe it made a smell. Maybe it
was the easy way it hung on you, like a drunk temp at the office
party. Friend, this is a flannel. Most flannel shirts weigh eight
ounces. They're crap. This weighs ten ounces. When it's so cold
outside your balls shrink up like croutons, those extra two ounces are
ounces of gold.


But you can't have these shirts.


They are not for the likes of you. These shirts are for
preferred customers. If you called last year,
you could have bought one, maybe, but not now.
It's too late. They're sold out.
They won't be avail -- huh? What's that, Gladys?
We do have a few in stock? Tonight only?
Well, pal, you just got lucky.
You've got eight hours to get in on the ground floor.
Of course, you can talk it over with your wife.
How many should I put you down for? Seven? Nine?
AND THE ALL-COTTON FABRIC GUARANTEES COMFORT!


...there's more of this brilliance at the link: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~fcammuso/glengarry.html

[mikeytherat]

6. Thank you so much for that link!

I'm in tears here!

mikey_the_rat

[gmoney]

7. You're welcome... that's one of my very favorite things ever written.