You may be depriving yourself of valuable information and doing your company a disservice by refusing to talk to sales people who call on you. It is easy to shrug off or fall into the syndrome of giving negative vibes to all sales people. This could be as a result of those who truly waste your time and the resentment of wasting your valuable time may be understandable. However, one needs to separate the important from the unimportant.
If you have a Receptionist or Private Assistant who handles your appointments or time, be certain that there is an understanding of exactly who is to be screened out.
One can understand the general feeling of time being wasted on marginal services offered by sales people when you are in fact satisfied with your current suppliers.
However, it must be remembered that all wise business people have alternative suppliers, even if only to keep your present suppliers in check as the feeling of a “comfort zone” sometimes creates a situation where your present supplier gets out of hand and keeps increasing prices and service possibly not as good as it was in the beginning, as they believe they are in that zone!
Your present supplier could have a supply problem, or a quality problem and you do not have the right reserve in place. This could be detrimental to your supply chain. Your present supplier’s product could be out of date as he may not have kept up with the advances in technology.
If your front person is in doubt they should use their initiative and ask for a business card and relay the message left by the salesman.
As a sales person this is when one needs to be smart. The message you leave must create the right impact ie:”I have a way of reducing cost when it comes to creating enquires for your company" or " I can save your company money on the supply of materials." or "I can reduce the cost on your phone bills" or "I know about a security leak in your business" or " I can reduce your electricity accounts" ectc. Smart business people are always willing to listen to ways in which they can save money or operate more efficiently.
Do not invite a sales person into your office merely because he was pushy, unless you are prepared to give him time and intend listening to him. It is much easier to get rid of them up front. Develop the ability to politely reject the ones you feel are not worth giving time to. A good one liner is " I have absolutely no interest in changing our copiers at the present time". That's being honest.
If a salesmen makes it through to your office , you should be ready to listen.
Unfortunately the sales presentation may be weak but the product might have some merit . You should always be open to new products or new ways of doing business as long as it has value to you. Sometimes one can learn how to demonstrate the value of a product by questioning a passionate sales person and seeing how he presents his services or product. I have had many of my sales people head hunted because the businessman was so impressed with the way our qualified sales person came over.
A real good sales person could be a valuable asset to your business. If for any reason you took on his product you could arrange for him to train your staff in selling the product to your customers. This happens in the Klingshield company all the time, where we train car salesmen to sell smash and grab window film products and we do it with great success.
The bottom line is that smart sales people know how to make money and as a business person, don't ignore all of them, because they may have some qualities worth taking note of - people learn from people.
A good salesperson knows the market and perhaps he called on your competitor before he came to you . Obviously , sales people walk on thin lines with information and must be discreet in discussions . How much information can you get if you never give people any time or courtesy? Business is business after all.
New products are sometimes the lifeline or life blood of a business and it's the sales person’s responsibility to keep you abreast of everything that is new in companies that you may not be familiar with and therefore may just introduce you to the product you have been looking for.
Learn to appreciate the value of a polished salesperson. Keep an open mind. The next person through the door may be just the right person to increase your profits.
Klingshield has highly trained window film consultants in their team to ensure correct solutions to all window related problems window film management
Smart window film consultants understand the performance of each window film product in Klingshield's range.They assess each client's problems and recommend the correct solution for long term benefits creating excellent value for money.