Providing that you and your firm are capable of servicing them, high value deals are often much easier to secure than are smaller ones. They are also easier to keep, but you have to continue to work to ensure that.
Newer sales reps may avoid these, primarily due to a lack of confidence. That’s understandable but, once they see success in this arena, watch out!
What makes these deals easier to close? Two reasons …
You are typically dealing with a more sophisticated buyer
And sophisticated buyers will likely weigh value over price. Smart buyers know the old axiom … price is what you pay, but value is what you live with.
Less capable firms will generally not be invited to compete
Not every firm has the ability to service larger accounts. They may want to but buyers may not even allow them that opportunity. If this is you, right now, you will need to gradually work your way up by demonstrating your ability to successfully manage larger projects. We’ve all been there so don’t be dissuaded!
There is a third reason why these kinds of clients are so tasty …
Once they have a vendor, they are hesitant to change
This is a two-edged sword. If you are trying to break into a new account who has an established relationship with a competitor, you will have to be persistent and be at the right place and the right time. And with the right offer.
If you are that vendor, this account becomes yours to keep or yours to lose. Never become complacent. The wolves will always be at your door.
I specifically remember a deal when I was fairly new in the electric sign industry. I had come on as the sales manager for this company but I had no experience in this industry. I did run a networking group and we had a guest speaker who was a local developer.
This gentleman shared his firm’s plan to develop a shopping center with a major theater as the anchor tenant. His drawings showed miles of neon which is like catnip to a sign person. After the meeting I asked him if we could compete for his business. He said sure and that, while he was familiar with our company, we had not called on him in years. I was determined to change that.
I went back and met with our owner. I could not believe it. He did not want to compete! We could never get the deal and they already had a relationship with competitor X. We would be wasting our time. Of course, I was not about to let that sit. Maybe I was too stupid to know any better.
Unknowingly, I developed a process where the buyer became much more involved in the design phase than what was typically being done in the industry. Sign companies largely compete with their original designs. The norm was to come up with a drawing, submit it to the client, and then to trash it or to modify it as needed.
This didn’t make much sense to me as it suggested that our tastes matched theirs so we created a series of simple sketches, ideas that we could quickly review with them for their feedback. In essence, we were helping the buyer to design their own signs. We worked as a team, us and them, throughout the entire process.
We got that deal, initially $350,000, and became this developer’s preferred vendor. We did $1,000,000’s more business with them during the next few years and I became a partner in the business. Winner, winner.
If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to www.calendly.com/craigmjamieson. Thank you!
Craig M. Jamieson
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