"It isn't a priority now" a.k.a. "The Secret Tale about Sales that Buyers Don’t K
Hello!
I’ve been working hard on a new catalogue and we haven’t been in touch much, although I have made some new friends amongst the readers here.
There's something very typical in my professional life that I think you would like to know about.
It is quite the typical scene I have seen a few times in the past months and severals in my professional life: I go and offer OEM services and Products to someone convinced as I am - after having checked his website and product catalogues - that this person could make a great use of such services and products - given the competitive price, the long-time acquired know-how (and my outstanding charme but that wouldn’t be if we were really talking me)…
... and what I get is a “it’s not a priority now” answer and its diverse declinations: “we don’t need this, now”, “we have no request for it, now”.
It is indeed in some cases true that it’s not a priority, no liars here.
It is also true that, some times, Buyers just say that to get rid of Sellers. It’s an old charade between the two categories and I have nothing to complain about it: I like to think of it as some kind of test they give me.
Now, I won’t hide myself behind any unsaid statement: I’m on the Sales side of life and you should stop reading now if your don’t want to fall under my attack and feel compelled to buy from m... ok, just joking.
But it is no joke that what I'm going to tell you is something I have come to know from my long experience in playing this game and if you are interested in listening what is the the keyword here, well there’s a lesson to learn, or an advice to take.
So, are you still here with me?
Good.
[YODA MODE ON]
A daring person you are! Like this I...
[YODA MODE OFF].
The point is that even when it is true - sometimes it is - that “it is not a priority, now”, the keyword one should consider better is not "priority"; it is instead the word “now”.
And - oh! - I know that you possibly really don’t have a request from the Sales Dept or the Marketing Dept., or a direct request from Customers just yet.
So: if there is no request then there is no need and there is even less priority. Right?
Let's get one step behind and find the answer to this.
If there is no request that is because - as a Sales person I know how the Purchase chain works and why you “have no request for it, now” - in the Market it's going on something more or less like this:
a Will-Be-Customer’s wife sees something on a Magazine or one of her friends’ house or, most likely, on some internet page;
that Will-Be-Customer goes online and looks for that picture and browse for an online shop or a showroom to check all the available offers for such product category;
the Customer - now it’s hooked to the line and ready to be fished out so he’s not a “Will-Be” anymore - focuses on some of the features of the diverse competitors’ products he has found until he gets the best product (for his needs);
he buys his wife one.
And no, they’re not going to buy anything from you because you were not even in the Showroom with a product with those features - such as: a stainless steel wall-mounted slate with Safety Valve and 2mm thickness that is finished in water and finger-proof NoNeedForClean matt black futuristic finish - so you did not even enter the race.
You lost a customer and:
It was not a “price-tag” issue.
Not a “trained personnel” matter.
Not even a “too demanding of a customer” story.
You were just too late to even try to intercept the Customers’ demand.
You aren't worried, are you?
OK. Here is the good piece of news.
It’s not your fault. It’s the internet era, beauty. Right? Yes. Right.
Wives find and send via Telegram and Whatsapp to your Will-Be-Customers design shower elements they have seen on Pinterest pages and Instagram profiles of fashion-trends bloggers and people go and buy them online via a google search that will only consider those manufacturers who are already up to pace with this system.
The bad piece of news?
(Sorry, someone has to tell you this and it's better it'll be me than a customer).
It is you fault because you have hesitated jumping off the belief that you won’t need something until someone comes asking you for it, whilst the world works the other way round, nowadays.
At ZINOX laser we work with the large majority of brassware companies in Italy and we have a firm grip on where the trends are going and how to leverage this in an effective manner because we source information directly through their feedbacks and inputs and match it with our 10+ years experience in this business and keep up to pace with technology and skills.
Were you to accept our help, you will have access to the results of an R&D dept. that continuously explores the potentials of the newest technologies in laser cutting, computer-controlled bending, laser and TIG welding and a company that do not buy from Chinese manufacturer only to rebrand.
You will be given the choice: you have us create your own line and distinguish yourself from other brands by matching your other distinguish products for your highly distinguished Customers.
Or you can pick your favourite cherries from our large catalogue of products we have developed in these years, have them branded with your name and put them into generating revenue immediately.
Or you can wait until someone in your company will tell you that “People! Real money is with those who wants the stainless steel high-value, modern, stylish, cool shower heads and tub spouts and cascades. Why don’t we have them?” and get late to the appointment with customers in the rush hour of the many competitors who did differently.
That’s entirely up to you.
I know you’ll do the right thing, next time I'll call in for an appointment.
Stay tuned
Luca