Feel Like a Number?

Several years ago, the Trophy Wife accepted a job with a small company, run by a Harvard-educated entrepreneur.  He seemed like a smart man (after all, he hired her), and emphasized how special she was and how glad he was to have her on his team.

You already know this doesn’t end well.

Within two years, this genius showed his true colors, cutting back her hours while still expecting the same output, and just being a true jerk (yes…I’m editing that.  Don’t want to offend our more genteel readers.).  When he ultimately let her go, with some choice words exchanged by both parties, he asked her if she thought she was special or something (well…yeah.  Did he not read the first paragraph?), and said that she was nothing more than overhead.

You’ll notice that “Trophy Wife” has endured as a nickname, while I never considered “Overhead”.

Who of us can’t relate to this on some level?  It’s either happened to us personally, or we (and by “we”, I mean “some of you”) have treated employees and contractors with such callous disregard.

As salespeople, we’ve all put in low bids on projects, hoping to be awarded the order or program or what-have-you, fearing that the customer might otherwise think we’re too expensive.  I can assure you that Tesla did not submit a low bid on the deal they just forged with Hertz.   They know their value and let that speak for them.

We all know that the customer likes to feel as though they’re in charge.  They try to use fear when negotiating, threatening to buy from someone else if we don’t lower our price.  Suddenly, they can’t afford you?  While a better question might be “Can you afford them?”, we really have no way of knowing what they can afford. 

This is where “relationship selling” comes into play.  If you have no personal connection with the customer…say, you’re just someone to whom they sent a request for quotation…striking a deal becomes that much more difficult.  Let’s face it: often these RFQs are used by the buyer to negotiate with their chosen, original vendor.

Sure…this may seem cynical.  You would expect otherwise from me?

You need to establish your importance to the client.  You’re more than a number…just another vendor.  If you have that personal connection with the customer, you’re ahead of the competition.

Even so, they still may be hesitant.  This is where your experience and professionalism come into play.  How well do you “read” them?  Is this a real opportunity or just an exercise?  If it’s a fishing trip, it will smell like a fishing trip soon enough.

Give these window shoppers just enough information to satisfy their curiosity.  As I once heard, “window shoppers aren’t window buyers”.  Instead, focus on building that relationship and establishing your value and worth.

Yes…your worth.  Without that, you and your product/service are just an expense.

No one wants to be considered an expense.  You need to show your customer that you’re there to make them money, not cost them.  That order of imprinted pencils, while inexpensive per piece, goes towards the customer’s goodwill to the person or company who received it.  It’s a value.

And so are you.

You need to put a different spin on things.  You don’t need that client.  That client needs you.  Only you can determine your worth.  

You’re a value and an asset.  You’re not a number.  You’re nobody’s overhead.