WORK THE LOGISTICS – Best Sales and Marketing Ideas #64

101 Best Sales and Marketing Ideas

IDEA 64:

WORK THE LOGISTICS

Sometimes it is difficult to meet with customers. The locations are far apart, and compromises must be made about when and where you get together. This is especially the case when relationships are good. I deal with one person on a regular basis, but meet him perhaps two or three times a year. I like to do business face to face, but because I know it is complicated for him to travel to me, there is a danger of my not requesting a meeting when it might help us both. A solution came at the sales person’s initiative.

Idea

With my own “buying hat” on ….

From my sales person’s standpoint, if he’s to retain my business he needs regular contact with me. He knows I lives 50 miles north-east of London, and travel to London regularly for meetings and so on. We now have the habit of meeting at London’s Liverpool Street station, timing our meetings to fit in with my train times. So if I’m in town for a meeting in the morning, we might meet for an hour at 1pm, allowing me to catch the 2.08pm train back afterwards. This suits me well: I have to be at the station anyway. And it suits him pretty well: he too has to be in the city regularly, and this is much more time-efficient than a long journey to sit with me at my desk. The other things I like is that he does the exploring. He’ll ask, “When are you next in town? Could we meet after your meeting? What time will it finish?” He’ll even look up the train timetable, that suit?”

A big business lunch is not appropriate for the kind of business we do. We meet where we can have a cup of tea (and sometimes a cake), and it makes for a civilized meeting, which he very much hosts.

In practice

Whatever you do to fit in with your customer’s work pattern and logistics, this kind of approach makes sense, is appreciated, and can work for both parties –and help build both relationships and sales.

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