After the Sale

       Is your sincere thank you the end of the sale? NO. How you treat your customer after the sale is crucial to the success of your business.People do business with people who they know and trust.Encouraging them to be repeat customers is much easier, and less expensive, than cultivating new customers.

       Absolutely essential is a Thank You Note, within three days.  This applies to both business and personal transactions. If you only do business on the internet you might get away with email; hopefully not an auto responder that is cold and generic.  Someone in your Organization should be in charge of making sure this is done properly.

       Smaller Organization s can easily add this activity to their work flow. They also have more of an opportunity for personalization.  The people who actually interacted with the client should be sending out the thank you notes, or gifts where appropriate; that's all part of relationship building.

       The really smart salesperson will take the time to hand write (horrors!) and personalize their ThankYou notes.  Include a comment that indicates that you were really paying attention. Send it by snail mail; your message will stand out because hand written mail is so rare today in our electronic age.

       Then, depending on the lifespan of your product, you should contact your customer again.  I don't however recommend a Christmas/Holiday card; your message will get lost in the pile.  Try any other holiday or regular event, like daylight savings time or the change of the seasons. And, of course, don't miss their birthday or any articles you see written about them.  That gives you at least two contacts per year, three if you send holiday cards.

       Seasoned, successful salesmen/women also pick up the phone occasionally.  "Just thinking of you", "this reminded me of you", or congratulations on your new position/baby/whatever. 

These professionals have worked with these same customers or clients for several years and sometimes even multiple generations.        

       Think of the security of knowing that half your income is already made for the year because of this business that you have cultivated, tended, and watched grow.  You can now spend your time planting the seeds of new customers to grow your business.

To Be or Not To Be

Several years ago Reader’s Digest published the fact that if you are in business for yourself you only have to work half-time; and you get to pick which 12 hours you work. Those of you who are self employed, or do commission sales because that is the same thing, know that this is true.

Self-employment does carry the disadvantage of potentially very long hours, estrangement from your family and friends, and burnout. However, it also offers the advantage of self fulfillment, choices, freedom, and no limits to your income or success.

I have a friend who thinks I am crazy for working for myself. He can’t understand my need for freedom and choices and he is especially baffled by my never knowing how much or when my money will come in. In his case he is lucky that he has a very high level position that pays him an above average salary. He is particularly satisfied knowing exactly how much and when his money will be available. This allows him to plan, to the penny, his budget and expenses. I see this as boring and lacking in excitement.

Obviously, from this example, there are two different personalities at work here. Some of us like the adrenalin rush of the unknown. If we have worked smart enough we will have a financial cushion available that will alleviate crisis, but still let us experience the challenges of our indefinable future. The other personality is not comfortable with uncertainty. They have to know exactly what to expect; they don’t like surprises. They probably don’t even like surprise parties. If they are lucky enough, like my friend, to make an above average income they have lots of choices of how to live their lives. Unfortunately, most do not have this luxury so there are restrictions to their choices. Open-ended opportunity is only available if you work for yourself or do commission sales where there is no limit to your earnings.

Which personality are you? If you have always dreamed of having your own business, this is one of the most fundamental questions you must explore. Having your own business is a wonderful thing, if it fits your style; if it doesn’t you are setting yourself up for heartbreak and failure, and there is very little you can do to change this course.