Successful Sales Calls I Embroidery Project

Selling! Does this word make you nervous every time you hear it? Do you cringe when faced with the prospect of meeting a stranger face to face, then having to convince him to lay his hard-earned cash on the line and buy something from you?

You’re not alone. Sales can be overwhelming and discouraging. After a few bad experiences, most people are ready to throw in the towel and run for cover. After all, most of us got into this business because we liked the creative aspect of embroidery, not because we wanted to have doors slammed in our faces. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, selling embroidered products can be a very rewarding experience-- even fun.

What are you selling?

It all begins with getting into the right frame of mind, and that means understanding what you’re selling. You’re probably thinking “embroidery”, right? Wrong! What you’re really selling is image, memories, brand awareness, souvenirs, advertisements, etc. You don’t walk into the prospect’s office and say “Hi I’m Jimmy and I’m selling embroidery, would you like to buy some?” Instead, you approach him this way “What would you say to a product that can enhance your company image, promote your business identity and advertise your name, all in one package and it never expires?” This may not be your exact script, but I think you get the picture.

The key here is to understand that you are selling a product that delivers a message, using embroidery as the medium, rather than an embroidered product. And in the end, that is what the client is really looking for. In the case of a corporate or business client, they are looking for ways to successfully put their name out in front of as many people as possible, in hopes of generating more sales. While they may be impressed with the quality of your work, if they don’t think the goal of bringing in more clients will be achieved by embroidery, then they aren’t going to buy from you. Remember that in the case of corporate accounts, you are competing with magazine ads, television and radio commercials, direct mail, etc. Thus, it’s not enough to rely on your embroidery skills to make the sale. You need to understand what the customer needs, then choose a sales angle that ensures the needs are met. In fact, in many cases, embroidery is a secondary issue.

In order to increase your chances at being successful in the sales game, you need to develop a method and process for tackling the sales challenge. The process looks like this:

The sales process