Don Alm
November 17, 2006, 10:09 AM
For some of you folks who "sell" something....either in person or remotely... here's a case where prospects tell you WHAT they want....and if you can satisfy that "want"....you can go forward.
Case in Point:
One of the programs I sell are TV Channel Guides. These are Full Color pieces of card stock placed in a plastic stand and sit beside a tv set in hotel rooms. The hotel's tv channels are on the front, along with hotel info and usually an ad for a Pizza delivery biz. On the back are ads for restaurants, beauty salons, gift shops and/or realtors.
Well...these are OK for hotels with NO on-site dining HOWEVER....yesterday I decided to try and see if a big, fancy hotel with a fancy restaurant on the first floor would let me place MY stands in their rooms.
The GM told me he "didn't want competing restaurants" in HIS rooms. He wanted his guests to eat at HIS restaurant.
Well....I paused for a moment...considered what he had just told me AND...
because I KNOW what my product is meant for (to SAVE their front desk staff TIME from having to answer a bunch of calls from guests asking "WHO can I call for a Pizza?"...."Is there a Mexican Restaurant in town?"...etc.
So....I asked the GM, "Even with your onsite restaurant, does your front desk STILL GET CALLS asking about "who to call for a Pizza"...."where's a Mexican or Chinese or Italian restaurant?...etc?
His answer was, "Yes! We DO get lots of those calls...daily!"
I told him MY product would stop guests from calling the front desk asking for;
1) TV Channel Info (even with In-Room Directories, which have TV Channel info buried within the pages...guests STILL call the front desk)
2) Which Pizza place do I call?
3) Where's some OTHER restaurants?
and....here's the clincher;
Thinking QUICKLY on-my-feet, I added; I COULD make my Guide wider...put all the ads that are now on the back, on the front AND....put his main Dinner Menu ON THE BACK!
I took a blank piece of paper...drew some lines on it and showed him what this would look like.
He AGREED to let me put THIS version into HIS ROOMS!
WHALA! When faced with "obstacles"....see if you can CHANGE the existing format to "give your prospect what THEY want"!
Thought some of you would appreciate what happens "On The Battlefield".
Have a great day.
Don Alm...."Sales Warrior"....putting on his "armor"...getting ready for another glorious day of SALES....picking up dollar bills "off the street"
http://www.donalm.com
Some of my Unique, Programs
Case in Point:
One of the programs I sell are TV Channel Guides. These are Full Color pieces of card stock placed in a plastic stand and sit beside a tv set in hotel rooms. The hotel's tv channels are on the front, along with hotel info and usually an ad for a Pizza delivery biz. On the back are ads for restaurants, beauty salons, gift shops and/or realtors.
Well...these are OK for hotels with NO on-site dining HOWEVER....yesterday I decided to try and see if a big, fancy hotel with a fancy restaurant on the first floor would let me place MY stands in their rooms.
The GM told me he "didn't want competing restaurants" in HIS rooms. He wanted his guests to eat at HIS restaurant.
Well....I paused for a moment...considered what he had just told me AND...
because I KNOW what my product is meant for (to SAVE their front desk staff TIME from having to answer a bunch of calls from guests asking "WHO can I call for a Pizza?"...."Is there a Mexican Restaurant in town?"...etc.
So....I asked the GM, "Even with your onsite restaurant, does your front desk STILL GET CALLS asking about "who to call for a Pizza"...."where's a Mexican or Chinese or Italian restaurant?...etc?
His answer was, "Yes! We DO get lots of those calls...daily!"
I told him MY product would stop guests from calling the front desk asking for;
1) TV Channel Info (even with In-Room Directories, which have TV Channel info buried within the pages...guests STILL call the front desk)
2) Which Pizza place do I call?
3) Where's some OTHER restaurants?
and....here's the clincher;
Thinking QUICKLY on-my-feet, I added; I COULD make my Guide wider...put all the ads that are now on the back, on the front AND....put his main Dinner Menu ON THE BACK!
I took a blank piece of paper...drew some lines on it and showed him what this would look like.
He AGREED to let me put THIS version into HIS ROOMS!
WHALA! When faced with "obstacles"....see if you can CHANGE the existing format to "give your prospect what THEY want"!
Thought some of you would appreciate what happens "On The Battlefield".
Have a great day.
Don Alm...."Sales Warrior"....putting on his "armor"...getting ready for another glorious day of SALES....picking up dollar bills "off the street"
http://www.donalm.com
Some of my Unique, Programs
