For the Business of Apparel Decorating
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18 || P R I N T W E A R J U N E 2 0 1 6 to get that price, or the $98 price doesn't include delivery and your price does. When dealing with these customers, stand firm on your price. Remember, if a customer is still standing there after declaring your price is too high, doesn't that mean he thinks very little of the value of his own time? Occasionally, a customer will present an advertisement or written quote from another vendor stating a price lower than yours, and will ask if you are willing to beat the competitor's offer. Don't be fooled by this ploy. It's likely that the item in question is out of stock. Therefore, the customer can't buy the same stuff cheaper, because it's not available. Here's one of the oldest sales jokes in the book: a man dressed in golf attire rushes into the pro shop and asks for a sleeve of golf balls. "That will be $18." "What? They're only 12 bucks a sleeve down the street!" "So why didn't you buy them there?" "Well, because they were out of them." make an adjustment in the quality, quantity, delivery, or service, you can legitimately of- fer a different price that will leave both par- ties feeling they got a fair and desirable deal. THE PURCHASING AGENT'S DILEMMA When customers can get the same stuff cheaper but they'd better not, it is usually because someone else has given them the as- signment to procure it. Typically, this is the challenge of the purchasing agent. Purchasing agents generally have little or no influence in the buying decision. Ironi- cally, though, the last thing they want is for you to get past them to deal directly with the true decision maker. Their function is to place the order, follow up on it, and cross- their fingers that it gets delivered on time. Attempt to directly contact the person who has the most vested interest in buying the right product at the right price, and get all the enormously important particulars from this individual. If you get "caught"— thus, alienating the purchasing agent—be humble and ask forgiveness. But try to avoid asking permission to approach the end user. Chances are you'll be shut down and thrown out on principle alone. The last of the can conditions—"She can . . . but she really can't."—may sound like double-talk, but it's the simplest of them all. She can buy it cheaper but she really can't be- cause the company down the block won't sell it to her. Perhaps be- cause she has yet to pay for the last batch of stuff she bought. In such a case, simply hold your ground on price. You certainly don't need customers who beat you up on price and then forget to pay you. MOST OF THE TIME, THEY CAN'T When someone looks you straight in the eye, tells you he gets the same stuff elsewhere for a lower price but you know he can't, we call that the "bold-faced lie." If you are willing to sell him something for $100 and he says he can get the same thing for $60, diplomatically dispatch him to take advantage of that great deal. Most of the time, when a customer feels compelled to lie to you, this fib is one of the not-the-whole-truth variety—as in, when you offer to sell him something for $100 and he responds with, "I can get it for $98." What he doesn't tell you is that he'd have to order a gross YOUR PERSONAL BUSINESS TRAINER continued from page 16