Not long ago, I was planning a party with my friends. We wanted a big party, something boisterous, something people would talk about. So, we set out to create a guest list and invite as many people as possible.
Then we got to one particular person. There was a pause. Then finally, my friend spoke up: "Do we really want him? He always gets way too drunk, and people find him a little bit annoying." We decided not to invite him.
But this was an obvious conflict with our original goal: to have a big party and invite as many people as possible. If that were truly our one and only goal, then we would have simply invited everybody. But we didn't. We chose not to invite certain people to the party.
It's the same with sales. You may think that your only goal is to make as many sales as possible to as many people as possible. You may think that you want to invite everyone to the party. But if that's what you think, then you'd be wrong.
So, who do you invite to the party?
You need to start strategically. If you're a realtor, for instance, you may start by distributing fliers in a wealthy neighborhood. After all, people in that neighborhood will buy and sell the most expensive houses, giving you the highest commissions. These are the clients who will give you the biggest sales.
Regardless of whether you make sales to business or consumers, take a moment and think about who you would want to strategically target and who you want to go after. Think about the biggest businesses or consumers, think about the people who are likely to give you repeat sales, and think about who you would most enjoy working with. Think about who you want to invite to the party.
Who don't you want to invite?
If you haven't experienced it before, one of the most gratifying things in the world can be "firing" a trouble client, the one who makes your life more difficult than you would care for. Think about the people who give you so much grief that it's not worth the money to work with them. These are people you don't want to attract.
Avoid cheapskates. Avoid the type of client who will constantly be asking you for discounts, or want prolonged installment plans. In my experience, these types of clients have been nothing but trouble. They may want to give me some sales, but I simply don't want them in my party.
Making these strategic decisions for who you want in your party can dramatically increase both the quality and quantity of your sales. You'll end up attracting clients who are willing to pay more for your product or service, and you'll also find people who will come back again and again, giving you more sales through their repeat business.
These are the people who you want at your party.
Matt Vassar is a sales training consultant as well as a professor at Stanford University. His Secrets to Soaring Sales system can be found at: http://secretstosoaringsales.com/blog