Sales Advice By Market
Selling to Antique Furniture and Lighting Businesses
The problem with selling to antique furniture and lighting businesses is that misguided efforts can threaten your entire plan for success. Don't forget that antique furniture and lighting businesses aren't easy sales marks -- here's what you'll need to get purchase orders signed.
Technology and technique are important. But in a B2B sales environment, they may not be your most valuable assets.
Young businesses need to develop a comprehensive sales plan that is built on industry fundamentals.
How to Sell to Antique Furniture & Lighting Businesses
After you have established contact with a prospect, how do you close the sale?
Like many of us, antique furniture and lighting business business owners are have no patience for extended pitches and sales cycles. As a rule, be respectful of your customers' time constraints and make your pitches as concise as possible.
In some instances, your initial contact at antique furniture and lighting businesses you call on may not even be the decision maker, making it necessary to quickly locate the real decision maker and adjust your approach accordingly.
Industry Experience
In antique furniture and lighting business sales, industry experience is a huge plus. Although it isn't necessary to have decades of front line experience, it helps to speak the industry language and to be acquainted with the concerns of a typical antique furniture and lighting business.
B2B sellers who lack industry experience can compensate for inexperience by subscribing to trade journals, partnering with industry insiders and immersing themselves in the industry culture. Remember, antique furniture and lighting businesses may also be more friendly to sellers within their network, so it's important to expand your industry contact base as quickly as possible.
Direct Marketing Strategies
Direct marketing has proven to be an effective selling strategy for antique furniture and lighting businesses. The benefit of direct marketing is that it provides a cost-effective resource for reaching qualified prospects with targeted messaging. From a sales cycle perspective, direct marketing establishes a foundation for relationships with antique furniture and lighting businesses that can benefit from your products or services.
The sticking point of direct marketing is lead generation. Since finding leads is time-consuming and difficult, we recommend using lead lists supplied by established third-party vendors. Over the years we've found that Experian is one of the best in the business with a reputation for supplying consistently reliable lists of antique furniture and lighting businesses that are primed for sales pitches.
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