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Tag Archives: Sales

What can small businesses learn from sellers on Craigslist?

If you have ever used craigslist for buying or selling your items, then you know what I mean. Now, let’s assume…. if you want to sell your 1 year old car on craigslist.org. What would you do in that situation? You might go to a local dealer or kbb.com, and try to find out reasonable price for which you can sell your car. You might want to sell your car for a premium price, if you have detailed records of all the older services and maintenance.

Put snapshot of some artifacts: Most of the times, people put pictures to sell their items on craigslist, in order for a buyer to believe in their product. In similar way, as a small business owner, you need to put some kind of a snapshot of the company in your business plan, when you try to sell your business. Make sure to include graphical representation of company’s financial health, company’s culture, major achievements, etc. One can also use pictures of big dealings and snapshots of company’s events as a showcase for their achievements.

Be ready to bargain: 9/10 times, people expect to bargain on any given offer on craigslist. If you have ever sold anything on craigslist then you know that people will call you up and they want to meet you before buying the item. And when they meet, they basically bargain for the product. It even comes to the point where they barter. So, if you were not ready with your bargain offer and your priorities, you might lose the trade. Thus, as a small business owner, when you want to sell your business….please be ready to bargain. If possible, be ready with few scenarios of offers and counter offers.

Craigslist ad expires after certain time: In the similar manner, you should have a date on your offer. Everyone knows that you want to sell your company, and that’s why you are out in the market. But if your offer doesn’t have an expiry date then it might create issues if your business appreciates over time.

I hope these tips will help you to sell your business for a competitive price. Let me know, if you have any other ideas to sell your business effectively. Thanks. – Bhavin Gandhi

3 simple rules for selling more to your existing customers

30 Oct

Yesterday, one of my ex-client called me up, and asked my advice on – How to get more business? If I didn’t have a good idea about their business then I would have advised them on few market expansion strategies. But I knew that he already has few major players of the industry as his clients, and he can get more business from them. And that’s where I got an idea for my new blog post.

If you own a business with already established accounts, then increasing sales from the existing customers would be the best bet. Although this type of account management strategy sounds simple to plan, it is tough to execute. Here are three simple rules that might work well for all type of businesses.

Rule 1: Be honest about deliverable of your product or services. Your job as a relationship manager is to ensure that you give the customer accurate status. Obviously, you don’t want to announce problems using mass emails. However, if a major delivery is at jeopardy, the best way to handle it is to be upfront with the customer and present a problem resolution plan. Repeated honesty in disclosing problems and sincerity in trying to resolve them will help you to earn customer’s loyalty. These loyal customers will pave the way for the next deal.

Rule 2: Don’t harass your customer. Relationship managers should focus on delivery rather than upfront sales. If delivery is done right, your customers will become the salespeople for you. It is best to slowly build the relationship and then talk sales, not vice-versa.

Rule 3: Relate with your customers on a personal level. I do independent management consulting, so I don’t have any account manager to handle my accounts. I, myself, have to work as a relationship manager for my customers. I try to invite my local customers to the bar and lunch quite regularly. If you got to know individuals personally outside their professional role, you are going to get more business from the same customers.