Internal sales strategy memo advising customer selection and payment policies

Ou. you reach Phase III and have some cash flow, it’s time to re-evaluate your customers and thin the herd. There are good and bad versions of all things: good food, bad food; good movies, bad movies; good sex, bad sex; and, yes, good customers and bad customers. Decide now to do business with the former and avoid the latter. I recommend looking at the customer as an equal trading partner and not as an infallible blessing of a human being to be pleased at all costs. If you offer an excellent product at an acceptable price, it is an equal trade and not a begging session between subordinate (you) and superior (customer). Be professional but never kowtow to unreasonable people. Instead of dealing with problem customers, I recommend you prevent them from ordering in the first place. I know dozens of NR who don’t accept Western Union or checks as payment. Some would respond to this with, “You’re giving up 10-15% of your sales!” The NR, in turn, would say, “I am, but I’m also avoiding the 10-15% of the customers who create 40% of the expenses and eat 40% of my time.” It’s classic 80/20. Those who spend the least and ask for the most before ordering will do the same after the sale. Cutting them out is both a good lifestyle decision and a good financial decision. Low-profit and high- maintenance customers like to call operators and spend up to 30 minutes on the phone asking questions that are unimportant or answered online, costing—in my case—$24.90 (30 x $0.83) per 30-minute incident, eliminating the minuscule profit they contribute in the first place. Those who spend the most complain the least. In addition to our premium $50—200 pricing, here are a few additional policies that attract the high-profit and low-maintenance customers we want: Do not accept payment via Western Union, checks, or money order. 2. Raise wholesale minimums to 12-100 units and require a tax ID number to qualify resellers who are real businesspeople and not time-intensive novices. Don’t run a personal business school. 3. Refer all potential resellers to an online order form that must be printed, filled out, and faxed in. Never negotiate pricing or approve lower pricing for higher-volume orders. Cite “company policy” due to having had problems in the past. 4. Offer low-priced products (a la MRI’s NO2 book) instead of free products to capture contact information for follow-up sales. Offering something for free is the best way to attract time-eaters and spend money on those unwilling to return the favor. 5. Offer a lose-win guarantee (see boxed text) instead of free trials. Do not accept orders from common mail fraud countries such as Nigeria. Make your customer base an exclusive club, and treat the members well once they’ve been accepted. The Lose- Win Guarantee — How to Sell Anything to Anyone If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster. — CLINT EASTWOOD Tre 30-day money-back guarantee is dead. It just doesn’t have the pizzazz it once did. If a product doesn’t work, I’ve been lied to and will have to spend an afternoon at the post office to return it. This HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_013929