How to sound out the Cheap Charlie

Say no to business!

Business people waste far too much time on problem clients. The types of clients who hard-nosed bargained a deal and now they are in your face every day demanding their two pence worth, and guess what they will never be happy.

On the other end of the scale you get the type of client who will pay full price, never haggle, and on the whole rarely have any problems and never make a nuisance of themselves.

Which clients should you focus on? The answer is obvious!

Many customers know the price of everything but know the value of nothing. I know of an upstanding Insurance Broker in Bangkok Thailand who pays early for everything, after thanking him for his early payment I asked him why he pays early for everything and he explained:

“You never know who is looking on, and as a finance company it’s vital people know we understand the basics of money management. We have a brand to nurture, and paying early tells people you are at one with the law of attraction”

Awesome attitude Manoj!

Chaz Insurance on Biz-find

Kiyosaki also explains; those who drive “hard bargains” and negotiate deep discounts usually aren’t smart business people at all. They’re just plain cheap. He goes on to say; it is always wise to pay full price, because it buys you respect and you will always be taken care of in the future, ahead of all other customers.

Driving hard bargains is also a show of the fear of poverty and if you understand the law of attraction you are bringing into reality what you most think about! Thinking about failure is the leading cause of failure (Gawd I even hate writing the word it brings a shiver down my spine)

How to avoid the cheap Charlie

Qualify them first.

You can save yourself a lot of time and bother if you qualify the client all the way.

When I was a new salesperson years ago covering the North West UK I would go running off to the far flung edges of my area on the sniff of lead, driving all day just to come home empty handed having wasted an entire day, my Sales manager was a true mentor and he let me go the first few times and let me feel the pain, and then ask me how I could do things better.

Then one day in the office I remember him smirking to himself as he overheard me on the phone to a potential client say:

“Mr Jones, you understand I will be driving a long way to see you, I thinks it’s fair for me to ask, if you see the system you require on the day, and the price is what you are expecting to pay, you will have no problems filling in the forms whilst I am there, that way we can speed up the process for you and for me, agreed?”

What could Mr Jones say? Well, whatever he said to that fair question saved me a day’s travel or made it worth my while!

Also by using this method, I could find out quickly whether the client was driven by price or was driven by the value of  the service we were offering, which let me know if they were a cheap Charlie or not!

My manager explained after; many sales people don’t have the minimals to ask the questions that make them successful and have little faith in their abilities, and experienced reps value their time too much to waste on problematic clients.

‘Empty vessels make the most noise’

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