Why Sales Agents should pay too much for their parking!

Shouldn't Sales Agent's be taught to conserve money? Why pay too much for anything?

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Sales Agents don't have the luxury of a paid for company car, or any generous expense account covering fuel, parking, food, overnight stays etc - that is the preserve of the employed sales representative.

All these expenses are born by the Sales Agent themselves.

So shouldn't they try and scrimp and save on peripheral items? Generally I'd agree - for example, why pay for expensive meals out every day when you could take a packed lunch?

But as an independent Sales Agent you know how expensive it is to actually get to sit in front of one of your clients - so don't do anything to jeopardise that!

Imagine the scenario:

• You've done your research and identified this potential customer

• You've reached out to them on numerous occasions via phone, email, social media etc

• After many months of trying you FINALLY have an appointment!

• You prepare diligently for the meeting.

• You know everything about the client and how your products will help them.

• Maybe you rehearse your presentation over and over to get it pitch perfect.

Then...

The day of the appointment arrives!

You turn up on time and start to have a successful meeting

All your products are out on display and your client is getting approval from colleagues

Everything is going fine until...

You check your watch and say:

"Sorry, I've got to run and put some more money in the meter"

Depending on what goods you sell, you may have to put them away securely before returning to your car - even if you don't need to do this you have allowed the flow of the meeting to be broken.

A golden opportunity disrupted!

Unfortunately there is a very high chance that when you return your client WILL HAVE HAD SECOND THOUGHTS!!

I have heard this happen so many times (in fact it happened to me - once. I learned quickly)

• You've ruined your day

• You've wasted all your time and effort planning

• Now probable that your client will not see you again

All this could have been avoided if...

YOU HAD PAID EXTRA FOR YOUR PARKING!

If you think your meeting will last one hour, pay for at least two hours of parking. If you think your meeting will last say two and a half hours, pay for four hours of parking.

The few pounds extra you pay will reap dividends in more and bigger sales!

Golden rule:

CONCENTRATE ON THE ART OF SELLING - NOT THE PROBLEM OF PARKING!

This blog has been brought to you following personal experience by myself over many years.

If you think my experience could help solve some problem you may have, either from the sales perspective or from the retail side, please get in touch.

ian@ianconsultancy.com or phone/WhatsApp 07500 931051