When I purchased my most recent car, the minute I stepped onto the lot a salesman was all over me.

He asked questions.  He followed me around.  He even offered to get me a cup of coffee while he went to get the keys for the test drive of the car.

It was at that point I turned the tables on him.

You see, having developed the sales process for a major car company (as well as a company that sold timeshares and a different company that sold corporate aircraft) I knew what time of the month it was.  The date was the 28^th and, by that time, every salesperson on the lot was either struggling to keep his/her job or vying for a prize in a monthly contest.

At the end of the month in a pure sales job (a job with no salary just straight commission) there is no ambiguity.  There are winners, losers and survivors.

So I stepped onto the lot knowing I was going to get a car at dealer invoice (or slightly below) because the salesman and the dealer needed to close deals – lots of them.

The salesman I was working with needed to close the deal to keep his job.  His boss, the owner, needed the deal (and a few others) to earn a “hold back” – a special incentive from the manufacturer given to dealers who sold a certain number of cars by the end of the month.

I sensed this neediness and, like a shark sensing blood in the water, I toyed with my prey and then finally swallowed it whole.

Neediness is the kiss of death for anyone looking to close a deal.

Period.  End of story.

If you need money and the other guy knows you need money, you’re dead.

It’s a fact.

You must not, under any circumstance, wear your neediness on your sleeve.

When times get tough and you are tightening your belt, that’s the time to appear as if everything is under control.

The guy who can walk away from the deal will always be the winner.

This is the first rule I teach my clients.

The minute you negotiate your price down without reducing the value you provide, you are demonstrating your neediness.

When you allow the client to dictate payment terms, you are demonstrating your neediness.

If you find yourself feeling trapped into doing more for the client than you originally agreed to do, you are demonstrating your neediness.

Don’t do this.

Respect yourself.  Respect the agreement you made with the client.  Honor it and be fair.

But don’t be needy.

Want to learn the easiest antidote to being needy?

Listen to this podcast on Self Esteem by clicking the link below.

High Self Esteem: The Key to Business Success

Do you know the difference between someone who builds a successful business and someone who does not?

Persistence.

Back when I worked with a large consulting firm I consulted with FORTUNE 500 companies.   Each year I would hang a list on my office wall of “future clients”.  The list contained some prestigious names.    And next to the name of the business would be a list of potential contacts with whom I wanted to work.

Each month I would send something to these folks.   Most often it was a letter with something included to make the package unusually shaped.

For example:

One month we sent a CD with an audio interview of me with a radio host discussing a topic relevant to their business.  Another month it was a signed copy of a book.  A third month it was a small whiteboard with a formula written on it.

Then, about two weeks after the package went out, I’d follow up with a telephone call.

Every month.

Then I would send them a weekly educational email.

Every month.

I’d also find out what organizations my future clients belonged to and I would go to those organizations’ events.

Every month.

I’d host seminars in my office on our company’s latest research and I’d invite my future clients to these events.

Every month.

I would scour the trade magazines and newspapers for articles and mentions of these folks.  I’d clip the articles and send them a handwritten congratulatory note when they appeared in the press.

Every month.

There were no more than 50 companies on my list of future clients every year.  And each year I would initiate new work with at least 12 of them.

When I left the large consulting firm, in my portfolio of clients I had 18 Chief Executive Officers, 32 Chief Marketing Officers and dozens and dozens of other “C” level executives.

All of these relationships started with this same persistent method.

Now you may have tried some of this before.  Maybe it didn’t work.

Know why?

You gave up too soon.

Developing good strategy is only half of the success equation.  The second half is persistence.   Once you have sound business strategy you must execute, consistently and persistently over time.

I decide who I want my clients to be (and who I want to refer me business) and then I send them valuable information – forever.

Think about the things you have tried that didn’t work.  Did you give them a fair shot? For a few years?

If a strategy has worked for someone else, it can work for you.  It just requires sound execution and time.

If you want to learn more about the strategies that can make your future clients, current clients, listen to my weekly podcast on business strategy.

It costs nothing and it contains some of the best marketing and business strategy information around.

Below is a link to a directory with all of the episodes I have recorded to date.

Listen and then take action.  And don’t give up.

Valtimax Podcast Directory