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I received an email from a reader of Dobizo located in Tokyo and he wanted to talk about an idea for a simple, but attractive skirt and dress line that I believe will be targeted at the tween market in Tokyo. At the end of the email Johnathan spoke on the importance of connecting with a client or buyer on a more personal level to increase your chances of a successful meeting. I couldn’t agree more and thought it would make for a great discussion on the site. I actually spoke on this in a earlier article from 2007, which was titled How to sell yourself not just your product I would suggest you scan through that article also. Here is the piece from the email from Jonathan:

“In sales, all sales are personal! It is important to connect with a client or buyer on a personal level. If this connection is not there, then it does not matter how good, innovative, expensive, or cheap your product (in this case clothing) is; it is just one of many that someone has pitched or tried to sell.

Making it Personal

When meeting with a client or buyer for the first time in their office, take a good look around. If they spend a lot of time there then whatever they are into will be on the wall or on their desk. It might be a certain sport, movies, or something they collect, but it will be there or it might be pictures of the kids facing your seat. This is your chance to bring the meeting to a personal level. In the case of family pictures placed in your view, they are there for you to comment on. If they are a sports fan then their favorite team will have a place in the office. Comment on the last game or their star player. Anything you can do to make the meeting have a personal tone the better off you will be.

For Them Fashion Might Just be a Job not a Passion

When it comes time for them to consider or buy a product, you name will be at the top of the list. Make no mistake, this is a skill. It takes practice and research. You might think since you are in the fashion business and they are in the fashion business you will have plenty to talk about. What if it’s just work for them and it’s not personal. They will have something else besides fashion that they are interested in, find it, know it, and talk about it.

Don’t Be Stupid!

When I say know it, you have to actually know something about the subject you bring up. The worst thing you could do is bring up something you know nothing about. They will see right through it and it will hurt your chances of making a sale.

Conclusion

If you go to any company that has a sales staff, their top salesperson will know countless bits of information about things they could care less about, from NASCAR to Hockey to Startrek, because one of their customers is into it. It does not matter if you are selling to an individual, a company representative, or the government; people only buy from people they know and trust and the only way to obtain this is through the personal approach.”

I definitely agree with most points from the email. Basically because you notice some of the best sales people are the ones who are most talkative and actually take the time to ask questions to get to know you before getting into the sales process. Therefore you could find out a persons personal turn offs and likes-dislikes. Just make sure and not cross the line with getting to know a business associate, because some sales people become annoying when you don’t know when it’s time to wrap up a conversation.

How many of you take a personal approach when selling your garments?

Continue this discussion in the Dobizo Fashion Network Forum

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