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Why do I always get rejected? 10 tips on how to get the "buy in". Part 2

If you have not already, please do take a look at part 1 first.
Here we go, welcome to the second installment of 10 tips on getting the “buy in”.

6) Join the “water cooler” talk
I like this strategy the best. Simply because it saves you time. It was a traditional way in organizations to probe for information or bounce around ideas, and start informal discussions, all this around the water cooler.
These days instead of the water cooler, I via email, whisper ideas, send a few sketches, probe strategies, ask about budgets allocations, and even take people for lunch. Going this route saves me a lot of time as often lets me know if I should continue to pursuit this course of action or not.
7) Patience is a virtue. How long does it actually take to get that buy in?
What a lot of people don’t also realize, what it takes to close a deal in one industry is different in other industries. The main reason for failure is often not managing the expectation of how much time and effort requires for a success.
For example, selling insurance probably requires a few meetings, a one to one chat, and then signing up a package best suited. Currency trading between banks is a 20 min haggle over the phone. In manufacturing, vendors often smooze up clients for up to 2 years before they even get their foot in the door!
At the end of the day it’s really the relationship building as well as the level of monitory investments involved.
My advice is to ask around, and have a chat with people in the same industry and find out what it takes to get that deal. After that you will need to access if you are willing, monitory and mentally to take the challenge.
8) Soft sell
This is also requires a lot of patience and effort. This is basically the subtle spread of your product information. It’s the information delivery part via the water cooler talk, informal chats over lunch, email correspondences, free samples sent, and newsletters on your accomplishment. It’s the indirect marketing and branding stuff.
There are many theories and strategies on soft selling, and there are tons of Sales persons far better than I on this, but at the end of the day the objective is about you staying at the top of your client’s mind.
9) Hard sell
I for one hate doing this, but I personally find it is very useful in the right situation. The reason I don’t really go for this is that to be done right you need to be very well prepared.
The main problem is to know when to hard sell your idea. Most people get turned off, if your start the hard sell right away. It’s the walking sales man that shoves his product in front of your face. Essentially, when you hard sell you are basically doing the “why you should buy or accept my product or idea”.
So really the best time is when you’ve done all the ground work, the informal chats, and the soft sell. Furthermore the right time is also when you know your client is positive about your product. It is at this time you “hard sell”, as it is this time your client is ready to listen.
How do you know if your client is ready? Just ask what the general sentiment towards your product or idea is.
10) Negotiate
This point 10 is really to tie is all in. Basically all the previous points do work individually; but they work best if you combine it all together.
However the main advantage of working thru the different points above is that you gather a lot of information that can be important when you negotiate price, specification, or budget. There are often things companies find important to them, that you can let go as a “straw issue”, and vice versa.
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As usual these are only pointers, please feel free to leave comments or ask more questions! I wish you all the best in your selling or buy in endeavors!

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