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When I was a salesperson in the consumer electronic industry, there was an old saying that went “We’re not in the business to save the world from bad hifi.” I always hated this saying because most of the places i worked sold high-end audio and video equipment, which in effect meant that what we were selling was typically better than our competitors. Additionally, we sold A/V gear based on the experience one would have versus how costly it was. But if you still don’t totally get this old saying, it basically meant that sometimes it wasn’t the best idea to try to sell the highest end equipment because its not always the best solution for everybody.

A typical example that a sales manager would give us was the power of branding. If we had a customer that came in and asked for a particular brand like “Bose,” he questioned the effort one would have to exert to try to sell that customer anything but for what they asked for. After all, the brand wasn’t cheap to begin with and the fact that the customer asked for it meant that they were already familiar (and was already sold) on that brand.

This scenario isn’t to far from the truth from what happens in our industry either. Potential prospects may not understand all of the Internet marketing mediums that exist or care to understand them. A vetran user of e-mail marketing for example, may not want to hear all the benefits of search engine marketing. Sure, a targeted search engine marketing ccampaign may serve them best to their needs, but after all, that wasn’t what they asked for.

This of course doesnt fit every senario out there. But, I do beleive that its up to us to determine the best solution for our clients. However, if you just consider for a second that the client may have also done some research or is experienced in a particular medium, it may not just make sense given the time and effort to try to convert them into another medium. Do you remember how you felt when you went into one store for a particular item and came out with another? Sometimes you may even wonder if you made the right choice.

The main point from above is you should size up each situation and sell what you think your customer would get good results AND feels confortable buying. Its much easier to sell a service or product to an individual that has already purchased them in the past. Additionaly, their experience and “call objective” shouldnt be ignored because in thier point of view, its been tested and well thought out.

So the next time a customer asks you your opinion or wants a particualr medium, just remember who’s paying the bills and if it makes sense to sell against an uphill battle. Whether its the best solution or not may not matter. What really matters is that the customer is happy with the solution.