Sales Tip: Don't focus on lost money

Like any tool salesperson, Baltimore-based Cornwell Tools dealer Huether is forced to deal with skips from time to time. However, he does not let the occasional unfortunate situation prevent him from trying to drum up sales with customers both new and old. And while the total dollar amount of his losses due to skips is higher now than in years past, Huether say it doesn’t worry him because his annual sales are higher and the frequency with which a customer fails to pay him is not what it once was, either.

“If you are always focusing on the money you’ve lost, it’s going to cost you even more in the future, because you are going to be hesitant to sell to anybody,” he says, adding that his focus is almost always squarely on the customers who buy tools, spend money and pay on time.