Graphic Media Alliance

Complete Story
 

01/15/2025

Better Than 5 Stars

Source: Bill Farquharson, The Sales Vault, January 13, 2025

bill f

The business world, having been influenced by Amazon, lives and dies by its reviews. Clients will not make a purchase—or even take a meeting—without first checking what others think. As such, we are keen to seek feedback from our customers in the hopes that we get the five star rating we crave.

But 5 stars is not perfect. There is no perfect. And while a 5 star review helps you attract more customers, it doesn’t help you get better and THAT is the other component you should care about.

Earlier this month we put on a webinar called, Sales and AI: Back to the Future. We got two-and-a-half times the number of people we thought we were going to get. I was getting emails and text messages from people during the event telling me how much they loved what they were hearing. Shortly thereafter, we sent out a survey and have been looking at the results ever since.

Overall rating: Excellent! (there’s the 5 stars)

Did you get your money’s worth? 100% said yes (great marketing content for next time)

But the good stuff was in the comments. The survey was anonymous, so people were free to speak their minds. What they wrote was invaluable. All criticism was constructive and incredibly helpful: Learning AI is overwhelming…Can we make this a workshop…Here’s some ideas for other topics to cover. We are pouring through this information and reshaping our future Webinar topics, length, format, and content.

Gold!

If you are seeking feedback from customers, make certain you are requesting the complete picture. Your clients are full of great ideas. They are experts in their needs. They are experts in dealing with you. This is a free resource able to make you better.

Seek your five stars. But just know that’s perfection. You can always improve.

Watch Bill present this week's sales tip


The Sales Vault, created by Bill Farquharson, is a subscription-based resource and sales community featuring a calendar packed with live workshops, on-demand sales courses, peer-to-peer discussion groups, and 35+ years of sales training content all searchable by sales challenge. Think of it as a sales conference where the seminars and workshops, full of instantly applicable ideas, are ongoing and more programs are added constantly.

The Sales Vault is available on a monthly subscription basis, normally at a no-brainer monthly price of $45/participant, but… GMA members can take advantage of an exclusive offer: FREE membership for 30 days followed by a discounted monthly subscription price of just $40/participant. 

Bill has been a friend of GMA for many years and is, no doubt, known to our members as a top sales trainer and content creator for the graphic arts.

Other Vault resources:

  • NEW: Replays—Insider exclusive recordings of Office Hours sales discussions
  • Downloadable prospecting letters
  • One killer-good intro letter only the bravest of the brave send out
  • A downloadable voicemail script
  • 15 on-demand video sales courses
  • Archived sales content searchable by sales challenge

Check out the Sales Vault!

Printer-Friendly Version



2025 Wage + Benefits Survey

We're now just one day away from the August 1 deadline. Don’t ignore reality by assuming you’ve already outpaced the competition. While you’re standing still, others could be soaring ahead—attracting top talent and leaving you behind.

Read More

PEA Grand Ceremony

Please join us in congratulating the Best of Category winners! These prestigious awards, along with Judge’s Awards, Rising Star and Best of Show will be recognized at the Grand Ceremony on August 21.

Read More

The Inside Scoop on M&A in the Printing Industry

Graphic Media Alliance is proud to host a special in-person Executive Leadership Training Session featuring Jim Russell of New Direction Partners covering critical insights on the 2025 Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) landscape.

Read More

"America's AI Action Plan" Promises Big Changes Across Industries

America’s AI Action Plan will have a huge impact not only AI developers and the tech sector but also on many employers and employees throughout the US workforce.

Read More

Project Management and the Mailpiece Design Consultant Workshops

GMA's sister association, Print & Graphic Communications Association, is hosting two workshops. In August, learn how to master the art of project management in accordance with the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Then, in October, become familiar with and test the US Postal information contained in the MSMA MDC Study Guide.

Read More

One Less Thing

AI offers some amazing capabilities, but because it takes time to learn and master each agent, you might want to take the advice Bill Farquharson shares in this week's Short Attention Span Sales Tip before going down every AI rabbit hole.

Read More