Horse Owner: “Have you found any prospects to buy my horse?”
Professional Horseman: “I called everyone on my prospect list and in my network over a month ago and told them about your horse for sale. I have had no call backs.”
Horse Show Organizer: “We didn’t see anyone from your barn at our horse show over the weekend. We were counting on entries from your place for a successful show like we talked about earlier.”
Professional Horseman: “I don’t know why, I told everyone to look at the show flyer when I posted it on the bulletin board over a month ago.”
Horse Owner: “I didn’t come to your clinic last week because I didn’t know how I would benefit. Kathy told me all about what she learned and I now really feel left out.”
Professional Horseman: “That is the third time we’ve done that clinic; we thought everybody knew what would be covered; sorry.”
Selling in the horse business, just like all other business, is more than an announcement; it’s a process.
Unlike selling a hot dog at an opening game of the baseball season, selling in the equine world requires a planned effort to create attention, interest, desire and action on the part of the buyer. Buyers of horses, tack, lessons, training and boarding services are distracted with choices. And when too many choices and a lack of information and confidence gang up on the buyer, he always makes the safe choice. The safe choice is always to do nothing.
As an example, assume you have a horse for sale and have advertised in print, and told people around the barn. You may assume that you’ve told the world you have a horse for sale and that alone will bring about the sale.
This is a fine method for selling about ten percent of all horses. The problem is that 90 percent of the time it’s not enough. Not even close to being enough.
You will want to expand your thinking to include these tools:
- A 3 minute video
- A printed for sale flyer with a color photo(s) of the horse
- An electronic version of the flyer than can be e- mailed
- A list of show results
- A testimonial of the horse’s qualities and potentials by a rider or owner
- A pedigree and history of where the horse has been
- And more
Actions that can be taken with these tools:
- Snail mail and e-mail flyers to all potential buyers and agents in your network.
- Have videos prepared and ready to send immediately.
- Personally call professional horsemen in your network to follow up on the flyer information and explain your commission plan.
- Ask for names of others who may be interested in similar horses.
- Follow up immediately on all expressed interests without pre-judging buyer.
- Call everyone again after four weeks to remind them about the horse and availability.
No, telling isn’t selling. Telling is just the start to a process of closing a sale. Make the effort of learning and using good salesmanship to close more sales and get more referrals.