The $10 Per Gallon Sales Rep

The pastor at my church, Rev. Roy Tripp, tossed out an interesting hypothetical question recently from the pulpit. He said, “What will your life look like at $10 a gallon?” Sorry, Roy, but that’s the last thing I heard of your sermon that day. My mind raced after that as I sought an answer for his query and ended up thinking about sales.

What will it be like for my clients when gas reaches European levels? (They currently pay $11 in some places.) This is a conversation that I have been sliding into in recent coaching and training sessions, but as it pertains to time management and sales efficiency more than fuel conservation. Still, there is only so much automotive downsizing you can do (Hummer to SUV to Volvo to Mini to SmartCar) before you end up in a suit on a skateboard. What would your sales life look like at $10 a gallon?

At these prices, it is not realistic to expect that we can continue with the tradition of door-to-door cold calling. When I broke into sales in 1982, I’d map out a day’s worth of canvassing. Back then, there were people in the lobby called receptionists and the company’s doors were unlocked. While neither of these factors guaranteed success, it made human interaction a little easier. Today we have the phone, unlimited calling plans and voice mail. If your intention is to grow sales without emptying your wallet, a plan is needed. Here’s mine:

• Work from home one day per week—How much could you get done if you had one day where no one came into your workspace to gab or grab you? You’ll need to rake your prospecting efforts into a pile and get the bulk of them done in one day. Send letters. Do research. Make calls, calls and more calls. In addition, use this day for your regular client correspondence. Let them know that Monday (if this is your chosen day) is the best time to reach you. For communication purposes, have an IM line open to the plant.

• Videoconference when possible—If you can convey your message using web technology, do it. I think it takes a certain skill set to pull it off successfully and you will not necessarily close business without a face to face, but it might save some time and money.

• Set your customer’s $10/gal. expectations—Not everyone deserves “drop everything and get there” service, especially not at $10/gal. Your job will include training customers not to expect to see you every time they get a paper cut. Obviously, you want to visit your best clients frequently, but for the others, stay in touch electronically (e-mail, voice mail, etc.). Let them know you love them, but you’d love them enough to see them face to face if they gave you more work.

• Make the most of your trips away from the office—When you finally have enough reason to leave the office or house, extensively prepare for the meeting. Get all decision makers in the same room at the same time. Call ahead to confirm. And most important of all: have more than one appointment scheduled so that you maximize your sales efficiency.

The single most important part of being a $10/gallon sales rep is preparation. If you are planning your sales day first thing that morning, you should be sure to schedule time for multiple fill-ups. Thinking differently will make you leaner and greener, and that is the inconvenient truth!

DISAGREE: Bring it on: billf@printtec.com