Print Sales Call   

Last week on my new Sales Monday web page I asked the survey question, "How many times do you call on a prospect before giving up?" The average answer was 4.9 and that number does not include the 16% that answered, "Never!" I cannot believe the validity of that information. Here's why:

First, I've been sales coaching for a long time. To get people to make a SECOND phone call takes an act of God. Are you telling me that the survey respondents are THAT extraordinary?

Second, when I ask owners and managers how many times the average sales person calls on them and never leaves a second voice mail, the answer consistently comes back, "90%."

So tell me, how is it that my survey came up with such extraordinary results?

Comments (0)

Watching from Fenway Park's cramped Section 23 last Wednesday, the game between the Red Sox and Florida Marlins dragged on. Not a very exciting affair, but just being at "America's Most Beloved Park" — even stuffing my 6'6" frame into the seat—was worth it.

My seat was on the left field side and I had a clear shot of the bleachers, where my Dad and I used to sit for $1. Like clockwork, one or two drunk—I mean—passionate patrons decide to fill the time by convincing the 33,545 in attendance to do The Wave.

They were the Sales People.

The crowd around them took a little convincing, but the Reps were undaunted by the humongous task. They counted to three and a few similarly, um, passionate fans joined in, raising their hands and shouting.

For all of their selling effort, it was a weak show...Read More

Comments (0)

What if I told you that you would be wildly successful this fall? Can you imagine it? What if I guaranteed that your hardwork would absolutely, 100% result in booming print sales and your numbers would blow your mind? Can you FEEL it? Can you picture how incredibly happy you would be? Can you?

Keeping that result in mind, make your sales calls today. The failures will not hurt you. Rude people on the other end of the phone will not faze you. You are bulletproof. Gone are the fearful emotions you have been haunted by. They are replaced with anticipation and confidence. What an impact this transformation will have on your sales!

Success is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe you will be successful, you will be. But don't TRY to be succesful, simply BE successful. Know that you are already there. Sell like you are already there. "Do or do not...Ther...Read More

Comments (0)

Doesn't it seem that calling on prospects and customers is like dialing in to a radio station to win tickets? Honestly, I think sales Buyers and Marketing people should Twitter, "Be the 10th caller now to speak with me." At least that way it would be a little more entertaining.

Comments (0)

Had an interesting conversation with a coaching client yesterday. He asked for a generic voice mail message to leave to a prospect; something that was catchy, original, and differentiated.

Here's what I came up with:

"This is Bill Farquharson calling from Farco Printing. I am calling to do one of two things for your company: Either lower the usage cost of your documents or increase their value. I will call back and hopefully get the chance to speak with you."

Naturally, return phone numbers would be left.

Any thoughts on what YOU'D say in a general voice mail?

Comments (2)

Where does your customer service rank?

Typical: I just called my electricity service provider, NSTAR, to set up my new house. I was greeted by a recorded voice which asked me to describe what I wanted. When I said I was a new customer, I heard a recording that said, "Due to unusually heavy call volume, you will not be allowed to hold. You can either call back at another time or punch in your number and we will call you back in 4-8 minutes." Then it asked me to record my name. Sure enough, 4-8 minutes later an automated call came in, played back my name, and I was then put in que for service. What struck me as odd was that a 4-8 minute delay was not, in my view, "unusually heavy call volume." But, anywho...

Annoying: I called Comcast to move the Internet over and heard, "Please enter the phone number for which you have service."...Read More

Comments (0)

Would it change your outlook on anything if you knew that all customer relationships are finite? That is, what if you thought of a customer as a wave and you are on a surfboard riding that wave. As great a ride as you are having, the wave is going to hit the beach someday.

When I first broke into sales, there were plenty of cradle-to-grave customers out there. Now, you are only as good as the last job you shipped in. To me, this means that I make the most of the relationship while it lasts, but I am fully aware that I am expendable. It makes the question, "How do I stay relevant with you?" even more relevant.

Comments (0)

Just spoke with a printing sales person regarding my 30 Day Sales Challenge. She said the company could not afford the $97 entry fee and neither could she. Man, times are tough!

Comments (0)

Hi kids! Long time! How've you been? You look good. Have you lost weight? Me, I've been selling stuff. Heck, blogging doesn't pay the bills, knowwhatImean?
So, an interesting thing has happened: Sales have taken off. Actually, they've exploded. No, not yours, MINE! In late February, I created a simple little program and it has proven to be the most successful thing I have done in 17 years of training and coaching printing sales people. Go figger!

My friends at GAM have gotten on me for not Blogging in, oh, two months or so and even Howie Fenton has rendered an opinion (imagine that) on my persona non grata status. Or maybe it was caveat emptor, I wasn't listening. So, I am going to pay more attention to the Blog thing and give you all some sales tales while I secretly infiltrate your mind and subliminally get you to sign up for the Sales Challenge, thus allowing m...Read More

Comments (0)

Grrrrrr!

It really irritates me when my invoice goes unpaid. I don't get it. If you like what you are receiving, pay for it. The best way to say thank you to a vendor is to pay his bill promptly. It gets attention and makes you want to do more for that company.

Case in point:

Two divisions of the same company are billed. One pays in an astonishing three days. I emailed the president my personal thanks and noted the respect he was paying me. His sister company is at 40 days (yeah, yeah, I know I'm whining here and 40 days is nothing, but...), so I email him a reminder and he promises the check will go out promptly. It's been a a week. Nothing. So I email him again and get excuses.

A good vendor is as important as a good customer. Like the work? Pay the bill!

Comments (1)

Over the course of the March Sales Challenge, a participant is likely to have a day where the agreed-upon sales goal is not met. Typically, the participant claims to be too busy. Now, for the lone rep who has challenged herself to make 15 calls a day, I think I could understand. That's a lot, especially if you get lucky and the client picks up the phone. But for the rep who is aiming for 2 calls a day, I dunno that I hand out a Mulligan. Come on, 2? You're telling me that you are too busy to make 2 phone calls? I don't care if you pick up the phone at 8pm or 5am, even a voice mail message to two people at those off hours can be achieved.

Suddenly, I feel like Neidermeyer in Animal House: "You are ALL worthless and weak. Now drop and give me twenty."

This program brings out all strengths and weaknesses. There really is no place to hide. When you a...Read More

Comments (0)

There are many things I love about being independent and in business for myself. Wearing blue jeans and UGHs all day is one bonus. Throwing the softball with my daughter at 2:30pm every day is another. But the thing I like the most is when I get an idea and don't have to run it by anyone to test it out. Case in point...

A couple weeks ago I came up with the idea to hold a 30 day Sales Challenge. The concept was to charge a nominal fee ($97) for a program that establishes daily sales goals and holds participants accountable for reaching those goals. Simple. I sent out a couple of emails and said to my sales rep, Kelly, "Hey, if we get 10 people to sign up, I'd be thrilled." Well, we got ten alright. The first day. I was shocked at the reception this idea received and suddenly a new energy flowed into the program as people really started getting excited.
...Read More

Comments (1)