New Rep needs encouragement

Quit selling MFP's and start selling solutions.
"You can get anything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want."
Zig Ziglar

I felt like that many times, and put my mind to working harder, more hours and more prospecting to get my self out of the hole.

Here's another good read short, simple and to the point "How to Become a Super Star Salesprofession".

You need to have more prospects in your pipeline.

"I'm really not a smart person, however I'll outwork everyone else to get what I want."

Art

Also, how about going to the boss and ask for a draw against commissions. See if they can front you some additional monies so you can stay on board and make a go of it!.

thanks for the quick response. Picked up the book you suggested Art. Not sure the draw would fly. Paid only on profit. My base is somewhat of a draw, it's included in my sales quota. I'm gonna hit it hard the next to months and hopefully I'll see some changes occur.

Emie_gran,
Sounds like you hit a wall. Don't worry, everyone hits walls routinely. Lombardi said something to the effect that success is getting up only one more time than you were knocked down.
My advice - Keep grinding it out. Do the fornt end activities - prospecting, etc... Art is right on with needing a big pipeline. Also, look at your territory. Look for leases that are expriring in the next 12 months, can you get creative and make them work now? How about getting inside your customer accounts. Do they have competetive systems that you can work on upgrading? Upgrade your skills. Get's some good sales books on CD to listen to in the car. This always helps me to stay focused and positive. Talk with your manager, listen to other reps for ideas on what you can do better. Another thing that works for me is getting a chip on your shoulder. Get fired up to beat the competition- make it personal. Has anyone doubted you? Screw them, prove them wrong. Focus all of your time selling time on selling. Proposals,reports, database work etc... should be done before 8am and after 5pm. Lastly, you mentioned supporting your family and I have been where you are right now. I will share with you a quote that I heard that helped. "If I dont sell my kids get skinny". That helped me to keep my eye on the prize. You need to wake up every morning with an obsession of running through walls to get the job done, earn your money and support your family. Every thing else is secondary.
Get that fire in the belly and know that you are going to do it. Not try to do it. You dont try anything. You either do it or you dont. You will do it.
Stay positive and go sell!

Let me ask a couple of questions. [EDIT]Ok, more than a couple...hehe.

Is this your first time in a selling role? If not, were you successful previously?

Why haven't you drawn commission but once? Was it because you too many said no? Did you sell most of your deals, but didn't generate enough revenue to collect a commission? Don't you get a commission for each and every sale or do you have to reach a certain number to collect commission? (BTW, if you don't get paid on every single deal, I'd be finding another copier company to work for because your comp plan stinks).

When you lose a deal, do you ask for a followup appointment to discuss with your client why those chose someone else? This could well be the most valuable information you will ever get.

How do you generate new leads? Cold calling, direct mail, telemarketing, referrals, offering free product demos? Ask yourself, are you putting in the time.

How big is your pipeline? Does it meet the fairly standard expectations of 5x, 10x, 20x? If your quota is $40,000/mo, then you should have $200,000 in your <30day pipeline, $400,000 in your 31-90 day pipeline, and $800,000 in your 91+ day pipeline.

How many proposals are you putting out each month? How does that compare with others on your team? Are they drawing the kind of commissions you would like to draw? If there are others on your team or in your branch that are doing well, have you asked them for help?

Are you allowed to tag-team for prospecting? Observe them. How do they interact with the customer differently than you? Are they more comfortable in front of the customer? Do they appear more confident? Are they more knowledgeable about the product line?

I could go on and on. The point I'm trying to make is that you need to identify (fairly rapidly), why you aren't selling more. You cannot fix a problem if you don't know why it's a problem.

Now for the encouragement. You've been doing this for 9 months and I'll assume this is the first time in sales or certainly this type of sales. It takes about a year for a new rep to just begin feeling comfortable and feel like they know what they are doing. There *are* plenty of sales opportunities out there; but you do have to find them. The great thing about this industry is that you can make obscene amounts of money and pretty much have the freedom to flex your schedule from day to day if something needs done. Time management is critical, but when you're the one managing it, it's a pretty nice perk.

Ask for help. Will your sales manager go on calls with you? Find a mentor. Get as much training as you can. Do role-playing. It is up to you to ask for and receive whatever you need to be successful. Just keep plugging away. It wasn't until my 3rd year that I found my groove and suddenly life was very good.

quote:

(BTW, if you don't get paid on every single deal, I'd be finding another copier company to work for because your comp plan stinks).

Yup, take it from me.....my comp plan has something like this built in.

yea, IKON tried rolling out something that only paid commissions after certain % levels; lost a lot of their better reps who had blown out the final quarter and got a slow start the to new year. I think that was 2005. Mid-year they made changes and totally scrapped it the following year.

great responses! To answer a few questions. When I first started in Jan the comp plan only paid after you reached a certain percentage of profit dollars. I have a background in advertising sales and was used to being paid on revenue dollars and got between 8-10% on each deal. Sales manager sold me on the 36% commission. I'm thinking wow this is a great opportunity to make some serious money. I get on board and two months later I get my commission report I'm in shock. No commission. Then I start questioning things. Long story short I was sold one thing and got another. After much bulking upper management restructured my commission. Now I'm paid 5% of everything I sell up to my quota after which I'm paid 36% on NE thing over quota. Did I mention I'm the only sales rep at my location. So, sometimes the disconnect from other reps makes it harder for me to stay motivated. But I'm treading through. I'm not a quitter and I truly want to make a go of this. Thanks for your encouragement. It's truly appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by Emie_gran:
I've been selling MFP's for 9 months.

Just 3 more months and you can apply for a Medical sales position!

quote:

Did I mention I'm the only sales rep at my location.

"Achieved #1 sales rep in my region for 12 straight months"