I came across this blog I wrote from 8 years ago on my old site. Cleaned it up some and thought it would be a good read to share with everyone.
8 Tips from Selling Copy Machines in the 80's
When you've been in the business as long as I've been there always seems to be that little something that you can write about.
I was taught that after every order/sale I would then ask Mr. or Mrs. Right for three referrals that I could call on. Seems back in the 80's everyone wanted (not needed) a plain paper copier.
I'll go out on limb and bet that at least 70% of today's reps that are selling copiers today probably always thought that copiers always printed on plain paper! Yet that was not the case. In the eighties every business wanted a plain paper copier. The ability to copy on bond paper saved companies money, they were easier to maintain and made filing copies easier.
I also remember that we were trained after every sale to ask "Would it be possible to get the name of two or three businesses that may be interested in our services"?
That was then, and to tell you the truth the last time I used that pitch is when a prospect asked for a better price, I would then answer with, "If I give you a better price will you sign the order today and give me three referrals of businesses that would need a plain paper copier?"
It does bring back memories of things we used to do. Here's a short list of how we did things in the 80's:
1) Send a Thank You card for every sale you made.
2) Send a check for $25 or an in house credit to a customer that gave us as a reference and we made the sale.
3) Ask for referrals after every sale you made.
4) Knock on the doors of the businesses next to the customer you just made the sale to.
5) Give a check to the technicians for leads (they loved this, and I was very generous to our techs.
6) Send Christmas cards (I sent them with my name and the dealership name).
7) Call an existing customer and ask them if they know of anyone who is interested in my services (offer them free toner if a sale goes down).
8) Call and ask for a letter of reference to put in your binder of references
I'm sure that some of you are still doing a few of these today, but I plan to pick up my game with mailing Thank You cards again, asking for referrals after the sale, and calling an existing customers to see if they know of anyone they could refer me to.
-=Good Selling=-
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