I apologize for not being able to write as much as I usually do. December was a rather busy month, in fact the busiest December in years. Cheers to that!
It all started a few weeks ago when received a lead (yippee) that was labeled "looking to lease a printer" . I wasn't excited about the word "printer". However, a lead is a lead and follow up has to be immediate when you get a new lead.
The Call
I was able to connect with the prospect that day on the phone. I was asked if I sold Canon, I stated I did not and made reference to Ricoh. My prospect went on to tell me that he had received a quote for a used (are you kidding me, used) Canon imageRUNNER Advance C5240. The prospect also stated that the C5240 also had a fiery.
While my prospect was telling me more about the Canon. I googled "Canon C5240 brochure". I wanted to know about the print speed, paper size and substrate (paper weight) of the device. The Canon brochure is now displayed on my other screen and the prospect tells me that the Canon sales person stated the C5240 is only two years old. I was like WHAT? I stated to the prospect "it cant be only two years old", he then replied "why". I immediately scrolled down to the bottom of the Canon brochure and there it was, the Canon brochure had a copyright date of 2012.
I then explained to the prospect that the C5240 (not the A version) has to be 4 to six years old and that he was being snowed by the sales person. I then explained that copier models are usually only last 18-24 months before the manufactured upgrades that model. I then countered with that the C5240 was upgraded in 2014 with the new C5240A version. By now I could sense that my prospect was now questioning everything he was told by the Canon rep. While I was on the phone with our prospect I had already emailed him the Canon brochure I was referencing.
I then dragged the Fiery in to the conversation. I asked, "do you know what you're getting into with a Fiery that is four to six years old?". I went on to educate my prospect about the age of the hard drive on the fiery and stated that hard drives don't last forever. In addition I pointed out that the Fiery will need updated patches for the software and most likely does not come with a current license. I topped all of that off with the fact that he will have to calibrate the Fiery and you can't do that with out spectrophotometer.
Alright, I poked enough holes in the Canon sales rep authenticity and created many concerns about the older Canon device. It was time to move on and that's when I asked him if he might consider something new? My prospect was open to hearing more and I went on to give him the details about a new Ricoh C4504ex which had a little higher print speed than the Canon. In addition I explained it was the end of the year, the end of the month, the end of the quarter and he was a new account which entitled him to an additional discount.
It's been almost 40 minutes (we agreed that there was no need for a Fiery) into the conversation and it's now after 5PM at the office. My prospect was somewhat on board with the pricing and the features (need bookletmaker) but non committal. Through out the entire conversation I was also closing for a meeting to bring print samples and a brochure. Every time I asked I was shot down.
Changing Gears
I decided to change gears because my prospect was looking at something used which meant that his price tag was somewhere around $5-6K, and I couldn't match that price point with the C4504. I then posed two questions to my prospect.
1. Do you have a device at your office that will scan? He stated yes
2. Do you have a device that will make copies? Another yes came out of him.
I stated, "Well this is a horse of a different color (I had watched the Wizard of Oz last night) we have two color printers that will print at 45 and 62 pages a minute and the pricing should be right in your wheel house" Another 20 minutes had passed, my client was now leaning heavily towards the color A3 print with a bookletmaker. We scheduled an appointment for next week to me.
Next week I'm at the prospects office we reviewed the brochure, reviewed the specs for the bookletmaker, the duplex substrate specs and the pricing. We then arranged for a demonstration at our office for a few days later.
My prospect is now in my office, we greeting each other. He then tells me that the Canon rep got very mad at him on the phone and was insisting that his Canon only had 50K on the meter and was practically new. For me the keyword was "practically'", it was obvious that my prospect was all ears to me an not believing the Canon rep anymore. Although my prospect did throw me a curve, stated the Canon rep had told him that the Ricoh machine was made out of 100% plastic while the Canon was made from heavy iron. I went on to tell that client that was ridiculous because all of the manufactures (Canon, Ricoh. KonicaMinolta, Xerox) all use metal for thier frames and he's just grasping at straws.
We demonstrated the crap out of the C842DN, print quality, booklet making, paper sizes, and paper substrates. Everything went well there was a few hitches with the substrate that he wanted to use.
What's the moral of the story?
If I were on the outside looking in they would be:
1. Don't BS your prospect about the age of the device, you can find anything on the internet
2. Do push what you want to sell, rather dig deeper and help the prospect to understand thier needs better
3. Always know that your prospect will do additional research after the first talk track
4. Prove to your client that you are the guru in you geographical area when it comes to copiers and print devices.
5. Don't be a BS'er
Yeah, one thing I forget to mention is that the prospect mentioned that out of all the reps he had spoken to that I was the most knowledge and the most courteous. I enjoyed that compliment more that performing the demonstration.
-=Good Selling=-
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