"I cannot tell a lie! If it were not for some Dale Dupree threads on LinkedIn, I wouldn't have remembered the 'gifts' I used for cold calling (old-fashioned knocking on doors) in the eighties. Dale calls them 'copier survival kits,' and he's well-known for doing some creative old-fashioned knocking on doors with his survival kits. Kinda reminds me of myself back in the day—be creative, think outside the box, and throw enough stuff on the wall to see what sticks.

Back in the eighties, we would package a small bottle of isopropyl alcohol, a small bottle of fuser oil (fuser oil was excellent for cleaning the covers and rollers of any copiers), a half dozen Q-tips (excellent for cleaning the copiers that used fiber optics), a glass cleaning cloth, and a toner wipe. The toner wipe was usually a big hit because everyone spilled the toner. With some copiers, you had to pour the toner into the hopper; with others, you had to pull a plastic seal (always got a puff of toner when you stripped the seal); and with yet others, you had to remove a hard plastic sleeve and then tap the cartridge. Yes, and we didn't forget the business card that went with every gift.

Today, it's still not a bad idea to make your own copier survival kit. Thirty-some years later, and I would change just one item from the eighties list. I'd swap out the small bottle of fuser oil for a desiccant bag. The main reason for adding a desiccant bag is that clients can put this in the paper tray of the copiers or printers to remove moisture from the paper. Larger bags are also good for wide format copiers to reduce the moisture in the paper rolls. Oh, and there's another reason for the swap—fuser oil is a little bit harder to find these days. However, I was able to find some old IBM 3900 fuser oil on Amazon. You can find just about anything on Amazon.

Here's the list of items you can use for your Copier Survival Kit:

• Desiccant bag
• Glass microfiber (make sure you brand it with your logo & phone number)
• Small plastic bottle (you'll want to brand this as well; a label maker would be adequate)
• Toner Wipe (use one)
• Tape Measure for those large wide format MFPs
• Isopropyl alcohol (buy the larger size and disperse into bottles)
• Branded Pouch to put all of the above in
• Business card

The key is to have everything branded (except the desiccant bag). From what I'm seeing with quantity, you can probably make these with the branding for as little as $4 each.

One hundred of these would set you back $400, of course, you're not going to hand them out willy-nilly. But you are going to hand them out to the accounts that have three plus copiers. You have to make the decision on who to give them to. When knocking on doors, you should know the DM's name and ask that the item gets delivered to them. On the other hand, you could have it FedExed, mailed, or UPSed to the DM. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that they would take your call.

Being unique and different is something Dale Dupree does often. I've been there also. I can remember buying my own golf bags kits (balls, tees, cloth). In fact, one year I bought a couple of hundred plastic waste bins with my logo on it. My pitch was simple; it went something like this: 'Hi, my name is Art with Atlantic Office Systems. I'd drop off a few brochures for Mr. or Mrs. Right; could you please make sure they get these? If you're not interested, here's a new waste can (branded, of course) so you can dispose of them.' I read that in a book a long time ago. Did they work? Hell yes, the follow-ups were interesting, and I recouped my investment back in a few months. Shhh, I still have a few in my home office.

Salespeople do not get remembered if you're average; salespeople do get remembered if you're unique and different. Pave your own way; just because no one else hasn't done it doesn't mean you can't do it"

YOU CAN DO IT!

-=Good Selling=-