Rules of thumb...sell nothing but the need for an appointment on a phone call or initial call.

Also never "sell" during your fact-finding for several reasons:
1.) The fact-finding process gets interrupted or stopped.
2.) You come across like a dog salivating over fresh meat.
3.) You tip your hand and lose some of the thunder you will get from your proposal.
4.) You inspire additional questions and thought processes that the prospect will then discuss with competitors.  read the rest in the sales tip from Old Glory (it's 3/4 down on the page

Enjoy these threads from ten years ago this week!

Weekend Copier Notes from 03/01/09

Seems we're coming to the end of the first quarter already. After dumping everything into the end of 2018. I've had a rough go of it for the past 7 weeks. Last week proved to be better with two orders and one of them was $45K.

We're also going see have then end of the fiscal years for most if not all of the copier manufacturers.  This time of years scares me because nothing is safe, you need to ask the tough questions up front and try your best to wrap up business either the day you met with the client or a few days after. Keep in mind that you need to set the next meeting with your prospect or client at the end of the first meeting. This can or will stop the ghosting or playing phone tag.

Enjoy these awesome threads from 15 years ago this week!

Kyocera Delivers New Printer

We've all heard the expression, it's not what you know it's about who know. The larger your network, the more access you have to opportunities.

Almost twenty years ago I created the first and still the only web based forums for copier industry professionals (not a tech forum).   Over the years I've been able to lean on others in the industry to get information that I need to close orders through the Print4Pay Hotel forum members. Sometimes it's competitive info, pricing, what's good, what's bad, the point is that there are people just like you and me that are willing to share their knowledge of the industry.

My specialty is wide format, production and AEC (Architect, Engineers Construction). However when it comes to other verticals I may need some help. While I may not be an expert in the legal market I can go the forums and find and copier expert that can help me my questions.  Those answers can help me with opportunities that I can bring to a close.  Likewise I'm more than willing to help others with wide format & AEC info.  It's all about sharing our knowledge and helping each other so that we can close more orders and support our families.

1) Expand your network:  Whether you're a Dealer Principal, VP Sales, Sales Manager or an Account Rep (like me). You'll have access to the forums to search threads (more than 50K), read threads, ask questions, answer questions and maybe you might have a rant or two. You can even take some threads private. You have the opportunity to lean on others for product information or general sales help.

2) Blogs:  Each week we post 4-6 blogs about the industry.  Blogs that I write, blogs from Ray S and Larry Levine.  When you're a member you'll receive immediate notification when a new blog has been posted. In addition you'll have permissions to "like" it, reply with a comment or question.  Between Larry, Ray Stasieczko an myself we have more than 100 years of experience in the industry. Thus you'll get to read some pretty cool stuff and catch some video content.

3) Our sponsors: Sometimes you just need to click the banner to see what's out there. There are times when we go about our business with blinders on, and we're not looking around so see what's new and different.  There are times when what's new and different can make that extra sale. There are products and accessories for our industry that I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that you aren't aware of. What this means is that the reps or dealers that know about these products will eat your lunch.  Just today, I received a top secret accessory to do a test run from one of our sponsors.

4) Our Documents and Pics: Over the years I've developed many documents that can help those in our industry with cold calls, side by sides, discovery documents, ROI's for wide format, you name it and it's more than likely posted on the site. We've also develop quite the museum of pictures and brochures of copiers, fax and typewriters from the past. If you're curious about the past of the copier industry the "clips" section of our site is a great place to start.

5) Premium/VIP: The secret sauce as we like to call it.  Premium/VIP gives you access to all of our sales help documents, premium blogs (my secret stuff), surveys, leads that we've acquired and the Premium/VIP forum (your secret stuff). 

The five I listed are just a few of the awesome features of our site. We'd like to extend a personal invitation to you to join our 3,000 plus members. There is no cost for the basic membership.

However, for all new members we'll through in a 30 day comp of the Premium/VIP Membership. No credit card required. Use it abuse if you like you can email me for a renewal, if not Premium/VIP will cease after 30 days.

Here's the link to join and we're looking forward to seeing you on the forums and the site

-=Good Selling=-

It's a late night for me just like many other nights.  While I was walking our dog, a little light snow began to fall here in Highlands, NJ.  At this time of year, along with not much traffic I can hear the rumble of the waves that are peppering the beach.  Sometimes it's times it's nights like these that I get to remember about how good things are and how fortunate I've been through out the years.

A little more than ten years ago the copier company that I worked for was bought by Stratix Systems.  Coming from a small dealership and having access to the decision makers didn't make things easy in the beginning.  I was not used to having a sales manager, was not used to towing a straight line and had to get used to a new comp plan.

I didn't run like the three other sales people did when the Century was bought. I stayed because something told me that was the right thing to do. There were some difficult times, times when I wanted to leave, however I looked back at my-self and thought,  is that what I do when things are tough? I run? I also thought that maybe just maybe it was the curmudgeon in me that did not want to change.  I've always knew that change is good, but sometimes it is hard to break the old you.

Thus, I stayed and made changes that I'm really happy with. I thought I'd like to give the shout out to Stratix and let them and others know that change is good and you can change if you want to.

1)  I truly enjoy the people I work with, I know I can be a little tough at times but it's because I want us all to succeed. Some peeps I've worked with for twenty years and some only a few years.  I enjoy the relationships that we've built over the years and the new ones that will be forged.

2) I love the fact that we invest in a demo fleet. At any time I can have access to most of our copiers and can score placing a copier in a clients office for a demo. 

3) I believe I can still help Stratix company grow, even at my advanced age. I still have ideas, still passionate about the industry and still passionate for Stratix to grow and grow. Who knows maybe one day I'll be doing the training for all of the new reps. I know they'll be thinking look at that old fart, WTF does he know.  Yes, grasshopper you have much to learn in the "art" of sales.

4) Helping others. I enjoying sharing my knowledge of sales, the industry and the hardware. Thus, the reason for the Print4Pay Hotel (share our knowledge). What I enjoy the most is helping someone and then seeing them succeed with the information I provided the, I would not give this up for the world.

5) Believe it or not, I still have something to prove.  Probably not to others but to me. I can't stand being second best. Ricky stated "If you're not first you're last". Boy do I hate being last! I've got 39 years in and hoping for at least another for or 5 more to add.

6) I still enjoy selling, especially when it comes to copiers. Yes, it's not as easy as it used to be, but isn't that a good thing?  You become more creative, think out of the box and find new ways to present, demo and engage. Plus, I still get a charge when I receive an order.  All orders are awesome big or small because I know the support after the sale will enable lifetime client relationships.

7) Ah, number 7 the BIG ONE.  I've found this so easy to write tonight. I guess when you're passionate about someone, something or some company the words just seem to flow endlessly will the fingers move across the keyboard.

My VP of Sales is an incredible! I think he's been with us for six or seven years now. It was a little shaky at the start.  Which was probably most my fault, however he believed in me and gave me enough rope to do what I do best. So, believing in someone is good, it breeds that bond of trust in each other. Forming excellent relationships needs the foundation of trust.  If and when I retire I will miss the chats, the tips, the lunches, and the laughs. Tim, if you're reading this I'm not gone yet, and hoping for many more years of working with you.

There it is. Got it out there and hope that many others P4P'ers can be as happy as I am with where I work and the peeps I work with.

-=Good Selling=-

"To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart"

Thomas Watson, Sr.

A custom fitted suit has a unique, empowering feel as it sits comfortably against your body. It's the statement you make about who you are and what you value regarding your appearance.

Anyone can stroll into their local department store and pull a suit off the rack, but to truly “pull off” the suited look, one visits a tailor. A custom tailor is able to enhance all of the best features through the fit of the suit.

Off-the-rack department store suits don't offer much in a variety of style, even the most formal stores will not have every suit style available on the rack. With a custom tailor, your suit can be made according to any style and with any fabric. There's no limit to what you can ask for; custom liners, pockets, lapels, buttons and monogramming; whatever you desire, a tailor can deliver the style and material you want.

EMPTY SUIT

Lack of sincerity, substance and sparkle are three clues one is an empty suit. In 3 Dead Giveaways That You Are An Empty Suit, I introduced you to a simple equation...

Lack of substance + low business acumen + poor business conversational skills = empty suit.

Unfortunately, in the sales world today, there are a tremendous number of empty sales suits. The sales profession can do better than they’re doing. The issue boils down to misalignment. Most in sales are misaligned with their inner self, which tends to lead to chaos. It’s hard to become the best version of yourself if you have no clue or can’t identify with who you are.

 Your prospects are smart. Your clients are even more intelligent. They can smell commission breath a mile away. 

An executive presence + competence fills out an empty suit

What key ingredients are needed to custom fit the empty sales suit? Hint... become your own tailor!

3 INGREDIENTS TO CUSTOM FIT THE EMPTY SALES SUIT

In a "Selling From the Heart" sales world, a heartfelt professional wears a custom fitted suit made with authenticity.

An authentic sales professional leads with the heart by becoming open and vulnerable. They absolutely understand their weaknesses and are extremely comfortable in their own skin. Sales professionals who lead from the heart have courage. The courage to be human in a sales world full of facades.

ENGAGE

In today's world, we have so many technology platforms to help salespeople do their job better and more efficiently that we've forgotten the heart is at the center of sales.

So few in sales are placing their heart at the forefront of what they do.

Technology is wonderful and technology runs rampant in the twenty-first century but we must not forget to humanize it. Many in sales are leveraging technology as they dehumanize sales. A heartfelt professional leverages technology to humanize their network and relationships.

A true sales professional smashes technology and digital all together to humanize what they're all about. Their network feels it, their clients feel it, their prospects feel it and most of all, they live it with them.

For salespeople to be successful in their relationships with their clients, they need to engage, have multiple touchpoints, communicate successfully and add value with their business acumen. 

There's incredible power of genuine, sincere ENGAGEMENT with other human beings to drive sales success.

EDUCATE

Nothing worse than an uneducated sales rep who recites information off the back of a brochure!

A sales professional stays one step ahead of their prospects, as this requires staying current on trends and keeping their skills sharp. This means those in sales need to take the time to stay educated and continually learn new skills.

With ongoing education, this helps prepare what's needed to be ready to embrace new ways of doing things, especially if the old ways no longer work as well.

Becoming a great sales professional is all about earning the trust and respect of the customer. The more you can demonstrate you understand their world and the challenges they face, the more you’ll earn their trust and respect.

Why educate? Today’s buyers expect salespeople to understand their business and guide them to solutions that target their specific challenges.

Your clients and prospects no longer need to wait to have sales meetings or presentations from traditional sales reps to get a better understanding of what solutions are out there. They are more prepared and come to the business table with specific expectations.

You must become a sales guide. You must facilitate and EDUCATE, instead of showing up and throwing up. 

EXCITE

There are way too many sales reps out there who believe they are ‘A’ players but they are nothing more then ‘C’ players hiding in an empty suit.  

How important do you think attitude is to your relationships? Are you fired up with enthusiasm and passion for what you do?

When you call on your clients and prospects with energy and enthusiasm, it means that you believe in you. Excitement is contagious. This isn't bravado; a sincere belief in yourself and what you do can't be faked.

A true sales professional is pro-active. When you look at them, you notice high energy. They have pro-active personalities, they make things happen instead of sitting back waiting for things to happen. They have a positive attitude. They're in control. They believe in themselves and their abilities.

They EXCITE their clients and prospects into wanting to know more. Being excited and having passion is not a sales act. It's a way of believing. It is woven into your personal DNA. It's having real passion for who you are, what you're selling, who you're becoming and furthermore, what you believe in. 

It's through excitement as you shout, “I am here for you, I am here to make a difference, and I will leave my mark in your business."

WHAT BUYERS CRAVE

What will it take to exceed your clients' expectations? Try engaging with them, educating them and get excited about helping them.

It also means adding these buttons to your custom fitted suit...

• Understand their business
• Understand what makes them tick
• Care about them
• Demonstrate excellent communication skills
• Provide them insights and a fresh perspective
• Enhance their experience

What's your plan? What do you need to do and when will you do it? It is totally up to you! Now go open the door to your authentic self! Watch what happens to your sales career!

Don't be this...

I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

Emotional Alchemical Marketing

By: Nathan Dube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...=1&v=JzYFjCk6sMk

The video posted above was created by a prospect/customer of a company I used to work for. The video was a submission for a promotional contest series that I created for my company to generate brand awareness regarding our products and services.

The “Destroy Your Printer Contest” series is an excellent example of what I like to refer to as “emotional alchemical marketing”.

The contest invited frustrated office employees to smash a piece of office imaging equipment on film in a humorous/creative way for the chance to win free toner cartridges and a donation to a charity of choice in their name.

The contest was an instant hit, first garnering the attention of {GROW} blog author, Professor Mark Schaefer of Rutgers University. After Mark’s blog post was published, a firestorm of press from publications all over the world ensued.

From Recycler Magazine to the New York Times and countless blogs, magazines and books in between, the contest was hailed as one of the first successful B2B social media marketing success stories.

What made the contest so successful was the fact that it taps into pain points of virtually any and all people who work in an office environment. Within the first year of any employees experience in such a setting, it becomes clear that printers, copiers and similar pieces of equipment are necessary evils.

Every person who has ever worked in an office has had to bare the burdens of that fateful day when a report or document of extreme importance is not received from the printer at the worst possible moment. Clearing error codes, removing paper jams, restarting the machine and still…

Nothing.

The desire to take a sledge hammer to a printer at some point in time is practically and initiation and/or rite of passage in modern office culture.

In addition to projecting a sense of empathy to our target prospects, the videos provide a source of positive energy.

In almost all of my sales meetings with new prospects I would show the videos from the contest as an icebreaker during the meeting. The astonishment and humor from the particular video above is most useful in transmuting the atmosphere of the sales meeting to that of a more laid back social gathering.

When the conversation returns to the topic of doing business there is a positive emotional afterglow present in the prospect as the discussion turns to the pending sale.

Indeed, a person may forget what you say to them, but they will never forget how you made them feel and this video always makes my prospects feel good.

I would suggest that content such as this will be at the heart of the marketing/sales paradigms of the future as we move into a time in human history where the stark corporate history of marketing and sales gives way to a modern emphasis on empathy, entertainment and education within said careers.

At the end of the day, people don’t give a darn about what you are selling. They care about how you are going to take care of them, how you make them feel and how well you can meet their needs.

By generating content which taps into a prospects pain points and transmuting the negative emotions associated with them into positive emotions, one can effectively use negative experiences as a catalyst for manifesting positivity.

This is not new knowledge, however seeing this knowledge spread and be used by more and more businesses is a modern phenomenon brought on by the shrinking global village we live in.

Social media has effectively connected humanity to itself, and it is understanding and empathy which will result in success in our modern world.

By using emotional alchemical marketing techniques within the framework of your content generation, you will find that connecting with new prospects and turning them into dedicated customers/fans is a breeze.

Just a short story from an order I had last week.  The client was an existing account, almost five years ago it was net new.  Thus I had some promo's I could throw at the client in order to secure the order.  Now it comes time for the renewal almost 5 years later, there are some payments left in the lease. There is no way I can sell them at the same lease price per month. I also made an early mistake on the pricing when I met with the client.

I never presented the lease price for the new hardware. What I focused on was the annual cost to the client for the lease and the maintenance/supplies. I presented one annual price for the new device with maintenance and supplies and show the client their existing annual price for maintenance and supplies.

The initial savings was about $1,200 per year and the client was happy with that, however they had asked about a few additional options. I knew that would raise the lease payment even more, but I decided to keep with the annual savings. I priced up two different options. However instead of stating the lease price increase I stated the reduced savings. I stated option (a) would reduce you the annual savings to $800 per year and option (b) would reduce to $600 per year.

The client picked the option with reducing the option (b).  Thus no was the time that I had to deliver the lease with the monthly payment.  The payment increase was $80 more per month from the old lease. I received the signed lease back the next day.

It's all about the presentation

Enjoy the these threads from 15 years ago this week!

Canon Holds Sales Lead

"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=-

Wanted to post this up for Jesse, we are having webinars next week on the 20th and 21st. The 19th is full. The Perfect Copier is built by Jesse (a copier guy like us). It's awesome and can be used in many different ways.  Feel free to register.

Art