General Construction Company Improves Cash Flow with Accounting Workflow Management Software

General construction contractor specializing in telecommunications, Total Environmental & Power Systems, Inc., implemented DocuWare Cloud in their accounting department to improve invoice approval times for employees in the field. Now, invoices can be approved from any mobile device. The solution boosted the accuracy of their cost accounting procedures by 90%, sped up invoice turnaround time, and improved cash flow.

Total Environmental & Power Systems, Inc. (TEPS) is one of California and Nevada’s top telecommunications contractors, helping to build and maintain cell towers throughout that region. The company also provides general facility maintenance services that includes the building and maintaining of HVAC and AC/DC power systems, radio frequency systems, distributed antenna systems, hydrogen fuel cells, generators and battery backup systems. With a fleet of more than 50 one-ton, four-wheel drive trucks, and a Sno-Cat ATV vehicle with all-terrain tracks and certified drivers, the company can make on-site service calls to any location; in any season. 

Requirements

TEPS knew it was time to upgrade their accounting workflow to something electronic but the final push came when they received a request from a large customer for electronic copies of TEPS material invoices to better understand the material charges. In addition, almost 90% of the invoices TEPS received were digital and it just didn’t make sense to continue to print and process invoices in a paper-based format.

The company began looking for a solution that met these requirements: 1) mobile-ready and accessible from any device, 2) cloud-based and would not need to be tied to their server and 3) easy to implement and maintain.

Solution

After some research, TEPS choose to implement DocuWare Cloud in their accounting department as it fit all their requirements. The solution was configured and implemented remotely allowing for a quick go-live date.  Of the company’s 75 employees, about 18 people were trained to use the system.

Benefits

The new solution allowed TEPS to easily offer better customer service by quickly emailing requested supplier invoices to their clients.   The system turned out to be a huge time saver as well; TEPS has shaved off 20 man-hours a month which were spent on tracking down payable invoices out for approval.  With DocuWare in place, “approvers” that are in the field on job sites can now review and approve invoices on their mobile device keeping the accounting process flowing smoothly in a timely manner.

The company’s receivable invoice turnaround time has also been reduced by 2-3 days each month, creating better cash flow predictions in a real-time setting.  With total transparency, better business decisions can be made, and more critical tasks can be taken on as a result of implementing DocuWare.

“DocuWare Cloud allows us to do our jobs a lot faster. I can see where in the process each invoice is and easily know who I need to nudge to keep the system flowing,” said Pam Souza, Controller for Total Environmental & Power Systems, Inc.

Prior to implementing DocuWare Cloud, any invoice under $1,000 was paid with no review. With the new solution in place, every invoice is easily routed through a digital approval process, solidifying that every purchase is legitimate, the price is correct, and that the cost has been assigned to the right job number.

“We found that a lot of our invoices had inaccurate job numbers. With DocuWare Cloud, we simply have our project managers look at every invoice, large and small, and make sure everything is accurate. If the job number is wrong, the approver simply makes a digital note for us to change it. It is very important to apply our costs to the correct job and I’m happy to say we’ve improved the accuracy of our cost accounting by 90%,” stated Souza.

On the accounts receivable side, TEPS has enhanced their invoice turnaround time, narrowing the gap between completing a job and invoicing for the work, positively impacting their cash flow.

Conclusion

The owners of TEPS are very happy with the contribution DocuWare Cloud has made to their bottom line and look forward to expanding it to other departments.

The turkey, provolone, onions, hot banana peppers and tomatoes sandwich had my full attention.  It was lunch time, I was starved since my wife had me doing this points for food thing.  Everything was no points except for the bread, and what the heck a little bread now and then isn't going to kill me right?

While reaching for my bottle of water I noticed I had no napkins, and being a polite eater I opted to search for the napkins instead of taking that first chunk out of my sandwich.  A quick glance around the restaurant and there it was, not the napkins but a beautiful stack of cardboard boxes.  I was truly in heaven!

There were twelve boxes in two stacks of six.  Each box was fully decked out with branding (the box was printed with color images) on all sides. After that wonderful distraction I was able to locate the napkins. I finished lunch and then proceeded to the counter to see what information I could get out of the employees.  I found out that the boxes were used for catering, and the location I was at used about 5 boxes per week.  I sat back down and looking up this company on the web and found that they have more than 2,000 franchise locations in the US.

Hmmm, I wonder if each franchise used 5 boxes per week per location. That's 10,000 boxes per week, 40,000 per month and almost a half a million for the year.  

Can you imagine the amount of ink that's used to imprint all four sides of the box? 

You might ask what I'm getting at right?  For a long time I've been harping about print migration and the need for dealers to follow the migration of print.  Those catering boxes is an excellent example of print migration.  

Alas, I have nothing to offer that company to either reduce their costs, or bring that printing in house (I did find out that all of these branded boxes are out- sourced).  But if you were a Dealer for Muratec America a Konica Minolta Company you'd be knocking on their door with information about the PKG-675i.

The PKG-675i is capable of printing on corrugated materials (boxes). I'm no expert with the PKD-675i yet, but I would beat dollars to doughnuts that this company is definitely a suspect.  I told another sales person the other day that more often than not, we are sales detectives.  It's our job to investigate and find out more about the suspect with the use of the branded catering boxes.  Leave not stone unturned and you may find that these branded boxes could be a revenue bonanza.

Next time you're out and about, keeps your eyes peeled for corporate branding for boxes and or labels. I'm a firm believer that niche printing devices can be the Holy Grail for those that want to grow their print business.

You can find out more about the PKG-675i here

-=Good Selling=-

I wasn't too excited that "The Hunt for Wide Format" was going to take place on a rainy day in Jersey.  I had two choices, one was to start the hunt in the rain or go back to office and make phone calls. I choose to do the hunt because working the phone lately has been terrible. In addition I can't afford to waste time when you can't get DM's on the phone.

My day started with a 9:30AM appointment with an existing account that has three separate equipment leases.  I placed a courtesy call a few weeks ago to see if their devices were running well. About a week later, my client called and wanted to meet. Which told me that there were some issue (none that I knew of).  By the end of the meeting I had addressed both issues and left with an upgrade opportunity. Not a bad way to start off the day I thought.

I pre-planned my hunt yesterday.  I culled my CRM for fifteen or so net new prospects for wide format and mixed in a few existing clients that I hadn't seen in sometime. The plan was for twenty-five stops after my first appointment.

I was armed with Ricoh MP6700SP wide format brochures and business cards.  In addition I carried a notebook bag that I received from a recent show that had Engineering embroidered on the out side of the bag. Thought that might help with the net new clients.

One of my stops was to an existing wide format Architect.  Luckily my Architect was in the office and what was suppose to be a meet and greet turned into a thirty minute appointment.  My client did not have a need to replace the existing device, however we yucked it up about getting old, the high taxes in New Jersey, and thought of leaving New Jersey.  My client then asked what the rest of my day was like and I responded with telling him about my next two stops.  He then told me that hew knew both principals and had worked with both principals in the past. In addition he asked that I tell both of them that my client said hello.

Alrighty then, I had a couple of additional arrows in my quiver when I tracked down the next two prospects.   Back into the car and down the road I went to my next two stops.  With those next two stops, I was not able to connect with either DM because they weren't in the office.  But, I was able to make the connection with the receptionist that I had a message for both DM's.  As soon as I got back in the car I accessed Linkedin and sent inmails to both DM's to connect. I'm good with that because I can make the connection between all three clients with the next email, inmail, or phone call.

The rest of the day proved to be unfruitful, not many of the DM's were around (I did not expect them to be). I was able to make note of three additional suspects with new construction projects that I passed.

One other funny note for today. I've been wanting to stop in this one account for sometime. I noticed that they moved about a year ago, however I kept driving by their place.  Today as I drove past their building slowly, I spied what type of wide format mfp that they have. I was stunned because the wide format was placed in front of a very large window. Soon as I saw it I knew the manufacturer.  I doubled back and then knocked on that door also.

Did I get any wide format opportunities today? No, I didn't. Did I get the opportunity to learn more about each business? Yes.  Was I able to identify future suspects?  Yup

Thus, there you have it.  One day each week every week for the rest of the year this old dog will be out in the field hunting wide format and any other copiers that I spy.

-=Good Selling=-

Interesting topic came up today while I was out knocking on doors again!  Most of us (salespeople) have monthly quotas.  For those of us that care, we take pride in striving to meet those monthly and quarterly goals.  When we don't hit those quota's we start thinking about what went wrong, did we not prospect enough, was there not enough in the funnel.   Most of us do have a sinking feeling when we don't hit our quotas.  

Today, I had the debate with a fellow sales person about monthly quotas and vacations. Putting in the effort each and every day allows me the opportunity to attain my quota. 

But what happens when it's vacation time? If I take a week vacation that means I'll only have three weeks to meet the monthly quota nut.  Thus, is it really a vacation?  I caught a thread on twitter today from one of those self proclaimed sales guru's that stated "no not answer emails while on vacation".  I thought, well this butthead definitely doesn't have a monthly quota that stamped on his or her back every month.  

Do you answer emails or don't you, do you take that phone call or not, can that deal wait until you get back or will it go elsewhere if you don't respond?  

I can only remember one time when one time when I completely shut down my selling efforts while on vacation. That was sixteen years ago with a trip to Japan.

It's my belief that sales people should have a reduction in their monthly quota when they take a vacation. Because a vacation should be to kick back, enjoy time with family and use that time to recharge.  If you're not working for 25% of the month, then your monthly quota should be reduced by 25%. 

I understand that most if not all managers will disapprove and never allow this to happen.  Which means that most of us will take those calls and emails because we want to reach that monthly goal/quota.  Thus spending that time and effort offers up the question, did we take the time to recharge or are we just coming back in the same mental state that we left with?

I've been at the same company for a long time. I get a very generous amount of vacation time, but I'm always faced with,  can I afford to take more time off or not? 

For those of us that still do some work while we are vacation, should we be entitled to additional compensation for that time?  Sure, try asking your manager or Veep of Sales that one.

Just maybe someone will figure out that throwing the dog a bone every now and then will reap better rewards.

I guess I'll just have to wait another four years when every day will be a Saturday. EDIAS (Every Day Is A Saturday)

-=Good Selling=-

"Great brands start inside"

You've invested countless hours, decades, and millions of dollars to build your brand reputation within your marketplace.

What steps have your sales reps done to build their brand reputation?

When people ask, "So, tell me a little bit about yourself", what are the first few things you share?

You may respond by sharing whether you're married, have kids or possibly where you live may live, however; one of the first things you're likely to share is your job title or what you do for a living. There’s a good reason, as work is a common thread in most of our lives. Sharing with someone where you work and what you do gives them a good idea of what’s important to you. This is just a part of normal "get to know" conversation.

I encourage you to think about this for a moment... In today's highly competitive business world, a quick Google search can turn up endless amounts of information regarding your company and the sales reps who represent your corporate brand. Are you proactively doing something about it?

"Personal branding is about managing your name - even if you don't own a business - in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records. Going on a date? Chances are that your "blind" date has Googled your name. Going on a job interview? Ditto"

Tim Ferris

Your sales rep's name and social presence can become major factors in building a positive reputation with your clients and prospects. This is true in the complex and rapidly changing business environment. A sales brand just might become the primary differentiator.

THE PROBLEM

In the business world, it’s not enough for sales reps to take on your corporate brand as their own. Instead, they need a well-defined and well-developed personal brand. You must encourage brand development and coach your sales reps to build their brand. This one act will equate to an increase in business and client retention.

It's happening... in sales meetings all over the place, sales reps are being told, "Run your territory as if it was your business. You're the CEO, now go out there develop new business. Go take care of our clients!"

I am going to ask all of you to stop for a moment, thinking real hard about this one word...

Would you allow your business to operate without any web presence? Of course you wouldn't. Your website is the window into your corporation portraying your brand in a business professional manner.

If you're encouraging your sales reps to be CEO's of their own territory and you accept how important your corporate website is to your brand, then why on earth would you allow your sales reps to operate their business with incomplete, non-branding and poorly positioned LinkedIn profiles?

Place yourself in your client's shoes or better yet a potential client's shoes. Based solely on your first impression of your sales reps LinkedIn profiles or any aspect of their digital footprint's (be honest) would you do business with them? Tough to digest, huh?

THREE WAYS YOUR SALES REPS HELP (OR HURT) YOUR COMPANY'S BRAND IMAGE

YOUR BUSINESS HAS LITTLE PERSONALITY WITHOUT YOUR SALES REPS 

We operate in a business environment where connections and relationships are the most valuable assets a business can have. Your clients and prospects make choices regarding who they want to work with and buy from based on how well they connect with your sales reps. Those reps with a strong personal brand behind the corporate brand make it easier for clients and prospects to connect with meaning.

The personal brands of your sales rep's help to humanize your corporate brand. This is mission critical and extremely important in creating defining moments between your company and the competition.

"The sea of sameness is no place to swim in!"

LOYALTY BUILDS WHEN THE BUYER IDENTIFIES TO YOUR SALES REPS PERSONAL BRAND 

When sales reps develop a strong personal brand people will pay attention. It's these branding moments that help your sales reps facilitate and build a loyal client base on behalf of your company. Helping them to build and develop their personal brand is a key strategy you must promote. The value your sales rep's have to your business isn't just measured in sales results but also the impact they have to your clients.

Foster the culture and environment to encourage your sales reps to build upon their personal brand. Encourage them to professionally network within their marketplace, speak at not for profit groups, volunteer in the community and most importantly have them build their online presence starting with their LinkedIn profile.

YOUR SALES REPS PERSONAL BRANDS HELP TO BUILD YOUR CORPORATE CULTURE 

Encouraging and allowing your sales reps to build their personal brands will have a major effect on recruiting and retention efforts. This portrays positivities regarding the culture of your company and provides a clear window for future sales reps to gauge how they may fit into your business culture.

Retention becomes easier when you celebrate the personal brands of your sales reps rather than squashing them behind your corporate brand. Think about this from your sales rep's perspective, wouldn’t they rather work for a company that helps them build upon their brand, helping them align to the modern buyer as opposed to being taught sales tactics from years gone by?

Now more than ever a sales reps personal brand and how they promote it is not only important to their success but to the success of your company. 

TIME IS NOW - CREATE THE ENVIRONMENT

Your sales reps are front and center, the face of your company. They are out in the marketplace, leading the charge to grow your revenues. You can help by fostering an environment full of skill set development, mindset development, self-development and a continual learning atmosphere. Provide them the tools necessary to perform at their highest level.

Create the internal social environment. Think of their online and offline reputation in the same manner you think about your corporate brand. When prospects are considering doing business with one of your sales reps or a client is deciding whether or not to continue doing business with your company, the reputation of your sales team for delivering value along with social proof is mission critical.

Why all of this? Today's buyer and your clients expect a certain quality of sales rep. If they have a recognizable brand or reputation, the effectiveness of retention and upselling clients greatly increases. Word of a great sales rep spreads through customer communities and greatly improves your sales rep’s relationship with new prospects.

"It's important to build a personal brand because it's the only thing you're going to have. Your reputation online, and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you've got to be a good person. You can't hide anything, and more importantly, you've got to be out there at some level."

Gary Vaynerchuk

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!

I'm writing a book. The title is Selling From the Heart! I'm pouring my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it.Enter your email address here in this hyperlink and you'll be updated as the book is released. You'll also become part of our launch team. As a thank you, I'll have some special bonuses waiting for you! 

In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the B2B office technology sector. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image.

You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.

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, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

Cloud document control software and volunteers help nonprofit positively impact society

A nonprofit blood bank in Florida is utilizing DocuWare Cloud to store donor records and standard operating procedures manuals. Digital document control speeds up retrieval times, increases staff productivity, and reduces errors. Digital records also facilitate easy compliance with FDA guidelines and reports. The solution is so easy-to-use that the nonprofit can utilize volunteers to digitize records which reduces costs and strengthens community involvement. The system helps SunCoast Blood Bank speed up the intake screening process for donors while keeping the blood supply safe for the community.

SunCoast Blood Bank is a 501 c3 nonprofit community blood center that supplies blood products to 9 different hospitals in a 4-county region. The organization has 5 permanent collection sites, 7 blood mobiles, a warehouse and a transfusion service. The blood bank holds more than 1,000 blood drives a year and collects about 38,000 units (or pints) of blood annually. SunCoast fills a vital role in the community because it is the only blood bank in the region.

Requirements

SunCoast Blood Bank was utilizing an offsite, secure facility to store its paper records. Turnaround time to pull a record was slow, information was not searchable, and the long-term cost for the storage was unsustainable. The organization simply needed better and faster access to donation records.

Each unit of donated blood is labeled with an ID number. If a donor called back with additional travel information or if the testing brought up a result that made the blood unusable, the blood bank would need to swiftly access and amend the donor record and contact the hospital to find out what happened to that unit of blood. SunCoast is required to store donor records for ten years, however if for any reason a donor cannot donate blood, that record needs to be stored indefinitely. They needed to gain more control over when and how they could access their data and wanted search functionality. SunCoast decided to look for a cloud document management solution because of their small IT staff and budget.

Solution

After researching alternatives to paper files, SunCoast decided to work with their Authorized DocuWare Partner, who got them up and running with DocuWare Cloud. The cloud solution freed SunCoast from having to use their own IT staff to implement and maintain a solution.  Today, they are automatically indexing their records by donor name, donor ID number and unit ID number.

As a non-profit, SunCoast utilizes volunteers to help digitize their records.  Volunteers range in age from 6 to 87 years old, with a strong representation from high school students and seniors.  The blood bank encourages volunteers by offering scholarships to high school students willing to write an essay and donate 3 units of blood or volunteer a minimum of 30 hours. The organization uses this scholarship program to cultivate the next generation of blood donors and help make and strengthen connections within the community they serve.

Volunteer Coordinator, Joan Leonard, is a strong supporter of DocuWare because she knew the solution was so easy to use that she could train volunteers and allow them to manage the scanning program. Once a volunteer has been trained, they are able to train others.

“Not only is DocuWare helping us digitize our records, it is helping us connect to our community. I have high school students teaching retirees who have never used a computer, to scan and index documents. This has been a tremendous multi-faceted program that not only helps us better manage our information but is helping our seniors gain new skills that will allow them to get back into the workforce,” stated Leonard.

Benefits

In the summer, SunCoast volunteers scan 6 days a week, 8 hours a day. Volunteer hours drop once school is back in session, but some scanning work is done every day. In one summer, SunCoast volunteers scanned 60,000 records or about 3 years’ worth of the most recent donor records. Now volunteers will work on scanning the backlog of 1500 boxes of older records stored off-site. Staff can now move through the office easier and the workplace is calmer since 60 boxes have now been removed from offices and hallways.

With DocuWare it is easier for the blood bank to comply with FDA guidelines. If there was an FDA reportable error regarding a unit of blood, the blood bank has 45 days to submit the report online and provide evidence of corrective action. The penalty for not submitting the report on time is an “observation” on FDA form 483.  With repeated observations of the same error type, the FDA can impose fines or even shutdown a facility.  Electronic documentation makes meeting regulatory compliance deadlines much simpler.

The biggest benefit SunCoast has seen since implementing the system is lightning quick document retrieval.

“With DocuWare Cloud, our turnaround time to pull up a donor’s record to verify or edit information, or post test results, happens in seconds when before it was a 24 hour wait. The difference in our productivity and response time is quite significant,” said Robert Harper, Director of Quality Assurance for SunCoast Blood Bank.

As a nonprofit utilizing volunteers to scan documents, quality assurance was a key issue for SunCoast. In the beginning they reviewed 1 in 10 records, now they only look at 1 in 25. With a goal of maintaining accurate, high-quality information, the system’s flexibility and ease-of-use, even for a rotating group of volunteers, was just what SunCoast needed and helped them lower their costs.

Conclusion

The system has been so well received that the nonprofit is expanding its use to other documents, including manuals, forms and purchase orders. Today, staff at the donation centers and mobile donation vehicles have digital access to a 15 system manuals of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that helps the staff know if they can accept blood donations from a donor that has traveled to specific countries or is answering other screening questions in unexpected ways. The FDA believes that closely following procedures in the “up-front” screening questions eliminates 90% of unsuitable donors before any blood is drawn.

“With the SOP manuals in DocuWare, we no longer need to worry about missing pages, or the need to call the main office with questions. Because the staff at each mobile location refer to the manual multiple times a day, having a digital searchable version speeds our intake screening process and aids us with improving accuracy, eliminating errors and calls back to the main office,” said Harper.

Moving forward, the blood bank plans to also put purchase orders, adverse reactions and finance documents into DocuWare. The solution reduced the blood bank’s document management costs by 25% a year and is playing a part in keeping the blood supply safe.

SunCoast’s CEO Scott M. Bush summed it up when he said, “DocuWare Cloud is proving to be a tremendous asset to our organization.  Because blood banks are so highly regulated, our blood products, as well as our record keeping must be meticulous. The system not only reduces costs, it improves efficiency for our donors and staff.  We look forward to customizing DocuWare to other parts of our operation, further enhancing our ability to serve the community.”

DocuWare Corporation | 4 Crotty Lane, Suite 200 | New Windsor, NY 12553        (888) 565-5907 | www.docuware.com

The smell of spring is in the air, along with the completion of the first week of the 2018 Major League baseball season here in the US. Last year Chris Polek (Owner of Polek & Polek) and I collaborated with our first baseball themed blog for the office equipment channel. "Nine Innings with Polek & Polek" was a hit  with our readers. Chris & I have teamed  up again for this year blog which uses common baseball jargon and how that jargon translates to the office equipment channel.

Eight Baseball Idioms for the Office Equipment Industry

Spring Training: For those of us that are baseball fans the thought of Spring Training reminds us that Spring is right around the corner and the renewed hope that our team has the chance to be the World Champions.  

Most copier dealerships mark the end of their year with the last calendar day of the year. Typically most opportunities are squeezed, pushed and shoved into that last month of the year. January tends to be a month of starting over or renewing your focus for the new year.

That first week of the January can be your Spring Training. Taking time to cull your CRM, review future prospects and develop a plan to achieve your personal and business sales goals.

Situational Hitting: Moving the runner over, hit and run, bunt, and the sacrifice fly are different types of hitting that you want to accomplish in different baseball scenarios. These different offensive techniques can power the offense to score runs while making an out.

In sales we can look at prospecting in the same manner. You need to step up to the plate and make things happen with in person visits, and phone calls. More often that not you’ll be making outs, but the continued stepping up to the plate with prospect will produce opportunities for new business. I’m a big believer that if you put in the work, you’ll be surprise what tomorrow will bring you.

PFP’s (Pitchers Fielding Practice): Believe it or not, most pitchers (and catchers) are the best athletes on the team. In fact most of them probably started at shortstop at the beginning of their baseball career. Playing the position of pitcher has some unwritten rules. Pitchers get out of the way when there’s a popup in or around the pitcher’s mound. They cover first base, when the first baseman has to cover a dribble to his side.

Ever notice how pitchers and catchers report earlier than the other players? It is because they have the most responsibility in the game. It is not just pitching and catching. They control the pace of the game, they give direction on the strategy, and when a ball is in play the pitcher and catcher are always moving around the field to back up throws. It is difficult to see on TV, and when you are at a game you will notice that the pitcher and catcher are active ALL the time. When you think about it, pitchers and catchers responsibilities are very similar to those of leaders and managers.

Meeting on the Mound:

A new rule this year in baseball is a limit on meetings on the mound, and a time limit. You know those meetings you have been in that never seem to end, or when will we get to the point?

We can learn from this rule. As a manager, your job is to coach your salesperson. Keep your meetings brief by being prepared and having an agenda. Agree on a strategy, and then ACT! Ultimately the most important thing is the immediate action that you take when the meeting is finished.

Can of Corn:  

For those that don’t know baseball, this is an easy to catch fly ball. In our businesses we need to make sure we devote time on the easy tasks that will help grow our business.

The Can of Corn is: focus on your loyal customers; don’t ignore them. It amazes me how many businesses put so much time and resources in only acquiring new customers to grow. Cable companies are a good example of this. Not to single out cable companies, but when you look at their behavior you start to see similar behaviors with many companies and your buying experience. Try this exercise: call five loyal customers today. Thank them for being a loyal customer. Ask them: “Is there anything new that you are working on that you think we could help you?” The answer your customers offer are about to give you new ideas on how you can do more business. They will choose you first because they know, like, and trust you. If your customer brings up an idea that you don’t handle, find a way to connect them with a person or company that can.

Caught Napping:

Caught Napping is the opposite of Can of Corn. Go ahead and ignore those loyal customers while you primarily focus on acquiring new ones, and watch what happens. Your behavior shows those customers that you don’t care that much and they are not important to you. When you do that, your value to these customers erodes, and so does their loyalty to you! Eventually you get the wake-up call that they are leaving you, and doing business with a competitor. When this happens, most people come up with every excuse in the book, except pointing the finger at themselves. Apologize to those loyal customers before it is too late, that you realized that you have not paid enough attention to them as you should, and that is going to change. Focus on treating your loyal customers well, or get Caught Napping. Your choice!

It ain’t over till it’s over: Is one of those famous Yogi Berra quotes. It ain’t over till it’s over means quitting or projecting a defeated attitude is not an option. You always have the chance to win.

Mental toughness is an important part of the game and in your business. There will always be adversity, and when you give up too easily when things get tough, the only thing that gets easier is quitting too early. Another famous Yogism: “90% of the game is half mental.”

Let The Ball Travel: In baseball this means to let the ball travel a little deeper before you swing because you’re out in front of the ball. I’ll use the term of letting the ball travel when I’ve touched all of the opportunities several times and nothing is moving forward. I then let those accounts sit for a few days or a week with no follow up. During that the let ball travel time, I’ll find time to research prospects and add new opportunities to the pipeline. Keep in mind that your clients are just as busy as you and in most cases the thought of buying office equipment is not their top priority.

I hope these baseball references have helped you re-focus on Spring Training for your business. Let’s PLAY BALL!

Good Selling from

-=Chris Polek & Art Post=-