MFP Copier Blog

Thanksgiving week is now here, the end of the year is just 6 weeks away for most of us.  Put the pressure to metal, finish strong, leave no prospect unturned.

Weekend Copier Notes from 11/18/07

What can your sales reps do to become the true master, the expert sales rep in the eyes of your clients and prospects? How can you coach and facilitate to fast-track their process in becoming true masters of their craft?

First things first, you must realize there’s no graduation process in sales. You and your sales team aren't studying a certain number of years until your get your degree. There’s no such thing as a PhD in Sales because you can never stop learning.

Becoming the best requires perpetual practice. Along with your sales team, you need to study the sales game mentally, physically and emotionally; pretty much every single day of your business life.

A successful sales team is innately curious. They have a deep-seated, burning desire to learn and grow not just financially but deep within them; intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

Sales leaders must inspire their sales team to become lifelong learners. It all starts with studying yourself. Make self-analysis and self-reflection, a regular habit. With brutal honesty, have them self reflect upon their personal sales performance.

The biggest opportunities your sales team has to improve their sales game is hidden inside of them.

THE NEW BUSINESS CHALLENGE

One enormous challenge your sales reps face centers around securing new meetings with C-level executives. Securing the initial meeting with senior level executives is relatively straightforward, as your team must have a strategic plan along with some personal chutzpah. 

Executives don’t waste time with salespeople who bring zero value. How effective is you sales team in bringing...?

• Business value
• Financial value
• User value
• Solution value

How does your sales team overcome the new business challenge? Where do they start? It starts with their personal brand and how they look in the eyes of your clients and prospects.

3 CRITICAL AREAS YOUR SALES REPS MUST MASTER IN ORDER TO CONSISTENTLY CRUSH THEIR QUOTA

When each one of your sales reps LinkedIn profiles offer no clear path for visitors (your prospects or clients), that's the exact impression they give about them and their ability to help their business, a big fat zero, zilch; as this affects their thought process.

YOUR SALES TEAM MUST LOOK LIKE SALES PROFESSIONALS ONLINE

With nearly every business transaction in the United States today starting out as an online search or visit to a website, how much new business are you and your sales team potentially missing out on because their LinkedIn profile's look like a broken window?

When referring to “nearly every transaction,” that’s because "89% of B2B transactions begin online", according to Google research.

As the sales leader, your sales reps come to work wearing business attire then why on earth do you allow them to look like this online?

Line them up, one by one and including yours, take a look at their LinkedIn profiles and ask yourself...

• Would I buy from any of my sales reps based upon what I currently see on their LinkedIn profile?
• Do any of them clearly articulate their value to your clients and prospects?
• As the sales leader, are you clearly articulating how you lead and inspire your sales team?

If the answer is NO, I encourage you to ask yourself, “What am I doing to coach my sales team to repair the major cracks within their LinkedIn profiles?" 

Image this happening to you and one of your sales reps?

YOUR SALES TEAM MUST SOCIALLY SURROUND YOUR CURRENT CLIENTS

A frequently-cited stat from the CEB is on average there are 6.8 people involved in today’s B2B purchase decisions. Driven by decentralization and organizational structures, these people may be distributed across different divisions within their company or even locations.

As the sales leader, I encourage you along with each member of your sales team to develop relationships with at least 6 people inside every single one of your current accounts. Your sales reps must strengthen their personal relationship as well as their social relationship with each of these accounts. A social fortress must be built around their current clients.

Say with me... I, as the sales leader, will coach my sales reps to connect to 6 people inside each one of their current accounts

Each contact inside these accounts have different agendas, motivations, and preconceptions. Sales reps who fail to build strong ties to any one of these people could see important deals collapse, relationships lost and more important revenue loss.

Sales leaders, you must promise to make client obsession part of your sales culture. It is about building relationships within your clients. You and your sales team must always be looking for blind spots within your client base.

If any one of your sales reps lost any one of their top 5 accounts, how would they get to their budget number?  

YOUR SALES REPS MUST LEVERAGE THEIR CURRENT CLIENTS

Your sales reps must leverage their clients and ask for help! Wouldn't you agree a warm introduction from someone who knows, likes and trusts your sales reps validates the relationship they have built? Referrals from happy clients are about as good as it gets, wouldn't you agree? In fact, a Dale Carnegie study found that 91 percent of customers would be willing to give referrals if they were asked. Unfortunately, only 11 percent of sales reps actually do ask.

The right activity + enhancing the skill set + daily habits = Sales Success

Your sales reps must get uncomfortable. They must suck it up and ask for help from their clients. A healthy sales funnel will determine their success along with your peace of mind.

The right activity will catapult their success.

Answer the following question...

How many new business meetings versus current client visits are your sales reps going on per week?

Here is the formula to use to help them drive more sales opportunities. Since I don't know how many accounts your sales reps handle, I will use 75 for this example. If each one of your sales reps connect to 6 people inside of their accounts, they now have created 450 prospecting opportunities all around people who know, like and trust them.

Now comes the hard work! Every week they will be tasked by you to take one relationship within three current accounts and mine their LinkedIn connections looking for five people to be introduced to; thus starting the edification process. Remember the rule of 6 to connect within each current account.

Watch the math play out...

1 current account x 3 (one on Monday, Wednesday, Friday) = 3 current client connections to mine

3 individual connections within these accounts x 5 new people (look inside their network) per connection = 15 new introductions per week (these are 2nd degree connections). This is one connection from company one then company two then company three.

15 new introductions per week x 4 weeks in a month = 60 new prospects

60 new prospects per month x 12 months = 720 new prospects to start a conversation and build a relationship with based on a common connection.

Repeat the process... Repeat the process... Repeat the process... Repeat the process

At a miniscule 5% conversion ratio this equates to 36 new sales opportunities added to each one of your sales reps sales funnels. Multiply this by the number of sales reps you have and you my friend have an abundance of new business opportunities.

By asking for introductions from people who know, like and trust your sales reps; what could each one of them do with 36 new sales opportunities?

Successful sales reps focus on their unique value and target prospects which will have the greatest impact on their business and their quota! The answer lies right in front of you and your sales team, it's your current clients.

With consistency, coach, critique and council integrating these 3 tips and watch your sales reps crush their quota.

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!

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 LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of 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 tell their story and communicate it out by integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

Just and interesting nugget for everyone that I received today via email.  I had a new registration for the Print4Pay Hotel. I check every registration to make sure that person is somewhat connected to the imaging industry. We don't want the scammers and lurkers to ruin a good thing.

After reading though the fillable fields, I noticed that the person applying for membership was the production print buyer for a large corporation.  Over the years, I've gotten to know many of our Premium/VIP members very well. 

Our Premium/VIP members are the most knowledgeable reps in the industry, they are without a doubt the best of the best. They have the desire to continue the learning process, willing to share their knowledge and the desire to add to their knowledge with the use of our forums!

That buyer has listed his city and that triggered me to think of KITZ (premium/vip member),  I immediately placed a call to him because if this print production buyer is applying for membership to our site, I'm thinking he is in buying process.

As we all know, buyers are reaching to the internet to find out as much as they can before they meet with a rep. In some cases they are seventy-five percent of the way into that buying process. 

My first call to Kitz resulting in leaving him an email, he then left me a message and we finally connected during lunch time.  I then asked him if that city was in his territory, and it was.  I then mentioned the name of the account and Kitz told me that he had an appointment with that person tomorrow. 

After fourteen years of running this site, I'm always thrilled when the site can develop interest with end users and we're able to connect them with the best reps in the imaging industry.

Even though this wasn't technically a lead, it was confirmation that a buyer was in the process of learning more.

I can't promise every Premium/VIP member receives leads, because our site isn't really built for that. The Print4Pay Hotel site is built to share our knowledge and collaborate with others in our industry in a private forum and not like Linkedin in an open forum.

What I can tell you is that I will continue to develop this site as the "go to" site for all imaging reps, and dealer principals. 

-= Good Selling=-

In business, everyone is accountable to someone or something. Today our teams want the ability to monitor their goals, and they want their leadership to care enough to help them establish and manage those goals. With all the technology and the abilities, most have in using it. Why are some managing their teams like it’s 1980? Today’s worker wants to succeed just as yesterday’s worker. With today’s management technologies dysfunctional trends, and ways to improve are easily defined. Many organizations do invest in data technologies the problem they neglect to implement the disciplines and processes needed to benefit from them.

“Statistical Data is where you find the proof that Emotional Data is miss-leading.”

Too many managers are ignoring data. They continue to wing their approaches to discipline they rule on emotions and are blind to facts. However, most of their team members expect and accept accountability. They are aware of their job duties and want to improve continuously. Teams and their members want to understand the value they bring to the company from what they do and how they do it, they judge and hold themselves accountable, they raise the bar on their self-improvement, are excited when data complements their work, and they accept the challenge when the data say’s improve.

Ok, those who disagree with that last paragraph are more than likely the manager who still rules on emotions rather than data and their teams are wondering around aimlessly. The bottom line with data the team and the team’s leaders become accountable; the data is void that crippling management trait of emotions. Data does not care about emotions data deals in facts.

"Data eliminates the nonsense from the reality of the circumstances it monitors."

Of course, we are all humans, and sometimes the human interface needs to balance with the data collected. Although if we don’t trust our data we more than likely do not understand how the data works, or we are too suborned to change our mindset enabling us to be open to the changes the data tells us are needed.

“Help shows up when stubbornness leaves.”

Management who embrace managing by proven data will have teams who respect the decision and the direction the data tells them to travel. The time is now to trust in data; the time is now to admit that data knows more than you. It is 2017 managing without data and not using the data you collect is management malpractice.  

So, if you trust your data why we would not respect it? Or do you temporarily believe you are smarter than the data? It seems that sometimes we fear the data because it may highlight our weaknesses and if we ignore it maybe in our mind we get a stay of execution. One thing is for sure, data does not fire people, and data, for the most part, could care less what you think, after all, it’s paid to think for you. What drives data crazy is when it tells you something needs to be fixed then tells you how to fix it, and then you ignore it. Without humans, data is useless. Leaders understand data takes the mystery out of how performance is measured and monitored. It’s 2017 give Data a voice in your business oh, then listen because Managing By The Data, It’s What Leaders Do  

R.J. Stsieczko  

For over 25 years BEI Services has been recognized as the world’s largest database of service metrics for the Imaging Channel. With hundreds of organizations, thousands of Technicians, millions of devices and billions of pages on the BEI Platform, the statistics we provide to our partners is unprecedented data; our data helps our customers understand and achieve best in class Profit benchmarks. Taking Control of Operating Cost has never been more critical to the future success of our customer's providing them the needed resources for budgeting their growth to continuous relevancy. It is from the knowledge of facts in our Trademarked Worldstats Database which allows BEI partners to improve by accurate measurement eliminating the emotional noise of complacency. https://www.beiservices.com/

Kudos to you, if your sales team is on track to meet or exceed their sales goals this year. Even if this year has been a bit challenging, now is the perfect time to make a few adjustments, tweaks and commit to a successful 2018. Set aside quality time to do some serious planning so next year you and your sales team obtain extraordinary results.

As you reflect and start working on your business plan for 2018, think about one word...

"TRANSFORMATION"

According to Wikipedia... Sales Transformation is a change management discipline that enables company executives to improve sales performance by aligning the resources that relate to sales, management, marketing and customer service, or improving sales talent and sales operations.

What are your plans to improve the sales performance within your sales team?

A simple way to think of sales transformation is moving from defining what is going to change to achieve sales growth to figuring out how to make the change stick. 

Sometimes change is the first step in turning your sales team around or giving them the big push necessary towards achieving success.

When it comes to transformation, don’t rely on your marketing or finance team, BUT when it comes to transforming, your sales organization matters more than any other department. Your business lives, dies, or thrives on your sales teams' performance.

What are you personally going to do to transform yourself and drive change within your sales team?

THERE IS ALWAYS WORK TO BE DONE

Only 57% of quota-carrying reps actually reach attainment. So, many your sales reps really aren’t the best and a good part of your sales team may be coming up short.

What is missed quota attainment costing you as the sales leader?

Will + skill = peak sales performance

Ultimately, isn't it part of your job as a sales leader to drive and create meaningful change in order to achieve meaningful sales results? But where do you start?

ADD THESE (3) SIMPLE P'S TO HELP YOUR SALES REPS SMASH THEIR 2018 SALES TARGETS

WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE, PLAN AND GOAL FOR 2018?

I am quite confident you along with the other leaders within your organization can explain your corporate vision, mission, purpose, plan and goals. My question and challenge to you... Can the same be said for your sales reps? Can they explain their vision, mission, purpose and their plan?

THE FIRST SIMPLE "P" - PLAN

What are you waiting for? Create the environment now to successfully motivate, manage and educate your sales reps to grow their mindset and skill set. Do not wait! Become proactive and take massive action to insure their success.

Help them to create their 2018 business plan. Start by having them answer the following questions...

• What is your plan to grow your business by xx% in 2018?
• What are you going to do to enhance your attitude, skills and knowledge?
• What are you going to do to enhance your mindset and skillset?
• What support do you need from management?

Schedule with each one your sales reps the time necessary to personally review their answers. As you listen, with encouragement let your sales reps know you will be working with them to ensure their plan for 2018 is attained. Ask them second level questions such as...

• What steps are you willing to take to insure your success?
• What are you willing to commit to in order to insure your success?
• What is your tolerance for getting uncomfortable?
• What will this mean to you?
• Where will I be at the end of 2018?

THE SECOND SIMPLE "P" - PROMOTE

How are your sales reps perceived by your clients? How are your sales reps perceived in the marketplace by your future clients? Sales leaders, it is imperative... your sales reps must become proactive in how they promote and market themselves.

How do you expect your sales reps to get noticed when no one in the marketplace knows they exist?

If you want your sales reps to crush their numbers and exceed their quota you must allow them to promote themselves. This isn't bragging about their tenure in the industry, how many times they made the president's club trip or how great of a company they work for; this is about positioning your entire sales team as subject matter experts in your marketplace.

It starts with having them build their brand presence and no other has built a brand presence through self-promotion than the one and only Grant Cardone.

"Promote yourself until people know your name and your face. Promote until they know you as a threat. Keep promoting until they know you as the leader in your space. Promote yourself until your competition is no longer threatened by you but finally admires you and wants to collaborate with you."

Grant Cardone

Your sales reps self-promotion begins with building their brand on LinkedIn. My challenge to you and your entire sales team, your sales team must become better marketers as well as better sales reps as their sales funnel and bank account will love them for it.

THE THIRD SIMPLE "P" - PROSPECT

Sorry sales leaders, ask any one of your sales reps their strategic plan for prospecting in order to develop NEW BUSINESS and listen for stone cold silence. Strategic and well planned out business development, where has it gone?

Think about this one and let it sink in for a bit...

How would your sales team crush quota in 2018 if more than 50% of your client base decides not to purchase anything new?

There is a great study out by Richardson, inside the 2016 Selling Challenges Study; they surveyed more than 400 sales professionals and revealed the top three prospecting problems salespeople are grappling with today:

1. Identifying triggers/sales signals that indicate issues they can resolve
2. Identifying target accounts
3. Qualifying prospects

Technology is driving change and so should your sales teams approach to business development.

Prospecting unfortunately has become a lost art. It has to be taught, nurtured and coached to by sales leaders. Yet in most businesses today, it’s rare that anyone teaches salespeople how to effectively prospect. 

Create a plan with each one of your sales reps to prospect for relationships. Done properly, it delivers higher sales, increased productivity, greater profits, and an exceptional customer experience. Relationships built on trust and confidence makes buying from your sales reps easier for every prospect they cultivate.

TIME IS NOW FOR ALL SALES LEADERS

To have your sales reps crush quota in 2018 you must develop a change maker mindset. You are the sales leader! You must to set the example for others to follow. You must build something bigger than the walls of your own ego. You must become vulnerable. You must set aside your ego and reach outside of your silo to integrate the three P's of planning, promotion and prospecting.

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!

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 LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of 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 tell their story and communicate it out by integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

After reading a recent thread on Linkedin posted by Dale Dupree the self-proclaimed “Copier Warrior” who is slaying high costs and conquering poor service. I thought it would be a great time to write about what’s driving the “Real Race to Zero in the Copier Industry”.

If you check out Dale Dupree’s profile page to learn more about him and what hes does to make himself unique and different in his marketplace.

Part of Dale’s comment below:

Copier reps are not out selling workflow strategies and basing an ROI around your business processes and how they relate to the device. And they’re definitely not selling the most important piece.

Instead, they tell you how #CHEAP they are first then they show you all the fancy facts about the machine, half of which you’ll never utilize and most you don’t even understand.

My response

Interesting to say the least. I have 37 years experience in selling copiers. Geesh, that's a long long time. The blame for the cheap price game is directly related to a couple of facts. I do not disagree with Dale's statement, but would like to enlighten all on how we got to where we are.

First

First one,  is revenue quota's on salespeople. In essence in to get to the bonus levels you need to hit the quota gates, if you don't, the basic commissions and salary can't or won't pay the bills. Thus, the high turn over in the industry today.

Years ago, there were mostly GP (gross profit) commission plans, you had to hold margin in order for a good commission, thus you had to hone your craft and skills of building relationships, selling ROI, prospecting and developing a great business acumen.

Workflows is a great talk track and that’s all it is until you can find pain points. Yes, on every appointment those good salespeople are looking for those pain points. But, in many opportunities, those pain points don’t exist or there is no exciting feature that will increase productivity for the end user. Alas, when that happens it’s more about getting the best price, the best service and the best quality for the lowest price. Which is impossible, yet prospects still try.

Second

Secondly, most (not all) dealer principals could not give a rats ass about how much money you (the salesperson) make. Only if you started to make more than they did.

A rep could meet his or her quota each month, make zero GP and the principals are delighted. That’s because their margins are already built into the SRC (sales reps cost). If you make more GP, then you’re adding tons of profit to that bottom line for that rep. Many of the better reps who generate decent GP are then subsidizing the salespeople that don’t perform as well. I’m not stating this is a bad thing, just the way it is.

Third

Thirdly, most of the very good reps (ones that sold on GP) always stayed in the dealer community and most (not all) never went into managers positions because they were doing quite well with doing what they do best which goes back to the skills of building relationships, selling ROI, prospecting and developing a great business acumen. Thus, most sales managers were not great salespeople but were capable of following directions and making a plan to hit their revenue each month and quarter. Many of these  managers promoted selling the devices at SRC and spun the tale of upgrades as the future of a recurring revenue stream. “Just think in three to five years you’ll be able to sell this account again and make a profit”. Yup, all well and good intentions until that company is out of business, moved away, was bought by someone else, your contact left, your contact died, the company was bought by another company.”

After a few years, most sales reps did not see the light at the end of the tunnel with that method of selling at cost and then left for greener pastures.

Lastly

The manufacturers are also to blame for some of the unrealistic quota’s that are placed on dealers. In order to meet those quota gates and to get those backend cash incentives (which has turned into an addiction for most) dealers had to move boxes at any cost because the backend incentives are so high.

Then new comp plans were created to incent sales reps to sell @SRC, thus any sales rep would realize they could make more commissions selling at SRC rather than selling with a Gross Profit.

All I’m saying is that it’s not just the salesperson, there is much blame to spread across the entire industry. I for one believe it’s too late for change here in the US copier industry. No manufacturer is going to lower their quota levels and tell the dealer to sell to higher GP. Their business plan has nothing to do with your business plan.

Selling copiers aka today is much more about knowing when and where you can make GP, what you can take and what you can’t take, where you can win and where you can’t. For those of us that are in major market areas, we have to fight every day with every direct branches that is selling at dealer cost or below.

Yes, learning to sell value is much needed, but when your device is twice the cost of the direct branch, that turn can turn a head or two. The prospect then thinks, “I can go to this dealer and pay twice as much rather than going to direct and paying half the price. “ It’s all about the comp plans!

If you’re fortunate to be with one of the megadealers in the major market areas, then as a salesperson you have a leg up on all of your competitors because of mega dealers huge buying presence with the manufacturer.

Late last year, I heard from another dealer principal that was planning a one million dollar purchase with a manufacturer. The manufacturer offered 90 points off of LDC (low dealer cost). Not sure if the deal went or not, but at 90 points I’m doing that deal. Think about the cost of those copiers. If the dealer made his usual margins,  then the cost to the end user was closer to the wholesale cost that another dealer would pay for the same box. It’s insane what goes on.

I firmly believe that Japanese have honed their manufacturing skills so much over the last thirty years that the cost to manufacturer a multi-functional copier is 5-10% of the MSRP.

If you’re in a secondary market, that type of market usually doesn’t have as much direct pressure then you’re in a much better place. You can hold more GP because there is not the pressure of every manufacturer that’s trying to dump a box.

If you’re in a tertiary market, then my hats off to you as a salesperson and you must be living the good life! I have visited a few of these markets in the US and those reps are doing quite well. No direct pressure, maybe two major dealers, no price dumping, low cost of living. It’s the Atlantis (not to be confused with Atlantic) of copier sales.

So, that was kind of a long rant about giving crap away and selling value. Remember don’t blame the salesperson, put the blame on the entire industry.

It's the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of the reps could or will not care, twenty percent of the reps are the ones that do care, do make gross profit, make a nice living. I'm just glad to be part of that twenty percent.

-=Good Selling=-

New Jersey Print Shop Selects Pre-Owned Ricoh MP W3601SP vs KIP 3000

Buy a pre-owned wide format multi-functional KIP 3000 or buy a pre-owned Ricoh MP W3601SP from an Authorized local dealer?

That was the scenario that I ran into a few weeks ago with a new prospect.  I can’t blame prospects for searching the web for to get the most bang for there buck.  However, with wide format multi-functional devices there can be many pitfalls to buying for the lowest price.

Our Ricoh MP W3601SP offered a dual roll feeder.  The dual feeder option is hard to find on pre-owned Ricoh MP W3601SP’s because at the time of the ordered you could order only a single roll feeder or a dual roll feeder.  Since the dual roll feeder were more expensive, there were many more orders for the Ricoh MP W3601SP with in the single roll configuration.

The single roll feeder can’t be converted to a dual roll feeder.

Our strengths going in were these:

You can read the rest of the story here.

But, I need to tell you more about the site you are going to.  The site jerseyplotters is my site. I pay for it, I maintain it, I write the content for it and I generate leads from the site for wide format devices.  Yes, it has taken some time to develop those leads  since I don't write as much content for jerseyplotters as I do for the Print4Pay Hotel.  But, that's one thing we all have is time.  Just don't watch the one sports game, one movie or one Gold Rush episode and you'll have the time.

If interested you or your dealership can have a site like jersey plotters where the content is written for you. It's a turnkey site that will develop lead after lead after lead.

If interested please email jesse@pahoda.com and he can explain how this works.-=Good Selling=-

I guess first and foremost I remember those of my family that honored the call of their country.  My father,  that was stationed in the South Pacific during WWII, and my grandfather that served during WWI. Then most recently my son that served in the Army National Guard.

I also remember meeting many other Veterans that had served in Vietnam as I entered the workforce after High School. 

I understand that our country could not be what is today with out the sacrifices of all who have served in the last two hundred and forty two years.  

Thus, I'd like to thank all of our Veterans and all who are serving for keeping those of us at home safe and secure. 

I was looking out the window to the small dog park below. In the park, a Boston Terrier was running after a squirrel. His leash was free from his owner’s hand, his owner running in a zigzag manner after him trying desperately to catch the leash. The Leash flying in the wind as the dog ran faster and faster toward the squirrel, a squirrel who was quickly reaching the busy downtown roadway at the edge of the park.

Sometimes the leashes business owners have on their Operational Cost are temporarily dropped or are pulled from their hands. Either way losing control of cost is as dangerous to a business owner as a busy street is to a dog in a frantic run to catch a squirrel. Running after the leash to get control is a matter of life and death for both the Dog and the Business Owner.

Why does the way it is now become the way it will always be? What forces cause any owner to become ok with something when they know things can be better? Or do they have the data to know what needs improvement? In today’s fast, moving business world knowledge is mandatory for making quick decisions. Today organizations must continuously improve. This ability to continuously improve is the greatest advantage many new companies have over their legacy competitors. Data and the ability to understand how to mine that Data is creating new competitors, transforming industries, disrupting others, and will untimely destroy some.

Today’s new business leaders don’t see Data as pain or a workflow they need buy-in to implement. Today’s new leaders understand the old management style of emotions over facts and this is how we always did it management is counterintuitive to the ability to adapt to markets at speed required. Today whether you lead a new company or a legacy organization without implementing a Data strategy and speed to action policy you will be left behind.

If your organizations have had the same business practices for more than five years, let alone ten or twenty years. It’s time to shake it up; it’s time to grab the leash you dropped when there was no threat of the dog running in the road. It’s time to understand the true impact of the changes which have impacted every industry, it’s time to implement programs using data, and most importantly it’s time to take control of your business operations. The best way to improve the bottom line is to capture back every cent of wasted operational cost. Too many organizations focus on selling their way out of bad management. What if instead they had excellent operations and fed the bottom line by eliminating the waste above the line, what if they put equal emphasis on hunting for profit as on the hunting for revenue?    

Sometimes new energy is needed. Stop believing that the way it was is good enough to continue as the way it can remain. My last question is this. Why is it that nothing is the same in what we do, but some still insist that how they do it should not change? Leaders are the only ones who will grab the leash as the runaway management heads to the dangers of the cars in the street. The times of thinking one has time for status quo is over. The new leaders have teams which continuously improve they improve because they understand how to manage from data while their legacy competitors continue nurturing teams who fight to remain the same.

If you’re in the Imaging Channel, let BEI Services help. The service operation of the Imaging Channel is a treasure chest of profitability if you control your cost and managing by our data will put the Leash back in your hand. https://www.beiservices.com/

R.J. Stasieczko         

"We will continue to see a convergence of the digital and physical world. Those who conquer that trend will be market leaders"

John Phillips, SVP of Logistics, Pepsico

Digital evolution has changed how organizations conduct business. Disruption is everywhere as change is happening all around us. Your clients and prospects now have new ways of communicating using social media, forums, product and peer reviews. They gather real-time information on your products and services as they engage with businesses in real-time using mobile phones and more.

The educated buyers of today, now research your business, your sales reps and competitors at the click of a mouse, reading reviews and seeking out advice without ever leaving their desk.

Like it or not, in the digital first world, your company's online content quite possibly are your sales reps. If they aren't providing the kind of online information your prospects are searching for, you may lose out on potential sales opportunities.

How are you preparing your sales team for success in a digital business world?

"Technology-based innovation is arriving faster than most organizations can keep up with. Before one innovation is implemented, two others arrive," said Daryl Plummer, vice president and Gartner Fellow, Distinguished. "Speed of change will require variability of skills and capabilities to address rising challenges." 

Question for all technology leaders...

Are your sales reps walking, talking and acting like technology savvy sales reps or are they operating with an analog mindset in a digital business world?

How are you developing the skill set needed for your sales team to smash their sales targets?

TECHNOLOGY + RELATIONSHIPS = BETTER SALES

Are you helping your sales team adopt and adapt new tools to help them eliminate sales growth bottlenecks? Sales leaders who want their sales teams to connect with B2B buyer must empower them through useful and transparent engagement. 

Many sales leaders of today cut their teeth and grew up with traditional prospecting methodologies, generating leads in person at conferences, networking events and using the phone. Folks, traditional is still alive and well but digital aspects of selling requires an entirely different skill set and mode of engagement.

For your sales reps to reach prospects in meaningful ways, they must be mobile and digital savvy; becoming a student to their online consumption and communication patterns.

This doesn't mean traditional aspects of prospecting along with the relationship building component is any less important. If anything, relationships are all the more vital in an increasingly crowded marketplace. When all offers inside the buyers mind appear equal, they in turn, tend to buy from people they like and trust. However, your sales reps must begin potential relationships where their buyers hang out as a majority of them begin searches online.

This means new buyers are coming to the table more highly qualified than ever before. However, because buyers have already done their homework, they have little patience for sales professionals who aren’t complete experts in all of the details of their products and services.

3 SIMPLE WAYS TO DEVELOP A DIGITALLY SAVVY SALES REP

Think about this for a moment...

• How can your sales team become a business partner on behalf of your clients?
• How can you redefine their role inside a digital business environment?

GUIDE THEM TO CONSTRUCT THEIR ONLINE PRESENCE

I encourage you to look at each and every one of your sales reps LinkedIn profiles then pretend you’re a potential client and ask yourself...

• Are they presenting themselves as helpful experts?
• Are they capturing their target audience with value centric messaging?
• Are they clearly explaining your services?
• Are they providing educational content?
• Are they clearly explaining why someone should meet with them?

Would I buy from my sales reps based upon how they've positioned themselves online?

Buyers are increasingly googling not just the company, but your sales reps before a sales meeting. More than likely, they will also reach out to their networks, or better yet, they may open up the digital business door; your sales rep's LinkedIn profiles. What’s behind their LinkedIn door could determine their future sales success. Repeat after me the word, “vet”… Get it?

Personal branding is about taking control of the messages your prospects and clients get back. I guarantee, if your sales reps don’t control these messages then someone else will. I recommend a great article by Michael Simmons, How To Bulletproof Your Reputation In The Digital Age. Online reputation platforms help others understand who your sales reps are and what they are all about.

Your sales reps must convey how they can help as opposed to telling everyone what they sell.

If their LinkedIn profile is designed around them, your entire sales team is missing a golden opportunity to make a great first impression.

Successful sales reps create their unique brand and rise above the noise! Think about the following: “How do your sales reps differentiate themselves enough so that prospects want to talk to them and not feel they are getting the same story they hear from every other sales rep?”

GUIDE THEM TO CURATE CONTENT ONLINE

A digitally savvy sales rep is relevant by becoming part of the buyer's decision making journey. They can do so by sharing and curating quality content as they help the buyer become educated about the business issue at hand which may result in how your company can actually help solve their concerns.

As part of their prospecting approach; relevant and educational content does drive conversation with the modern digitally driven B2B buyer. Successful sales reps integrate the use of content as an additional method of communication along with email, phone and other prospecting strategies.

In cases where sales and marketing may not be aligned, guide your sales reps to take ownership by building a digital library of content which can then be used to teach and tailor their audience (prospects and clients) throughout the buying process.

GUIDE THEM TO SOCIALLY LISTEN

The business environment is constantly changing. When your sales reps aren't paying attention to what their audience is saying, your current clients and prospects; they're basically giving key information to your competitors. What are your prospects pain points? What do they love about your sales reps, their service experience and your company? What are those in your industry talking about? What are potential clients taking about?

For simplicity sake, social listening allows your sales reps to leverage social media tools to monitor, track and uncover information which allows them to open up and engage in conversation as another form of prospecting - social prospecting.

Social listening augments prospecting by providing your sales reps with great intelligence tools. Social listening can be used to:

• Help understand the marketplace or sales territory
• Help understand the competition
• Help understand your clients
• Help understand your prospect
• Help to provide great customer service

Social listening provides the tools to help your sales reps gain better insight into what their targeted prospects and more importantly your clients are thinking. This allows them to be in better position to open up conversations to deliver what they need, when they need it.

We all know if your sales reps aren't opening up new conversations then we know what happens to their sales funnel - it dries up! It is about learning new ways to enhance their sales funnel.

SURVIVE AND EVOLVE

A digitally savvy sales rep should be someone who guides the buyer in their decision making and buying journey. I think they should educate, help negotiate, consult, seek solutions, provides post-sales services and manage the relationship as a whole.

The main point is that the digitally savvy, technologically enhanced sales rep has mastered the skills around traditional business development by blending in more modern methodologies to conform to the way the buyer interacts in their daily life, as they use technology to make their purchasing decisions.

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!

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 LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of 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 tell their story and communicate it out by integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

The one thread below reminded me of a recent appointment with a healthcare account.  So, much for FAX is DEAD, right?  Seems health care still needs and loves faxing. I'm guessing it's because faxing is still the most secure way of sending a document or maybe it's because it's just easier compliance for HIPAA.  What ever the reason, FAX is NOT Dead with healthcare.

On a recent healthcare install, I was asked if our Ricoh device could do a fax broadcast with the LAN Fax. I stated yes in can, and then asked why they wanted the fax broadcasting.  They stated that they are using a fax broadcasting service and are paying $75 per broadcast, and they were doing 4 broadcasts per month.  Dang, I blew it, I was not aware of this and if I was I probably could have added more GP to the order.  In any case,  whenever I'm in that type of account, I'm going to ask about fax broadcasting all of the time. 

If you're interested in knowing what type of healthcare account, please send me an email and I'll tell you.  apost@p4photel.com

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