This morning a Virtual Copier reseller sales rep called to share a success story. What makes it all the more exciting is that this rep has been selling hardware, very successfully, for years. Recognizing the changes occuring in the hardware industry, recently made the decision to modify his standard hardware presentation to a total solution sales approach. You would be hard pressed to find anyone more excited.
In a nutshell, one of his customers was paying about $325/month for a copier. Over lunch yesterday, rather than launching into a hardware sales pitch, the sales rep wisely & casually opened the conversation by asking the customer questions about workflow, paper management, the cost of filing, storing, retrieving and sharing documents, the cost of finding or replacing lost documents and such.
This approach really got the customer's attention. Once he had a good handle on the details he gave his customer a brief overview & demo of the software application. The customer (law firm) was thrilled. They loved it. Then, without having to present all the "whistles & bells" for a new copier or having to go through the routine "what's your copier price" or "I'll get back with you", scenarios, the sales rep recommended the appropriate bundled solution. The deal was closed on the spot...a new & faster digital connected network scan enabled copier bundled with the software. And, the customer did not blink an eye at the $625/month payment. This astute sales rep said he did not "sell", but rather, "presented a logical and powerful total solution" to the needs and requirments outlined, by the customer, over lunch. He listened and he delivered a solution that made sense. Once again, as we are witnessing every day, "software presented properly, can help reps close more hardware deals", increase revenue and margins and provide a great service to their customers. Everyone wins!
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