Selling Price Alone, Whats the Problem with Reps, Sales Managers and Dealers

I feel that the days of picking which customer type you choose to sell to are gone. It used to be that all I had to do was keep enough in my pipeline and I could hold the line on price and let the others fall. Anymore, I would starve if I only sold to those who appreciate my skills enough to pay a premium. Now I get revenue where I can even when there is no G.P. and I get G.P. where I can. Usually there are few sales inbetween.

I feel the same way as well.  How about everyone else? John, Larry, Jason, Mike, Bill?

There is constant pressure to hit your numbers to keep management off your back- the quotas keep rising and there is only so much business to spread around. Lots of reps hop around and bring their account base (and their former colleagues' accounts) so now there are multiple reps chasing the same account, and all have experience. Unless you are hitting a new market, product or adding incremental business to your client base, competition is always lurking, and the market is savvy.

I thought about commenting on that discussion, but decided not to... Here is my $0.02.

Pricing is important. We are selling a commodity. It's a copier... People don't care about it unless it breaks... Most of our customers are small to medium businesses. They want something that prints, copies, scans and faxes in colour. They don't give two ****s about workflows. If they want a workflow, they are not going to contact a copier company for that! Software, workflows and PDF editing software are "marketing" tools that you can use to differentiate yourself from your competition. Sometimes pricing is your marketing strategy to get your foot in the door!

If you think that "cheapest price" is the deciding factor, that's just not true. People don't make decisions off of a $10 per month difference. People still buy from people, which means that relationship building, providing value and having integrity are traits that will contribute to your success (and your closing ratio). But your pricing absolutely needs to be in-line with the local market pricing in you area. Which means if dealers in your area are selling 25-ppm A3 colour boxes for $99 per month and service at $0.01, $0.07, you have to be in-line with that pricing! 

If you want to keep money in this industry, you need to keep your costs as low as possible in order to maximize your GP. This means strategically working with multiple brands, selling refurbs when possible and promoting A4 machines when the customer doesn't need 11x17. And you need to have a territory large enough to keep your family fed. As more and more people leave this industry (or try to stay out of it), territories get bigger and bigger and the competition diminishes. 

If a rep can sell at a 30% premium consistently, that's great for him and her. Every city is different based on the aggression level of the competition. Personally, I quote very aggressive on competitive deals because I want the business. You never know where a new account will lead and I have the stories to back it up (as I'm sure all of you do too). 

The fun part of this business is winning. Whether I sell a $250,000 major account or a $1000 fax machine, it's the same feeling. Winning is winning! If a customer wants to negotiate for $10 per month less, I will give in or meet the customer halfway. A customer won today is worth double or triple the GP in 3 years. 

If anyone wants to know what my margins are on A3 and A4, feel free to PM me. 

bill w posted:

There is constant pressure to hit your numbers to keep management off your back- the quotas keep rising and there is only so much business to spread around. Lots of reps hop around and bring their account base (and their former colleagues' accounts) so now there are multiple reps chasing the same account, and all have experience. Unless you are hitting a new market, product or adding incremental business to your client base, competition is always lurking, and the market is savvy.

Bill, Old Glory

We are the "old souls" of the industry!  I'll bet our combined experience is at 100 years or more.  The pressure comes from the quota's, and then the managers to hit those numbers. 

I've had both revenue, GP and revenue/GP quotas. My favorite was the GP quota, less stress. pick and choose your battles.  For those that state, I'm always going to get my price and not sell lower, well then let's see how long you last in the industry.  You might be able to so that in a small market, and I stress might heavily, but in the large metro areas it's not going to happen.

Just hit singles day after day after day.  The rest will take care of itself.  The reps who swing for the fences are the ones who won't last.

I'm not sure how I missed this post. I will comment now that I missed it and come back with something tomorrow. Too late for me now.