COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Sixteen of Selling

Art PostVIP 8/27/208:30 PM

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Sixteen of Selling

Yes, I've been slowing down a bit on my blog posts lately. When you're in a bit of a thunk who the heck wants to write about that!

I've done my fair share of prospecting this week and I'm going to get nowhere near 400 calls. I'll be happy if I get my hundred or so along with my hundred emails.

I have one appointment scheduled for tomorrow and there is no closing opportunity. I'm still hoping my opportunity ($13k) from last week can still come through by tomorrow. I thought I would let the ball travel with them for a day or two.

Is it too early to start talking about Section 179? I don't think so because the earlier we speak about it the sooner some deals may get done. In the past I would wait until October and have that chat with the client about the end of the fiscal year. This year there will be no mention of the end of the fiscal year but the need to take advantage of those tax advantages while they are still in place. Anyone getting my drift here? Come November there may or may not be a new Marshall in town (D.C.) With executive orders more normal than they once were a new President may elect to make sweeping changes at warp speed. Business owners will need to pay attention if there is a change and will need to be pro-active. Starting tomorrow one of the questions in emails and phone calls will be "have you thought about using section 179 yet for this fiscal year?"

I was talking with a leasing rep today about their book of business. I was curious how that person was doing moving into the end of the year. I thought the answer would be doom and gloom, but I was surprised when that person told me it's still going to be a good year. I asked "why so good?" and was told it was due to the falling out of a major player in the leasing business a few months ago. It never ceases to amaze me that in such difficult times that there are still many businesses that are killing it! Our job is to seek out those businesses and get the conversations going while the business it good.

I'm feeling a little more upbeat about September now since one of my $30K deals finally emerged from the weeds yesterday. In the next few days we'll get back to business to see if we can make something happen. This opportunity was not in my funnel for September. In my previous blog I stated I needed an additional $80k in my funnel for this month. The $30K is back in along with another $8k from an appointment that I had this afternoon. Total is now $37K added and $43K to go for the funnel. Make the funnel full and good things will happen.

It was Monday or Tuesday when I contacted a couple of my larger accounts. What's large to me is probably small to others. I was told on both calls that they will not have employees back to the office for the remainder of this year. A conversation with another larger account told me end of first quarter for 2021. I would suspect that this is the case with many larger companies and it's probably a great time to keep after the low hanging fruit (smaller clients) since they can change and adapt quicker than larger companies.

I also read and interesting article in the NYTimes today about emails. That email went on to speak about "hope you are well" subject or in the body of the message. Seems most are thinking "well, how the frak can I be well when there's a pandemic". The article offered no alternatives but posted some other rants from those receivers and senders. I'm still going to use it because I really do care that you and your family are well.

I hope this email finds you well

That's about it for today and tonight, can't wait for tomorrow since we never know what tomorrow will bring us!

-=Good Selling=-

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SalesServiceGuyMaven VIP

"Essentially, Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income".

... I interpret this to mean that you are suggesting that a customer should take the full tax deduction this year to get short term tax relief.

This means in years 2-5 no business expense deduction will be available.

Maybe this thought track implies to take the short term advantage today in hopes of more prosperous years in the future when COVID-19 is behind us and the future normal is realized.

I believe the future normal is being played out now. The future normal will not be solved by a magic vaccine that resets the world back to how the world operated 12 months ago.

The old normal relied on people to work, travel and play in large groups. The clear trend is for people to decentralize, use technology and work from where they are most comfortable.

Sure some industries require people to congregate and work closely together. Knowledge workers do not need to congregate. Those parking lots you talk about will probably never fill up they way they were again regardless of politics.

8/27/209:45 PM

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Art PostAdmin VIP

@SalesServiceGuy posted:
"Essentially, Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income".
... I interpret this to mean that you are suggesting that customer should purchase rather than lease a copier.
In my experience when customers purchase equipment they tend to try and hang onto it much longer than five years. There is also little chance to upgrade them early into a new copier.
Maybe within five years you plan to be done with outside sales? You have been at it for a long time and hopefully have a nice retirement fund.

ty for the comment! The client can also select a lease with a $1.00 purchase option. God willing I'm still doing this in 5 years. The thought of mentioning Section 179 is more to give the client an alternative choice especially if they are not fond of leasing. There's a lot of risk out in the market and I think it's back to the days of 2008 where clients identified the risk and made their choice to lease or buy. Yes, I would love to have them lease since there would be another "trigger" point down the road. However moving into the end of the year I'll be happy with any revenue whether it's lease or purchase. Who knows maybe the other reps won't speak about it, if that's the case then I usually win. Winning is good!

8/27/209:52 PM

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SalesServiceGuyMaven VIP

The future normal will likely not be kind to print volumes. People will still need quality, secure office devices to perform their tasks. A3 devices will still be required. I sell more A3 than A4 by far but you have to compete at all price points in the market.

8/27/2010:02 PM

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Art PostAdmin VIP

@SalesServiceGuy posted:
The future normal will likely not be kind to print volumes. People will still need quality, secure office devices to perform their tasks. A3 devices will still be required. I sell more A3 than A4 by far but you have to compete at all price points in the market.

I agree about the future of print volumes. I still sell more A3 than A4's also. Our industry will move forward and continue to thrive but it will be more about managing everything for the client.

8/27/2010:08 PM

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