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10 Years in the Cloud

December 2018

3 Things Sales Reps Need to Do To Help Smash Their Sales In 2019

"If you look at all aspects of all sports, everything comes down to basics and fundamentals."
Robbie Lawler

To everyone in sales, you can perform much better and become more successful, if you just learn to master with consistency the basics. 

Vince Lombardi, the great Green Bay Packers coach, once said that football comes down to only two things: Blocking on offense and tackling on defense, and those are the basics his teams spent 80% of their time on in practice. 

Many analogies have been made between sales and sports. It’s often been said the one key fundamental principle in sports is to focus on the basics, and the same can be said for the sales profession. Never is this truer than when times are challenging, just like they are now. There are certain key fundamentals, or basics, to follow that ultimately lead to sales success.

BACK TO THE BASICS

We frequently hear the term “back to the basics”. Regardless of the sales vertical, “back to basics” is in everyone’s playbook.

Basics provide the foundation for all sales success. Witnessing the success of great companies, we often question “How’d they do it?” We see the success but not how it was achieved. It may appear to us their success is luck, a twist-of-fate, or a rare combination of chance meeting opportunity. Success is more than circumstance. Success does not just happen. It begins with the basics.

"If you can't do the little things right, how can you do the big things right?"

Basics, the universal language of business people.

Think about this for a moment...

We are asked to give “basic ideas,” “basic info,” or “explain it to me like I’m in second grade.” We break down our world into basic, bite-size chunks, so it makes sense to train ourselves in the same manner.

Here's a simple hint...

Salespeople, you must get back to the basics. Applying the basics in 2019, will allow ordinary sales reps to do extraordinary things.

Believe in the basics, execute the basics, and succeed with the basics.

When we were young, teachers often focused on the “Three Rs.” These are readingwriting, and arithmetic. These three basics were the mainstay of education.

BACK TO THE BASICS FOR SALES REPS

In 2019, I encourage all those in sales to evolve from Business-2-Business selling to Back-2-Basics selling. All those in sales will become more successful by focusing on the basics. Regardless of language, company culture, generation, product, or industry; the basics are the key to any successful sales professional.

Sales professionals need these basic skills in 2019.

WRITING

I'm a firm believer salespeople can write. We all have the capability of writing, it's what we do with it.

We're now communicating in a digitally driven, socially connected and highly networked business world. Communicating your thoughts in writing is a critical skill salespeople must master in 2019.

Identify your self-limiting beliefs around writing and take action steps as it may open sales doors and business conversations. Isn't this what you want?

How well you communicate is critical to your sales success but how well you write about it will be catapult your success.

Writing attracts prospects. Writing opens up conversations. Writing opens up relationships.

I am here to inform you wisdom often comes from the mouth of salespeople.

Here's some help. Gather the top questions you hear from your clients and prospects during your sales meetings and answer them in a blog format. Potential prospects researching for those answers online could end up finding your blog posts.

Here are a few ideas for you (especially if you're a technology sales professional)

  • Top 5 reasons why implementing Document Management is critical to your business
  • 3 reasons document scanning can enhance productivity within accounting department's
  • 3 reasons why BYOD security is important within the digital workforce
"No one can write your sales story, so write it yourself"

READING

Imagine for a moment, what could you learn by reading every day to start your day? Set aside the first 30 minutes of your day to read.

When reading, your mind becomes engaged. The topics you read about can influence your conversations. Think about how this can help you to drive better business conversations with your clients and prospects.

How well are you leading your clients and prospects?

Feed your brain to kick start conversations with people. Read what the people you want to communicate with read.

"If you want a prospect to invite you to the table to bring ideas, you need to position yourself as someone that can help."
Darrell Amy

Where do sales professionals get these ideas? They come from reading.

Sales reps sell products. Sales professionals deliver ideas. Ideas come from reading.

  • How well are you driving conversation?
  • How well are you reading to learn?
  • How well are you sharing what you're reading?

"Sales winners educate with new ideas almost 3x more often than 2nd place finishers.", Insight Selling and the Rain Group.

Imagine the conversations you could start with your clients and prospects based upon the books you decide to read?

Give your clients a gift in 2019, your knowledge and insights based upon the books you read.

ATTRACTION

Inside a digitally driven, highly connected and socially networked business world... How well are you leveraging attraction and influence to help kick start business conversations?

What are you doing to attract people into conversations with you? How well are you getting out of the batter's box? Are you still stuck at home plate or are you standing at second base?

Attention sales reps, how well you... Capture, Converse, Collaborate, and Connect along with providing relevant and insightful Content to grab the attention of the executive buyer will determine your sales success. 

Sales reps must leverage content as conversation bait in order to help facilitate business conversations. How do you cast it out there?

It comes from...

  • The ideas you get through reading
  • Then sharing the ideas through writing

What can you do with the law of attraction? How does this fit into your prospecting approach? Position yourself and leverage the power of social to kick start conversations.

Reality check, most prospects feel sales reps are full of sh%T. As you capture, converse, collaborate and connect with your prospects; share with them what you're reading, educate them and help by guiding them in the right direction. One direction you can point them to is to your LinkedIn profile. This is where you can promote your business professional brand, your story, how you have helped your clients and what your prospects can expect when the get engaged with you. You can check out my profile here...

IN THE END... BASICS DO WORK

Chasing the shiny bullet doesn't work in the long run!

Refocus your attention on the basics? Shiny objects and a trick sales play occasionally work. A trick sales play strategy is built upon a façade, not fundamentals. It is time to get “back to basics” and stick with what works.

My challenge to all of you... Re-focus your effort. There's work to do and it starts with sales 101.

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! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

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

I Clicked and Didn’t See You

It’s a digital world, where are you? Today more and more of yesterday’s customers are finding new providers who deliver a digital better experience. I still hear many in sales talking about the need and value of building relationships. The problem is they are using 1990 construction methods.  

Today not only buyers but assumed happy customers are clicking their mouses in search of knowledge or, in search of something different, and unfortunately, many current providers are not showing up in their digital windows. Many don’t understand the battlefield where one fights to acquire and keep customers is more and more in a digital landscape.

“Customer experience is weighted heavily in the intersection between the digital and physical worlds.”  Abandon customers in this intersection are just a click away from finding a replacement.  

So, many believe that customers buy relationships they don’t, customers buy desired outcomes. Relationships are only one of the components to acquiring or keeping a customer, and today many great relationships are being taken away by new providers who deliver a better experience. Those who believe relationships are their greatest value will fall victim to those who provide a more valuable relationship.

The digital world is the birthplace of many of these better experiences and new relationships. Don’t miscalculate the importance of showing up in the digital windows of your customers. When your customers are surfing for information or your replacement make sure they find you not only educating them, but fighting to keep them as well.  

The power of the digital world is phenomenal. One can open the windows to the world with their fingertip where opportunities to explore the unknown are endless. So, remember, that when you enter the digital landscape do not limit yourself to only what you know.

 “It will be from what you learn in exploration which will spark what else is possible.”   

That last quote is also accurate for your customers, proving my point in the necessity to get online and learn quickly how to navigate both prospects and customers through that intersection between the digital and physical worlds.  

A tip from Ray

Next time you visit your customer ask them this. Of the products and services, we sell you, what have you discovered online which should concern us? Their answer might provide future directions to keeping all your customers.

See you online

Ray Stasieczko    

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago, The Last Week in December 2008

WooHoo, I'm on vacation this week, well at least from my day job!  Enjoy the threads from ten years ago this week!

Weekend Copier Notes from 12/28/08

·
, president of Xerox Office Group (XOG), Xerox products now account for only 55% of the MFPs that Global locations are selling. (now that Xerox is experiencing slower sales in the U.S., will it continue to allow other brands to be sold in its Global subsidiary?) In an article in The Wall Street Journal, Bill Jordan, president of United Auto Workers Local 599 in Flint, Michigan, where General Motors builds engines, said he has noticed that the copy machines and printers that used to be spread
Topic

COECO Recognized With Chairman's Award at Ricoh's 2008 Vision Dealer Conference

fast, dependable, and reliable service. Founded in 1921, COECO is one of the largest independent office equipment dealers in the southeast, representing such lines as Sharp, Ricoh, Kyocera, Kodak, HP and IBM. COECO services thousands of customers with sales and service representatives operating out of 11 locations in North Carolina and Virginia. For more information, please visit http://www.coeco.com/ . About Ricoh Americas Corporation Ricoh Americas Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N
Topic

Ricoh Introduces DocuClass Document Management Solution

the MFP control panel. "We are delighted to partner with Ricoh in delivering world-class document management solutions to the marketplace," said Nelson Cano, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Cima Software Corporation, Inc. "Going forward we will continue to develop innovative solutions for Ricoh customers." One of three Ricoh Alliance programs, RiSVP, developed in cooperation with Ricoh solution partners and Ricoh's direct and dealer channels, focuses on two key areas: expansion of channel
Reply

Re: High Volume Rebates

·
I'm not aware of any, aside from the Full Throttle program for the LD260c/275c. Now, if you're in a competitive situation against Canon or Xerox, you might ask your DSM if the manufacturer might help you out. We got approval for some $$ from Ricoh to keep Xerox out of one of our accounts in a matter of 20 minutes.
Topic

Kyocera TASKalpha quote from end user

just placed an order for a Kyocera TASKalfa 400ci (40ppm) with the dual auto doc feeder (single pass duplex) no service contract. $6900 (including the feeder, and stand)
Topic

Sharp A4 Color Units

·
Sharp announced that it will allow computer dealers to sell its new Frontier series of A4 color laser MFPs. They will be called “DX” models instead of “MX”.
Topic

RICOH DEVELOPER PROGRAM OFFERS ENHANCED MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ricoh Web Site: www.ricoh-usa.com CONTACT: Linda Montefusco Melissa Einfrank Ricoh Americas Corporation Peppercom (973) 882-2172 (212) 931-6171 Linda.Montefusco@ricoh-usa.com meinfrank@peppercom.com RICOH DEVELOPER PROGRAM OFFERS ENHANCED MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS New Resources Provide Unprecedented Level of Developmental Tools and Support West Caldwell, N.J., December 29, 2008 – Ricoh Americas Corporation, a leading provider of digital office equipment, today
Topic

Office equipment dealer makes acquisition

James Imaging Systems, a Brookfield provider of integrated document technologies, has purchased Marnett Business Center of Grafton, James Imaging president Tom Tegeder said Monday. The acquisition, effective Nov. 26, will grow James Imaging's business by 17 percent, said Tegeder. James Imaging is a dealer of Toshiba, KIP, Savin and HP office equipment, while Marnett sells and services Toshiba products in Washington and Ozaukee counties. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With the
Reply

Re: Pro C900 demonstration

Well, you could do what I have done with other systems, call your DSM, and get the contact at the nearest Ricoh portal, email them the files with the media specifics, have them print and then send them to you.
Reply

Re: Pro C900 demonstration

·
There is not a Tech Portal in dallas, but I believe a C900 will be installed at the "mini-portal" at the RBS Dallas branch. But chances of a Ricoh dealer getting in there for a demo will be slim. You may want to contact your DSM on how to best handle print sample requests and managing a product demo.
Reply

Re: To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas"

·
And, in addition to Sharp and Samsung, Canon has a real A4 (color) MFP as well.
Reply

Re: Kyocera TASKalpha quote from end user

I just got crushed by a 50ppm Kyocera with an incumbent account, they were at $7,600 with 3 years S & S with paper drawer and finisher. wish I would have had a sample print to show them.
Topic

Fake money isn’t what it used to be

By JOE LAMBE The Kansas City Star The Secret Service agent in Kansas City peered hard at a counterfeit $100 bill, ran a finger over it and grimaced in disgust. It was bad, ugly work. “Too slick, too,” said Charles Green, special agent in charge. More counterfeiters are using today’s ink-jet printers, computers and copiers to make money that’s just good enough to pass, he said, even though their product is awful. In the past, he said, the best American counterfeiters were skilled printers who
Topic

HP Indigo 7000 Installation Provides Powerful Combination of Quality and Speed for Li

Business, HP. “The installation of the HP Indigo 7000 Digital Presses furthers the company’s ability to expand their business and drive profitable growth.” Delivering fast production speeds of 120 high-quality four-color A4-size pages per minute with true offset and photo quality, the HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press provides print service providers engaged in general commercial, direct-marketing, photo specialty and book and publications printing a versatile, one-of-a-kind digital solution. The press
Topic

High Volume Rebates

Are there any High Volume rebates going on with Ricoh, I need to know asap if someone can please help me. I'm getting no help from higher ups, I think they took the rest of the year off.
Topic

Océ ColorWave 600: a BERTL star is born

handling and access to printed output, all aspects show a truly easy to use, green button color printer. BERTL’s Best 2008 In addition to the Outstanding product rating, Océ has received a BERTL’s Best 2008 award for the Océ ColorWave 600 stating it is the best innovative and new technology printer in 2008. BERTL’s Best Award winners are selected after rigorous analysis of the hundreds of digital imaging devices, software and management utilities on the worldwide market. While print and copy
Reply

Re: Pro C900 demonstration

Does Ricoh has a Technology Portal in Dallas?
Reply

Re: Pro C900 demonstration

·
No their is no Portal in Dallas. However, I seem to remember one of the Ricoh Press Releases said that every IKON Office would be equipped with one. Why IKON I don't know but that is how I remember it. Might do a C900 search here and see what comes up.
Topic

Aficio 2051 with SC 819 code

·
card in we get the SC 819 code as well. The m/c works alright as just a copier but we need the print/scan option to work as well. The current firmware is version 1.19.1 which of course is an older version. However, we can't update the darn thing since it codes out with the SD card in the slot. We've printed a SP log off and the SC detail description says "VM is Full". Could this all be from not having the 256mb card in? The cryptic part is that even with the print option and NIC and parallel cards
Topic

awards program

·
We have a sales person of the month award where salesperson with highest percent of quota recieves an individual plaque and name on annual board as monthly leader. I am considering a aslesperson of the year award to give to the person that wins salesperson of the month the most months out of the year. For a company with 6 sales reps what do you think would be a good prize for this rep? Thanks for any input!
Reply

Re: To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas"

This is what I've heard from Ricoh: Color wideformat scanning available on new 10pp or 12ppm in mid 09. That's alot of help, nothing for LV in the for seeable future. Color Gelsprinter supposedly on the way for late 09 or early 10. I'm not holding my breath for this. Unless Ricoh is keeping a GIANTIC secret, they have no plans for a 45 plus A4 mono or color device.
Reply

Re: Sharp A4 Color Units

WOW, what a slap in the face! I can see it now these units will be sold for 7% over cost. Bad move by Sharp just when they were starting to develop some good dealers again. Art
Reply

Re: High Volume Rebates

I'm not aware of Full Throttle, wonder if this applies to Ricoh dealers?
Reply

Re: awards program

·
On a seperate note, I don't like a reward for the person who gets first the most times vs the person with the highest % over quota for the year. If it is the same person either way great, but the possibility exists that a consistently good rep would lose out to the roller-coaster rep. I have also always utilized a G.P. quota as well and had the winner be the one with the best average...i.e. 200% sales & 100% G.P. would be a composite 150% as would 200% G.P. & 100% sales. I've never liked giving
-=Good Selling-=

Selling Copiers "The Rep that BS's the Prospect"

I apologize for not being able to write as much as I usually do.  December was a rather busy month, in fact the busiest December in years. Cheers to that!

It all started a few weeks ago when  received a lead (yippee) that was labeled "looking to lease a printer" .  I wasn't excited about the word "printer".  However, a lead is a lead and follow up has to be immediate when you get a new lead.

The Call

I was able to connect with the prospect that day on the phone.  I was asked if I sold Canon, I stated I did not and made reference to Ricoh.  My prospect went on to tell me that he had received a quote for a used (are you kidding me, used) Canon imageRUNNER Advance C5240. The prospect also stated that the C5240 also had a fiery.

While my prospect was telling me more about the Canon. I googled "Canon C5240 brochure".  I wanted to know about the print speed, paper size and substrate (paper weight) of the device. The Canon brochure is now displayed on my other screen and the prospect tells me that the Canon sales person stated the C5240 is only two years old. I was like WHAT?  I stated to the prospect "it cant be only two years old", he then replied "why". I immediately scrolled down to the bottom of the Canon brochure and there it was, the Canon brochure had a copyright date of 2012.

I then explained to the prospect that the C5240 (not the A version) has to be 4 to six years old and that he was being snowed by the sales person.  I then explained that copier models are usually only last 18-24 months before the manufactured upgrades that model.  I then countered with that the C5240 was upgraded in 2014 with the new C5240A version. By now I could sense that my prospect was now questioning everything he was told by the Canon rep. While I was on the phone with our prospect I had already emailed him the Canon brochure I was referencing.

I then dragged the Fiery in to the conversation.  I asked, "do you know what you're getting into with a Fiery that is four to six years old?". I went on to educate my prospect about the age of the hard drive on the fiery and stated that hard drives don't last forever. In addition I pointed out that the Fiery will need updated patches for the software and most likely does not come with a current license. I topped all of that off with the fact that he will have to calibrate the Fiery and you can't do that with out spectrophotometer. 

Alright, I poked enough holes in the Canon sales rep authenticity and created many concerns about the older Canon device. It was time to move on and that's when I asked him if he might consider something new?  My prospect was open to hearing more and I went on to give him the details about a new Ricoh C4504ex which had a little higher print speed than the Canon.  In addition I explained it was the end of the year, the end of the month, the end of the quarter and he was a new account which entitled him to an additional discount. 

It's been almost 40 minutes (we agreed that there was no need for a Fiery) into the conversation and it's now after 5PM at the office.  My prospect was somewhat on board with the pricing and the features (need bookletmaker) but non committal.  Through out the entire conversation I was also closing for a meeting to bring print samples and a brochure. Every time I asked I was shot down. 

Changing Gears

I decided to change gears because my prospect was looking at something used which meant that his price tag was somewhere around $5-6K, and I couldn't match that price point with the C4504. I then posed two questions to my prospect.

1.  Do you have a device at your office that will scan?  He stated yes

2.  Do you have a device that will make copies?  Another yes came out of him.

I stated, "Well this is a horse of a different color (I had watched the Wizard of Oz last night) we have two color printers that will print at 45 and 62 pages a minute and the pricing should be right in your wheel house"  Another 20 minutes had passed, my client was now leaning heavily towards the color A3 print with a bookletmaker. We scheduled an appointment for next week to me.

Next week I'm at the prospects office we reviewed the brochure, reviewed the specs for the bookletmaker, the duplex substrate specs and the pricing.  We then arranged for a demonstration at our office for a few days later.

My prospect is now in my office, we greeting each other.  He then tells me that the Canon rep got very mad at him on the phone and was insisting that his Canon only had 50K on the meter and was practically new. For me the keyword was "practically'", it was obvious that my prospect was all ears to me an not believing the Canon rep anymore.  Although my prospect did throw me a curve, stated the Canon rep had told him that the Ricoh machine was made out of 100% plastic while the Canon was made from heavy iron.  I went on to tell that client that was ridiculous because all of the manufactures (Canon, Ricoh. KonicaMinolta, Xerox) all use metal for thier frames and he's just grasping at straws.

We demonstrated the crap out of the C842DN, print quality, booklet making, paper sizes, and paper substrates.  Everything went well there was a few hitches with the substrate that he wanted to use.

What's the moral of the story? 

If I were on the outside looking in they would be:

1. Don't BS your prospect about the age of the device, you can find anything on the internet

2. Do push what you want to sell, rather dig deeper and help the prospect to understand thier needs better

3.  Always know that your prospect will do additional research after the first talk track

4.  Prove to your client that you are the guru in you geographical area when it comes to copiers and print devices.

5. Don't be a BS'er

Yeah, one thing I forget to mention is that the prospect mentioned that out of all the reps he had spoken to that I was the most knowledge and the most courteous. I enjoyed that compliment more that performing the demonstration.

-=Good Selling=-

What Does It Mean To Sell From The Heart?

"You've got to sell your heart"
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Selling From the Heart goes against everything that standard sales training teaches you. The world has changed and yet, how we sell seems to be stuck in past decades. No longer are the old-school or hard-nosed tactics working, it’s time for a change.

So how do you sell in this current environment? From the heart!!! You put the needs of your clients first. You place them up on a silver business platter. You intently listen to their every word, what they need and how you can best fill it. You care about them as people and develop strong relationships with them. You don’t go in for the kill, make the sale and abandon them. You take care of them each step of the way.

It is also about becoming your authentic self. It is not about copying what others do and how they look. The real you is waiting to come out, and it is wonderful. You have unique skills to bring to the table, and when you find them and use them, your sales will soar. You have an individual story, and it is time that it was heard. When you share who you are from the heart, it creates a connection that is not easily broken.

SELLING FROM THE HEART PODCAST

The Selling From the Heart podcast is home for authentic, effective, and socially-integrated sales strategies to help you master the art of selling. It's of practical ideas, we promise to challenge you to the core.

Every guest who comes on the podcast gets asked this question...

What does it mean to you to sell from the heart?

Recently, I posed this very question to my LinkedIn network... what does it mean to sell from the heart?

HEARTFELT RESPONSES

Luigi Prestinenzi

"I believe it's being who you are and not trying to be someone you're not. If you care about your customer and truly want to help them regardless of whether they buy or not this will come through."

J. Mark Sutton  

"To me it’s about knowing your discipline better than anyone. Becoming an expert in what you do makes your message and connection the most genuine."

Micah Booth  

"Being the true you and partnering with your clients to help them address a specific business challenge."

David Masover

"Empathy is a really important attribute for me in my personal sales and service delivery (sales coaching) endeavors, and I believe that it should be important for all true sales professionals. It is the perspective from which we can really understand what is going on with clients and prospects, and a great position from which to sell them what they need based on problems we have worked hard to understand and are determined to help solve."

Meredith Messenger, M.S.

"Authenticity, empathy, and forthrightness are all spot on. I would also add acting from a place of service to the mix. There is no sales technique or skill that could ever be more impactful than a genuine concern for and a desire to help and serve the person or organization you’re interacting with. It creates a passion and drive to provide value at every interaction and it shines through in everything that you touch."

Jeff Bajorek  

"I believe it means being true to who you are, as well as who your customer needs you to be."

"If we aren't true to ourselves we are simply empty suits showing up!"

Alfa Lambe ألفا عبد المجيد لامب

"For me ‘Selling from the heart ❤️ ‘ means standing on the Sales Stage with a Servant Spotlight over you & A burning desire in your own self to give , share , connect and create a warming environment for the customers larger interest !! Sales just follow ."

Andy Solomon

"To me, selling from the heart means that you care about the person across from you. That you’re acting in their best interest and putting the relationship before the sale."

Ammon McKinlay

"To be genuine and make someone’s life better as a result of the sale."

Chris Polek  

"I would say it is caring. Your heart will tell you what to do. I think Robin Williams said it best to Matt Damon when they said goodbye in Good Will Hunting: “Follow your heart son; you’ll do just fine.”

SELLING FROM THE HEART

Selling From the Heart is about becoming a true sales professional who takes responsibility for their results. They don’t blame others when things go wrong, they look inward and determine what they could have done to make the outcome better. It is not about blame but self-examination. Taking a true look at yourself and congratulating yourself on what you did right and making a plan to become stronger in the areas that you are weak.

Selling From the Heart is the new sales economy.

  • It's about knowing your values and living by them
  • It's about getting brutally honest with yourself
  • It's about doing the hard work to make sure you add value to your clients

I encourage all those in sales to make a difference and sell from the heart!

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! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

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

3 Tips To Avoid Sounding Like Another Sales Monkey On The Phone

"Monkey see, Monkey do"

Paper shuffling, sweaty palms, time to go to the bathroom, nobody answers the phone, surfing the internet; the excuses run rampant inside sales bullpens. Sales monkey business has run amuck inside sales teams of all sizes.

Isn’t the ability to pick up the phone to potential clients supposed to be one of the defining features of a sales rep? Then why do so many do almost anything but pick up the phone to potential new clients.

Successful sales professionals do not make excuses! They understand excuses is kryptonite to their sales performance.

Here we come, walkin'
Down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Ev'ry one we meet
Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singing
To put anybody down

With a comedic twist, a prior post 3 Things Sales Reps Must Use So They Don't Look Like Sales Monkeys With A Loaded Gun pinpointed how sales professionals successfully integrate the use of three silver bullets - Customer Relationship Management Software, Content and their Clients as their fellow sales monkeys run amuck inside the sales department.

What does a successful quota-busting sales professional do every day?

"Successful sales professionals don't monkey around! They use the phone!"

It’s no shock to learn the very best in sales are incredibly focused, organized, and clearly plan out each day with a set goal in mind.

Part of this plan involves the use of the phone as they use to secure new business meetings. How you say things to a prospect matters more than what you say. According to Sandler Sales Training, "only 7% of communication relies on the content of what you say, whereas 38% of communication is about other attributes of communication such as tonality, etc."

Sales professionals set aside the excuses and refrain from monkey business. They don't buy into the "Monkey See Monkey Do" philosophy. 

TOP SALES REPS AREN'T DISTRACTED BY SALES MONKEYS

Top sales reps successfully "ditch the pitch" and use these three things...

PRE-CALL RESEARCH

True sales professionals prepare for their phone calls. They've adopted the mindset of "Quality over Quantity". Pre-call planning success begins with small amounts of preparation.

Collecting a few key bits of information will help you gain valuable insight, if leveraged decisively, will separate you from all the other sales monkeys. When gathering this information, do so with the intent of trying to better understand the prospect’s challenges. Learn what makes their business tick and how you can become a problem solver for them. Demonstrate you have a vested interest in their success. This helps in driving an effective business conversation. Isn't this what you want?

There's a wealth of information inside company websites, business information sites and news outlets. With a few minutes of research, consider these questions:

  • What is my prospect’s market strength?
  • What are their top business concerns right now?
  • How are they positioned to handle these concerns?
  • Who are the key company decision makers?
  • How can I help?

Position yourself as the expert. Quality pre-call planning is one key to success and survival in a highly competitive sales environment.

BUSINESS ACUMEN

I am a firm believer business people buy from business people; not just sales people. Let that one sink in for a second.

According to a Forrester report, "only 27% of buyers find that salespeople are knowledgeable about the buyer's specific business." Additionally Corporate Visionsdetermined, "customers believe sales reps are 88% knowledgeable on product and only 24% on business expertise."

Sales professionals must have strong business acumen skills to provide value and insight as they communicate with prospects during phone conversations. Sales professionals have no time for monkey business when they are on the phone.

Sales professionals transform themselves into a true business advisor. Whether face to face or on the phone, engaging with a higher degree of business acumen sets sales professionals apart from the sales monkeys.

Increase in business acumen allows successful sales reps to...

  • Prepare for the sales process
  • Understand their prospects business strategy and current financial situation
  • Ask business situation questions, business challenge questions, and business opportunity questions
  • Position value from the client's business perspective

Strong business acumen helps a sales professional to better understand a prospect's pushbacks, placing those objections in greater context, helping them to move a possible meeting forward on the phone.

Sales professionals understand the phone is still an essential tool in the sales conversation.

REFERRALS

Let's do some simple math...

If 25 cold calls gets 0 results and 50 dials gets 0 results
25 x 0 = 0
50 x 0 = 0
Sales professionals don't increase their activity to expect different results they change their activity to something that works.

Quality calls will yield quality results. Sales professionals leverage referral calling into a prospect from their current clients, their network, or one of their strategic partners.

Sales professionals are constantly developing and working their target prospect list. They leverage this list as it makes it much easier when they ask a current client, their network or strategic partner for help.

Sales professionals leverage their social networks prior to contacting prospects. Socially minded professionals realize they may be one LinkedIn connection away from their best sales opportunity. They ask their network to edify them by making an introduction on their behalf which facilitates a rewarding experience on the phone.

Please think about this... If you provide a high level of service and your clients know, like and trust you then why not ask them to help grow your business?

"If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will"
Bob Hooey

I encourage you to ignore the sales monkeys as they run amuck inside your sales department. Please don't allow them to become a distraction from achieving the phone success you deserve. The only thing worse than phone distraction is a sales monkey with an empty sales funnel.

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! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

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

 

 

Xerox "Unable to Adjust"

About four weeks ago I was told that that Global Imaging was going to be absorbed by Xerox in the next few months.  In addition it was mentioned that this absorption would result with the loss of many managerial positions. In fact one of those managers called me to ask a favor in reference to a past issue that was posted on this site.  It didn't take long for me to put two and two together and I agreed that most of what I heard could come to fruition.

After that initial conversation the last four weeks proved to be unfruitful with not a peep out of Global or Xerox.

That all changed yesterday  

Early the AM I had a call from a former Global Manager that stated "the **** is about to hit the fan and I've had several texts from others confirming lay-offs with Xerox." I was then asked to reach out to my peeps and do some searching on the internet to corroborate the call and the texts.

A simple search on google for Xerox and the filter change to the past 24 hours showed at least four local news stories that the lay-offs had started.  One of those reporters stated that the round of lay-off was more with management rather than Union employees (after all these years I never new Xerox had Union employees).  Indeed something was happening in Xerox's Rochester, New York Campus. Yet more than halfway through the day there was no official word from Xerox.

Thus, I started posting some threads on the forums Xerox Global Rumors Today. Those threads are basically a mix of threads and links that I found on the web.  

I don't like hearing about people losing thier jobs at any time. However, the economy is in a good place right now and I'm sure many of those talented people will be able to find a new home. In fact on a recent forum that I visited there were recruiters posting threads to snap them up.  

I believe one of those threads mentioned up to one thousand peeps getting the pink slip, and some other threads had less. However, there was the common theme that the lay-offs were management positions.

I came across one thread that stood out among the rest. An anonymous person (they are all anonymous and I can't blame them) posed this question on a thread "3 Word Statement: Define the Cause of Xerox Decline".  That person stated "Unable to Adjust". You can find all of these threads at the www.thelayoff.com

FYI, another one of those threads made mention of the lay-offs within the Global ranks also.  "Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you read", someone told me that year ago and it stuck. I guess we'll just have to wait for some official announcements from Xerox in the upcoming days

Those of us in the copier industry understand that only the strong will survive the decline of office printing.  There are too many manufacturers competing for a piece of pie that continues to dwindle.  In major markets the race to zero frightens even me because I'm seeing cost per page agreements sold to clients that are unsustainable for dealers and direct branches.  Along with hardware pricing that can be as much as 65 points off MSRP. Just thinking about that type of discount really makes me wonder how low the manufacturing cost really is for MFPs.

What's the future for Xerox? I have no clue

Would love to hear from others on this.

-=Good Selling=-

Architect in New Jersey Adds Ricoh MP W7100

Ricoh MP W6700SP

front view

It’s not often that you can place a Ricoh MP W7100 in the field.  In most cases the Ricoh MP W6700SP is more popular because of the lower price point from the Ricoh MP W7100. It’s also about the print speed too.  The W7100 will print at ten pages per minute.  The Ricoh MP W6700 prints at 6.7 pages per minute.

Our existing client had an older Ricoh W2470 (owned) and the Ricoh W5140 (end of lease) in place.  However, their volume has increased to about twenty thousand square feet a month.  Initially our thoughts was to just upgrade the W5140 with the Ricoh MP W7100.  In addition the new Ricoh MP W7100 does not support the older Plot Works print software tool only worked with the W5140.

Recommendation

Our recommendation was to add our new Ricoh Print/Copy/Tool software because it would help our client manage print jobs. In addition users can print and edit any file quickly and easily, even if they didn’t have the application that was used to create the file. Ricoh Print/Copy/Tool software will also work with their existing Ricoh MP W2470 printer.

read the rest here

Sales Stories Sell... How Well Are Your Stories Being Heard?

"Stories are a communal currency of humanity."
Tahir Shah, in Arabian Nights

Everybody loves a good story, if you want to sell your products, your vision, or your ideas to the business world, you must recognize the power and importance of great storytelling.

You must become an expert in telling your own story! We all have a story and it deserves to be told. The question becomes, how well do you know your story?

Reflect on this for a moment... Most seem to tell stories just to tell them. However, when you start asking why people listen to and then share stories, often times there's a reason. It might be to encourage or inspire you to think differently.

Do you believe stories help you sell? Many in sales will agree, stories help us to sell.

So, if stories help you to sell then what makes up your sales story? Sit for a moment and think about it. Take a moment to reflect upon your sales story.

  • Is my story relevant to my clients and prospects?
  • Is there a point to my story?
  • Is the message behind my story self-serving?

PEOPLE BUY STORIES

Stories are all about people and the relationships between them. Is your sales story worth telling? Can it influence your clients and prospects in some way? Can it take them on a journey to better business?

Michael Margolis is one of the world's leading experts in Narrative Strategy. A 2x TEDx speaker. A strategic advisor to Silicon Valley's biggest brands.

THE HEART OF THE STORY

We all have many opportunities to tell stories inside the sales world. Think about every client meeting, every prospect meeting and every encounter when prospecting; the questions we're being asked form the basis of your stories. The question to think about... which ones matter, why tell your story, when to tell your story and what do you really hope to convey?

A true sales professional understands the story they tell is not about their personal greatness. They get to the core of what matters. They involve the heart. The stories they share are sincere, heartfelt and not canned.

Sales is the art of the help. Art rhymes with heart. Get your clients and prospects to hear with their heart.

Authenticity is the key to getting someone to listen with their heart.

AUTHENTICITY

Authenticity attracts. Unfortunately; low trust, rampant skepticism and B.S. meters are at an all-time when it comes to how many view salespeople. Authenticity is not an option any longer inside the sales world.

In a sales world increasingly filled with sales fakes and empty suits people yearn for a sales professional who is the real deal. I encourage everyone to cut through the noise and sales clutter by telling an authentic story.

Your story, it's more than a sales pitch. It's your brand voice. It's 100% all you - the way you walk, talk and live it with your clients and prospects. Your story, how are well are you sharing your story through LinkedIn, your sales website. This is one huge way to influence your clients and prospects to talk about you.

STORIES THROUGH SOCIAL

A sales professional leverages the use of social media to help get their story out and into the marketplace. They realize in order to achieve maximum impact, they must tell the same cohesive story across all the channels that their clients and prospects engage on.

STORIES THROUGH YOUR NETWORK

A sales professional understands their story becomes more powerful when their clients tell it. Just like product reviews or client testimonials, stories told through the mouths of happy clients has the power to resonate with potential customers in a way that is indescribable.

BRINGING IT HOME

Learn to embrace authentic storytelling and you'll be greatly rewarded. The right people will notice and they’ll become your evangelists.

"Communicate your promise, this is your brand identity"

Telling an authentic story isn’t as simple as tweaking a few lines. It starts with some serious self-reflection as you look inward. With some self-awareness, you’ll be able to let down your guard down and simply start thinking about your sales story. It's begging to be told, I guarantee it.

I leave you with these two questions to help you kick start your story. Your clients are a wealth of help, you just need to ask them.

  • Can you share with me three ways I've added value to your business
  • Can you share with me three ways I've helped you to do better business?

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! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

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

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago, The First Week in December 2008

Enjoy these awesome threads from ten years ago this week!



Weekend Copier Notes from 11/30/08

·
. to strengthen its sales network in the U.S. after losing IKON to Ricoh. - Canon announced it has sold an imagePRESS C7000VP production color system to The Processors, a printshop in Irwindale, CA. - Kodak announced it has sold a NexPress S2500 production color system to Evergreen Printing of New Jersey. - More details on Memjet Technology, the company that promised to revolutionize the industry with a low cost, high speed color inkjet system: o was invented by Kia Silverbrook of Australia o
Topic

Sellig Value

I picked this up from Vinces Blog on the Canon P4P Hotel Message Boards! Selling Value! December 4, 2008 As sales people we all have heard that if you aren’t “selling solutions” you are going to starve. Copiers have become a commodity. If you doubt it just ask someone who is not in the industry “what type of copier do you have?” The answer will either be I don’t know, or I think it is a…, so much for brand loyalty. They all pretty much do the same thing, copy, print, fax, scan to email, scan to
Topic

RICOH LAUNCHES THE AFICIO MP C2050/MP C2550 COLOR MULTIFUNCTION PRODUCTS

color documents at a low total cost of ownership, all of which our customers have come to expect from Ricoh products.” Organizations of all sizes must meet security standards and compliance regulations. Providing numerous levels of authentication that allow administrators to confirm user identity and control access to color printing, scanning and other functions, the Aficio MP C2050/MP C2550 helps businesses meet or exceed these requirements. Among the beneficial security features are Locked
Topic

IKON-Ricoh "Questions to Ask"

IKON-Ricoh "Questions to Ask" I posted this on the blog today, got permission from Vince, its a good read and also a good way to combat against Global, all you have to do is change a few things around. The Canon Ikon letter has been out for a while now, and the following statement seems to be getting the most attention. “…Canon will continue to sell spare parts and supplies to IKON for three years, and will provide certain technical support to IKON for Canon brand business equipment for at
Topic

Ricoh Introduction of the Ricoh Aficio MP C2050/C2550

to them until now. The introduction of the MP C2050/C2550 allows Ricoh to continue our successful B2C conversion strategy. Providing color into the lower segments has given us the ability to provide a full suite of products from entry-level to light production environments. RICOH AFICIO MP C2050 & C2550 SERIES HIGHLIGHTS; Equal BW/FC speeds Compact Design Outstanding image quality using New PxP™ toner technology -- 1,200 dpi print resolution Fast warm-up and first copy out times Supports paper
Topic

New Scanner Offers Unprecedented Flexibility While Maintaining Highest Image Quality

New Scanner Offers Unprecedented Flexibility While Maintaining Highest Image Quality LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., December 2, 2008 – Continuing to advance its award-winning DR-Series Scanner line, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital document imaging and office solutions, today introduced the Canon imageFORMULA DR-7090C Universal Production Scanner. First previewed at the ARMA International Annual Conference last month, the Canon DR-7090C delivers incredible flexibility, image quality and
Topic

HP Printer/MFp CPP Pricing

·
Does anyone have the latest CPP pricing for HP printers and MFP's?
Topic

Laser Printers & Cats "Something Has To Go"!

Laser Printers & Cats "Something Has To Go"! I'll be the first to admit, I am NOT a cat lover. While these creatures are nice to look at they play havoc in my home office. See, it all started a few years ago when my wife thought she would do someone a favor and take their cat because they were moving. My wife didn't do much research to think that this cat would ever come out of the room (my office) when we have a 170lb RotMastiff roaming the house. She came home rest of blog here
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Ricoh Saves

I'm having some trouble with the site. has anyone been able to get the "add proposed ricoh equipment" to work?? For three months the site has said coming soon. To me the site is worthless unless I can generate and existing fleet and compare to custom fleet of Ricohs.
Topic

Particulate Emissions From Laser Printers

copier manufacturers in the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM). Depending on their dimensions, the printers are housed in a test chamber measuring one or 24 cubic meters. Particle analyzers count the particles and measure their size distribution. To discover the source, the researchers also examined modified printers that “print” without any paper or toner. “The amazing thing is that the ultra-fine particles are still produced even in this case
Member

Member

Topic

Epson Unveils Sheetfed Scanners Designed

) printers and transaction terminals for the retail market. Founded in 1975, Epson America Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency. Epson America Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. Note: Specifications subject to change. Epson is a registered trademark and ReadyScan is a trademark of
Topic

New Members Stop Here!!!!

This is your chance to let everyone know a little about yourself, inside and outside of your job. I'll start: Founder of the P4P Hotel, been in down the street sales for almost 29 nine years in the same area (Boring). I have one son, finally getting out of college, a wife, 4 miserable cats and one happy dog. I reside in HIghlands, NJ and can walk to beach. Art Post
Reply

Re: Anyone using USXL ou there??

·
Correct in a way. It really depends on how well your dealer principal can negotiate rates. Most leasing companies are within ticks of each other anyway. We choose to add points to our rates to add additional means of profit. Even with points our rates are competitive given our sales area. I feel at this point in time with where the market is USXL has the leasing game down.
Reply

Re: Does anyone remember these models?

How bout the Sharp SF741, you could make toast in the sucker and it even had a pair of tongs to remove the toast! (haha)
Topic

4th Quarter Lease Rates

·
I had already posted the rates that CIT gave me for the 4th quarter. Bank of America sent me this the other day. I don't see the big increase that I did with CIT.
Reply

Re: HP Printer/MFp CPP Pricing

try this http://www.printer.com/ have you used ricohs ricohsaves web site yet. I can get the HP cpp but can't run a report from installed devices to Ricoh proposed devices.
-=Good Selling=-

Twelve Days of Christmas "My Copier Company Gave to Me"

Twelve Days of Christmas "My Copier Company Gave to Me"


I have two of these, one my wife did and I did another. I got her point of view, typical office worker scenario. My wife will be ready this so, thank you for your input dear!!!

We'll see which one is liked best by all of you!

On the 12th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

12 Scan2cloud apps

On the 11th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

11 Cartridges of Toner

On the 10th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

10 Boxes of Staples

On the 9th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

9 Ways to reduces my click counts

On the 8th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

8 Boxes of Paper

On the 7th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

7 More Invoices

On the 6th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

6 New Print Drivers

On the 5th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

5 New Proposals

On the 4th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

4 Buy it now emails

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

3 more phone calls

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

2 more in person visits

On the 1st day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

1 Print Management Plan for all

-=Good Selling=-
Does anyone know the manufacturer of the copier in the picture? If you guess right I'll comp a free Premium/VIP membership for 30 days
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