During the last ten years, I've been delighted to help rookies/newbie’s or whatever you'd like to call new people that are breaking into Managed IT, Copiers and Managed Print Service industry.
I'm not a manager or owner (was an owner once) of a dealership; I work down the street accounts (SMB) and love what I do! I enjoy helping new sales people and that's probably because I had no help when I started in sales some 38 years ago. It was nine years ago that I encountered my first sales manager (we'll save that for another blog). For twenty nine of those years, I did not have a "sales manager". My first mentor in copier sales was Jack Carrol, and Jack was one of the owners of Century Office Products. When I arrived at Century I already had seventeen years of copiers sales under my belt.
I came from the school of hard knocks. Not everyone knows what I’m about to tell you. I never attended college, in fact, I never completed the 11th grade. I was out of control in High School because I had always asked myself why did my birth parents give up on me. My brother and I were adopted at the age of 4 from a foster home somewhere in North Jersey.
My adoptive parents were great! But that feeling that someone gave up on me before they knew me was also rearing its ugly head. At 16 I was asked to leave High School or be kicked out. I choose to leave and found a full-time job working in the produce industry. That job was probably one of the best choices I made because I put in twelve hours days six days a week. In addition, I met my mentor in Sonny Green (owner), over the years he taught me how to work. Knowing how to work is not about just being at work, but more about doing productive work once your primary job is completed.
I’m in the later stages of my career in the copier industry today. I’m extremely happy with what I’ve been able to accomplish in the industry. It was twenty years ago that I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do more than just sell copiers. I wanted the recognition that I wanted to be the best rep wherever I worked.
I used my desire, determination, and dedication to achieve most of my goals in those twenty years. It wasn’t easy, it was hard work, long hours and also putting in time on weekends (I still do that) that led to my success. Thus, I put this blog together to help those that come after me, and for those that want to aspire to greatness.
As many of you know our industry is constantly changing, whether it's hardware, software, cloud solutions, and document management. Nothing stays the same for long!
What are the 3D's?
Put them in any order you want, it takes all THREE to be successful in any industry. DESIRE, DEDICATION & DETERMINATION
So, what is DESIRE?
–verb 1. to wish or long for; crave; want. 2. to express a wish to obtain; ask for; request: The mayor desires your presence at the next meeting. –noun 3. a longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment: a desire for fame. 4. an expressed wish; request.
DESIRE For me, it's the craving to be the best at what I do. I enjoy the recognition, I still get a charge out of writing an order. I have complete control of my financial future. You see, I believe that desire is something you can’t teach, you either have it or you don’t. A pro baseball scout once told me that he can’t teach someone to throw 95mph, however, if you can throw 95mph we can teach the prospects the rest.
Your presentation/meeting is filled with PASSION and you can paint a picture of the future without relying on a power point presentation! Losing is not an option! As Ricky Bobbie put it "If you're not first you're last"!
DEDICATION
noun 1.the act of dedicating. 2.the state of being dedicated: Her dedication to medicine was so great that she had time for little else. 3.a formal, printed inscription in a book, piece of music, etc., dedicating it to a person, cause, or the like. 4.a personal, handwritten inscription in or on a work, as by an author to a friend.
Dedication You'll take the extra time to educate YOURSELF! Rely on no one! I love what I do. I will outwork you to get what I want and in most cases, I always get what I want. Our job is not a 9-5 job if you want 9-5 money go work for Burger King. Always ask yourself "Am I working as hard or as smart as I can?"
Even today I’m still dedicated to learning more about sales, and more about the products that I sell and even products that I don’t sell. You see knowledge is the key to winning orders! Prospects can relate to salespeople that have a great business acumen, and knowledge of their products plus their competitors. Fancy gimmicks, and tricks to get the appointments only go so far, if you don’t have the knowledge you wont get the orders.
DETERMINATION noun 1.the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose. 2.the quality of being resolute; firmness of purpose.
Determination When it's a quarter to 5 and you're on your way home, and you pass that business that you've called many times and got nothing, do you continue to go home or do you stop for one more cold call? You're always moving forward with creating your own promotions, following up with calls until you have the answers whether it's good or bad. Selling is similar to playing chess, you're always thinking about the next step, or the next objection and the what if's, determined people always have a plan to get where they want to be.
Thus, after 38 years I still enjoy most of what I do. There are many days when I'm the optimist and many when I'm the pessimist. All of us can go through bouts of pessimism in sales. What I've learned is that every new day brings a new opportunity to sell something or for that phone to ring with a customer or prospect stating "we're ready to place our order!"
-=Good Selling=-
