July 2020

Thirty-two received emails, thirty-eight sent emails, ten calls and two meetings was the menu for today.  

We had our weekly sales meeting and Tim (VP of Sales) spoke about how our cheese was moved the last five months.  That cheese is many of those existing clients that had trigger points for lease upgrades.  Most of those trigger points for lease upgrades are not important to the DM's during this pandemic. In fact I believe many see it as a blessing that the decision to do nothing is the best course of action.  But there are those DM's when faced with reducing costs will choose the path of savings in uncertain times.  The key is to find those DM's with that mindset.  They are the cheese.

The moving of the cheese means that we need to find the cheese again.  The cheese is still out there but it's harder to find than it was before.  For those of us that are good mousers (diggers) we've been through similar times in our sales career.  Remaining status quo and do the same thing we used to do over and over isn't going to work. We need to change and the reason we need to change is because change is good a thing.  Who the frak wants to be status quo all their lives?  

When I look back on the first few months of COVID19 it was more about me finding a new way to communicate with clients and prospects since I could not be face to face.  I'm no charmer by any means, but I am a little smarter than the average bear, persistent and have a knack for asking the right questions.  I'll also admit that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer nor was I ever the best closer.  What I did did really well was educate myself and was never afraid to work. If I couldn't beat the competition because of price or lack of features I found ways to out work the competition and show clients why I was their best option.

My most effective communication tool now is email. Over the last three months most of my appointments come from emails and most of my closes come from emails.  If you don't ask you don't receive something so simple when it comes to being a rep.

That existing 5K order I was expecting didn't come today and also the net new for about $6k (the one where he finally came out of the weeds) didn't happen either.  Hoping that both of these will go down to tomorrow. I did have another existing client that emailed me today about a 5K A3 color.  This account has been stalled for more than a year.  I would say from the wording of the email and the questions asked that this is an opportunity that could happen in August also.

I think it was about Noon when I received an email from my net new client for the $60k deal.  He actually thought I was going to be on-site today but remembered that it's actually next week that I would be there.  He wanted to clear up a few workflow questions and was then ready to make his pick of the three devices I proposed.  I read the email the short and sweet email three times and I knew today was the day he told me that they would make their choice.  If you don't ask you don't get, I replied with "Can we move forward with the order for the new device today? We can always make changes if we need to when we meet next week."

It was about 5 minutes later and the reply was "yes, let's move forward".  There was the verbal and now it was time to drop everything else and focus on getting the documents out for signatures.  Within a couple of hours the docs were on the way. It was after 5PM that I received an email asking if Friday was okay to have the documents. Right, there's no way I would say no.  Of course I can't count this yet, but all is looking well for having the docs back by the end of the week.

Tomorrow means more prospecting some things just never change.

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Ninety-Three of Sales

It's just about 10PM in New Jersey, and the temperature is still about 90 degrees.  The last few days have been hot, humid and terrible to be outside unless you're planning a visit to the beach.

COVID19 in New Jersey?  Not much has changed since I gave my last update.  We're in some type of holding pattern from the onset of Phase 2.  The curve in New Jersey has been crushed for months now, the line is flat and yet our Governor keeps his foot on the throats of New Jersey businesses. 

In a facebook post I read tonight someone mentioned when schools by ope, one of the replies was November 4th (election day) and I added "when TRUMP wins it will be 2024".  It's just bad news and no direction as to when things might open again.

Another one of these catch-up blogs because I didn't post one on Friday.  Friday was the first day of the new month for us.  Thus it was catch up day for me also with trying to formulate a plan of who, what and when will cost for August.   I'm still sitting on 25 opportunities that have some percentage of closing in August.  At this point I'm thinking 50% are already in September and another 15% for October.  Most will not change any of their print devices until they have some sense of when they can restaff the offices.  When the going gets tough you pick up the prospecting and just keep adding to the opportunity list at some point you'll start picking them one by one.

Today was a good day!  I had one net new order for about $7.2 and existing for maybe $3.2 and I'll be getting docs tomorrow for a $5K existing client order.  That wide format deal that hid in the weeds on Thursday if last week poked his head out and offered my Wednesday for the docs. I'll believe it when I see it.

Today was also the day I was hoping for a net new order for $58k, that's been pushed back a day because of a team meeting that didn't happen today.  I'm hoping that this orders comes home late tomorrow.  Everything looks really good, but you never what could happen.  

Each week I need to submit a weekly forecast (been happening since COVID19 started). I had the email this AM and responded with $109K for the week.  I should have read the email better because I was being asked the forecast for the month.  I'm leaving it at $109K for the month because everything else on the list is a bit of a **** show.  

One saving grace for August is because there are 22 selling days and no holidays thus a full month to prospect and close.  

I took that lead service about a week and half ago.  So far I haven't sold anything, but I received eight leads. Out of those eight leads four were crap and the others were decent.  I would say 80% of those leads were for volumes of 3K per month or less.  In addition you can't get most of these peeps to call or email you back.  Two are solid leads for a purchase or lease in August.  At this time I'm still evaluating the service however at this point I'm on the fence with the quality of the leads.

Tomorrow is all about prospecting, I only have a handful of appointments scheduled for the week.  Of course the one tomorrow for the $58K and then an existing client for $30K on Friday.

-=Good Selling=-

The Week in Copiers 5 Years Ago This Week In 2015

Wow I remember writing this blog like it was yesterday I Don't Walk Away from Many Opportunties But this One was Crazy! It's a great read and the comments from our members are super. It's all about sharing information and ideas.

Enjoy these most popular threads from 5 years ago this week

“The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom."

James Clear, Atomic Habits

Raising the bar, going above and beyond... what has happened to the "cherry on top" sales experiences. Stop with the ho-hum experiences!

My question to everyone in sales...

What kind of memories and experiences are you creating for your clients?

Within the sea of sameness and mediocrity that exists within the sales world, the client experience does matter. Get it right and watch what happens to trust, loyalty and consistent repeat business.

How many of you are you making your customers yawn? What's even worse is how many are simply just ignoring you?

At this very moment in time...

How many in sales as well as their leadership would even know if their

clients are bored with them?

Some of you can relate to this. The same salespeople and management who have worked at the same place for 20 years, who are sitting at their same desks with little to no enthusiasm; they simply just exist. Day in and day out, week in and week out, they just do enough to get by.

Let's take this one step farther. I believe a lot of your customers have been lulled into a sense of boredom. In some cases, they have been doing business with you for so long that they become numb to the customer experience and they settle for boring.

Then one day a sales professional comes along that delivers an outstanding experience with “a cherry on top” and helps them realize they have options, more exciting ones at best.

“Our focus is on the customers and improving their experience. We believe that if we do that well, competition, prices, and profits will all take care of themselves.”

Bhavish Aggarwal

STOP BORING THE ONES WHO COUNT

Boring sales reps sell products. Sales professionals sell experiences.

Boring sales reps know less about their clients than they think they do.

If you’re not careful and customer centric, it’s easy to fall into habits that deliver customer disinterest.

Sales professionals breathe life into their relationships. Energy flows throughout their conversations into the heart and minds of their clients.

A true professional pays attention to their clients and what's going on around them. In most cases, they will often give you clues to help you pleasantly surprise them, not bore the crap out of them.

Innovative, insightful and inspirational salespeople are dedicated to newness. It's this commitment that keeps their clients coming back for more.

BORING SALES REPS FOCUS ON TRANSACTIONS

Boring sales reps focus much of their attention on simply generating the next sale. On the flip side, a true professional focuses on building long-term client relationships.

A transactional mindset and set of behaviors are felt by your customers. I guarantee at some point you'll be replaced by a better transactional conversation. I say this because you're just one sales ship within the sea of competitive sameness.

Boring and transactional oriented sales reps provide no reason for their clients to remain loyal. How likely will they do business with you again if you continue to deliver a transactional type of experience?

Authentic transformation happens outside your comfort zone.

BORING SALES REPS LACK VISION

Many businesses have a vision or mission statement. Boring sales reps lack vision, clarity and breathe no value into their lifeless relationships.

Heartfelt professionals have an inspiring vision fueled by emotion. This vision lights a fire within their clients that ignites passion, creativity and collaboration.

Boring sales reps struggle to clearly define themselves and their vision.

A consummate sales professional continually evaluates themselves to improve their results and to become better at what they do?

They marry vision with values as they bring clarity to their client relationships.

Without a clear vision, it becomes difficult to help your clients navigate to business betterment.

BORING SALES REPS ARE NOT RELEVANT

Relevancy is not an option.

Boring sales reps wrap themselves up with self-delusional thoughts regarding how much their clients love them.

To be relevant you need to understand their wants, needs, tensions, desires, and aspirations. Uncovering all of this takes some work and dedication.

"Truth is in the eye of the beholder"

Boring sales reps struggle to answer these questions:

• Am I going the extra distance for my clients?
• Am I serving others?
• Am I serving the cause?
• Am I developing a deep, genuine concern for my clients?

SHOW YOU CARE AND EXCITE

"If you truly care about your clients, then they’ll care about you"

In an environment that is becoming increasingly competitive, you must focus on building meaningful relationships with your clients.

• You must become genuinely interested in their business
• You must be on the lookout to help them do better business
• You must connect with meaning rather than just contacting them to sell them something or waiting for them to contact you.

Think of the following relationship equation with each and every one of your clients.

Engage + Excite/Conversation x Caring = Meaningful relationship

Stop boring the ones who count the most! Without clients you have no 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 heartfelt 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, kindle and in audio. 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 LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

The Week in Copiers 10 Years Ago This Week In 2010

Recently I signed up for my own lead service because I'd rather spend my time with those that are interested rather than making huge amounts of phone calls each week in a state where businesses are not back to normal.  Yes, some of the leads are crap and most are price buyers. I realize I will lose more than I win but just having the data points for that business with DM information is worth the extra dough spent.

Enjoy these beautiful threads from 10 year ago this week

Established in 1996, Rebel Refrigeration, AC & Plumbing has been installing water heaters, air conditioning systems and providing other home services to the residents of Las Vegas and beyond for nearly a quarter of a century. With about 20 employees, the company serves 8,000 to 10,000 clients, responding to over 10,000 service calls a year.

A typical job requires purchasing equipment and parts, for which the company regularly processes invoices. A green-minded company, Rebel Refrigeration was already partially paperless—its contractors used iPads and digital invoicing in some business areas, but certain aspects of the operations still required printing invoices on paper.

Read the rest here

The Week in Copiers 15 Years Ago This Week In 2005

I'm connected to a ton of copier sales people on Linkedin.  For the last ten days I've been counting those connections that have changed where they work.  First I check to see if when they left and where they went.  In these last days I've counted 14 that have left the industry, almost all of these changes were in June and July.  I would suspect that most were laid off due to COVID. Twenty percent of those that left were in the position less than 12 months

Enjoy these awesome threads from 15 years ago this week!

COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Ninety-One of Sales

What a way to end the month!   

I pulled a zero today and I'm pretty bummed because nothing came through.  I had three good shots at having a banner month, two of the opportunities kicked the can down the road and the other opportunity who told me it's a go was no where to be found.  Another account that I've been dogging for more than 5 years.  When I spoke to Tim later in the day I stated that in most cases buyers don't buy on our time lines, they buy when they are ready.

A few minutes after 5PM I received an email from one of three opportunities that was left on the board that they will move forward with the color wide format.  This is an order I had lost because we couldn't get the wide format up the funky set of stairs.  I hung in their keep the conversation going and finally received at least the verbal.  Docs are going out tomorrow.

For years and years my sales month always ended on the last day of the month along with almost everyone else. It was something I was use to and something most clients are used too.  When we first went to closing our month early I was pissed because in that month or that quarter I was losing selling days.  I don't like losing any selling days.  Eight years later I'm a fan of closing the month early because I have two end of months in the same week.  Of course I've got mine and then I have everyone else's end of month close.  So it happens that many orders won't go on my time schedule but many other orders will happen at the end of the calendar month.  It's more about how hard you push.

My afternoon was filled with prepping a cost analysis to replace three A3 color devices with an existing client. Three separate spreadsheet each with three tabs took a fair amount of time.  Working on those spreadsheets was suppose to happen until late this afternoon because I had the large 60K opp meeting scheduled for Noon.  That meeting was pushed back to 3PM and then 3:45PM.  

The call at 3:45PM produced some questions and numbers that I did not have available. After 15 minutes of meeting I offered that I call my DM back in 30 minutes. I had 30 minutes to add another device scenario, amend the proposal, put a picture next to each device and then email the document.  In the middle of getting all of this ready I had a call from a net new that I sent a proposal to in this morning, Net new, they called me, I need to take the call.  After 15 minutes I believe she liked what she heard and I know I gave here some additional info that no one else could.  It was back to work on the proposal and it was during that time that my DM sent me an email and stated let's do this at 4:45PM.  

Our meeting took about 40 minutes. I need to review one item for tomorrow but got the commitment that on Monday they will be ordering one of the devices I proposed.  Nothing, nothing is closed until you have the order! I like what I heard but so much can happen from now until Monday.

I ended the month not close to where I thought I could be.  However, I have a commitments from 3 opps with one for 5K, one for 7K, and the one for 60K, plus the other $5K deal that ghosted me today.  

Tomorrow means cleaning up my CRM, and prepping for the new month, and tying up some loose odds and ends.

The harder you work the luckier you get.

-=Good Selling=-