At a recent sales manager executive training meeting, I asked the question, “Are your reps calling on the executive level decision maker?” The hands ceremoniously shot up in compliance. I then rhetorically asked, “Who do you think you are fooling?”

We have been down this familiar path too many times before. At the most fundamental level we all know that we need to present first to the decision maker. The decision maker must initially see the potential of our services being a fit. And now through the power of clairvoyance, I am betting that little voice in your head is whispering something like:

• “Normally I would agree but he does not know our marketplace in X state.”
• “It is IT that makes the decision on the solution we offer.”
• “The way we do it is to start at the ground level and then work up the ladder to the decision maker. That way we have developed our case ahead of time.”
• “Well, my tenured reps do, but I have a bunch of newbies who do not have that type of experience yet.”
• “You know, everyone still thinks of us as just a copier company. Our contacts will not like it if we go over their heads to the CFO.”
• “The CFO is not interested” or “The CFO delegates these types of things to the to decide and merely rubber stamps it.”

The following two analogies help to clarify my position:

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It’s Monday morning and you are rounding out your morning routine by getting into the office, powering up the ole’ laptop, and deciding by royal proclamation, “It’s time for coffee.” You make your way down the hall and pass a few offices as you waive to some of your co-workers.

You make your way into the company break room and smell that wonderfully cheap smell of the corporate coffee. Not Starbucks’ or Seattle’s Best, but it’s free, right?

You poor a slow cup while idly conversing with another corporate suit about the weekend happenings, all the while deciding which flavor of the Coffee-Mate you want to gamble on making this steely brew drinkable today.

You walk back to your office, cup in hand, and get pulled into 1 or 2 ad hoc and impromptu meetings someone just had to have you weigh in on. It might’ve been the Sunday’s game or that latest promotion (can you believe it?), all serving to slow you return to your now-ready computer.

You sit in your chair, place your coffee cup on your desk, and saddle up to read the morning volley of e-mail exchanges over the weekend. Suddenly, the boss needs to speak with you, steps in and closes the door (you know this is going to be a ride).

Thirty minutes later, your boss stands, shakes your hand and leaves to go on with his day. Now that you have put his mind at ease that everything is under control, you reach for your coffee, pull it to your lips, and find it cold and lifeless.

“Blehhh!”, you think. “Cold corporate coffee is worthless.”

So you hike back to the break room and with a flick of the wrist, wash the foul brew down the drain - only to return to the same pot to pour another cup.

Notice a few things here:

1. The coffee is part of the routine.
2. It needs a lot of help to perform as expected.
3. There is no price, thus no value.
4. There is no thought in simply discarding it should it not meet expectations.

Much like the corporate coffee, you have positioned your product to carry no intrinsic value. Have you instead all but given it away and continue to pander to your customers whims while not seeking a solution to their problems, nor empathizing with their pain?

Well then, you can expect to carry the same value as the cup of cold corporate coffee I throw away and never drink. I pay roughly $4.50 for a medium-sized latte in most establishments. Crazy or no, the point is I almost always finish the entire cup - hot or cold. Why do you think that is?

1. The coffee is not part of a routine, but part of a ritual of enjoyment.
2. It exceeds expectations just about every time.
3. The price is quite high, and thus it carries a lot of value.
4. I will work with the Barrista to make right any deficiencies - so I will leave satisfied and with a product I will enjoy.

This is simply food for thought on how you might make your product offerings better than just a cold cup of corporate coffee.

Did you have any?

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

As a sales manager for a document output distributor, I spend much of my time evaluating prospective sales to plan our pricing, equipment configuration, and service strategy with the salesperson. The process is valuable because it gives both the salesperson and I a chance to ‘think out loud’ about the deal. We explore potential objections, consider the best pricing model to fit the customer’s needs, and discuss the deal overall. It normally ends with an ‘ah-ha’ moment where we both realize that the best way to approach the next meeting with the customer, and how best to position our solution.

Although every customer is different, each sale has several common elements. I realized this the other day that despite these commonalities, I had been handling these meetings differently with each salesperson. More specifically, when evaluating costs some sales people would write out their customer’s details on a nice worksheet, while others would scribble it on a post-it note. It occurred to me that I had been doing this strategery for a long time, but had never reviewed it or thought through how I could standardize it to ensure that we were covering all our bases when evaluating a deal. At a minimum, I could create a spreadsheet that would automatically calculate costs so that we were not relying on our chicken-scratch & calculator.

So in my own private ‘ah-ha’ moment, I realized that I had to review what I was doing periodically. I resolved to evaluate this process and others in hopes to make them more effective. I would start by creating a template to evaluate deals that leveraged the tools we have at our disposal. As encouragement to you, take a minute to think about what you do each day. Review it and see if you can streamline it, make it better, or simply make it more accurate.

Jeff Pitney is a long time veteran of the document imaging industry and has worked in both sales and sales management capacities for manufacturers and independent dealers alike. Jeff also runs Pitney Application Design, building websites and custom integrations for web-based solutions.

I just picked up a Magellan RoadMate 1400. There was no real magic behind my decision. I’m not usually taken by all of the hype to buy the latest and greatest thing (although the live traffic feature of the 1430 would’ve been nice - if it would’ve been in stock). Instead I relied upon references from friends heavily, my own experiences , a competitive price, and brand to a lesser degree.

I resisted purchasing a GPS up until this point just because the need wasn’t pressing enough - and probably some of that bravado men share about taking direction. Well, yesterday I had finally reached a tipping point and picked one up. After one day of using the product, it struck me, what could my business learn from a GPS?

What’s in a Choice?

There were a few key factors in my decision to not only purchase a GPS, but which brand to purchase. Why did I purchase a Magellan instead of a Garmin or TomTom?

1. References: My friends recommended the Magellan simply by using it. I had used Garmin, and liked it, but I never heard any recommendations.
2. Price: The price was competitive.
3. Branding: TomTom? What is that? I can’t take that name seriously.

So, when all things were equal, the references were the key deciding factor. Price and brand were also important, but not weighted as heavily.

What Encourages Loyalty?

Any experienced business owner will tell you that the initial purchase is only one step in the life cycle of sale. You must also deliver upon or exceed the expectations the customer had at the time of purchase.

Many companies rely upon the hope that the hassle of a return is greater than the disappointment in their ability to deliver on the packaging.

The time it took me to pull the GPS unit out of the bag and begin to feel comfortable using it was about 10 minutes. The hardest thing about getting started was figuring out how to open the packaging. Do packaging engineers get their kicks out of “open-proofing” their packages?

So, I was up and running in about 10 minutes and had it mounted in my car within another 10 minutes. And in using it for just one day, it helped us not only get from point A to point B, but make a few educated stops along the way.

Here are my takeaways from what a business should learn from a GPS after the sale:

1. Quick Setup: The easier your product or service is to use from the start, the more I want to use it. This also means your business collects on the residual revenue more quickly if you have this model in place.
2. Friendly to use: There is a difference, in my mind, between quick setup and daily use of the system. The principal here is not to let the product or service get in the way of the user experience. Instead, you want to enhance the user experience.
3. Give me what I want, not what you want: If you give me what I want in an easy to use and friendly package, I will likely buy from you. I was finding things I wanted to see in minutes, not just what the computer had “in stock”.
4. 1.3 million points of interest: If I get stuck and need help, the GPS was there with suggestions. I may or may not take them, but only when I got stuck did it attempt to help. Remember, don’t get in the way of a man and his natural sense of direction.

Remember, running a business isn’t so much about pushing product out the door. This is important, but you have to ensure that product is a fit for your customers in the long term for you to build loyalty.

Today, customers can generally buy competitive products from many different sources, and more and more consumers are savvy on price- and feature-shopping. Now you must figure out whether your features will not only bring your customers closer for the initial sale, but if your benefits will keep your customers coming back for more. In this case, Magellan was a winner and I have moved from shopper, to customer, and now returning customer should my need for navigational GPS again arise.

Maybe you are in sales, and you are reading this blog. Most people would generically classify me in IT. I might argue we are all in sales, but I’m not going to insult your intelligence.

Instead, I’m going to tell you what you are missing. I’m going to tell you what I see almost every single sales person walk by in every single ‘assessment‘, and what they always fail to counsel their clients in every single interview. It is low hanging fruit. It amazes me.

We let our clients browbeat us with price, or features, or some misperceived value they have stuck in their head which is often only slightly true.

Can I get an ‘amen‘ here?

So are you in sales, or are you in education? Let me ask this another way: Are you a baby-sitter, or are you the most educated person on how documents move in and through your client’s organization?

How can you know your client’s business better than they do?

This is a fair question. After all, you aren’t looking at their P&L, and most likely they aren’t going to show it to you - even if you are a “consultant” to their business.

What’s your next best alternative?

Ask questions - lots of questions. You job is to uncover truth… and you have to be passionate about:

1. Helping your client’s business like it is your own.
2. Seeking truth.
3. Showing your client what truth is in their business.
4. Being willing to walk if they can’t or won’t commit.

Armed with truth (answers) clients have to be prepared about what they are going to hear. Some, many, will be in flat denial. So you have to ask why they called you in.

And here’s where the turn comes that you are missing.

Very few clients are really solving security problems relating to documents. Oh, everyone talks about security - and sure you can sell them the latest whiz-bang data-overwrite kit for their do-everything-but-make-coffee paperweight in the “copy room”.

But did you SOLVE their security issue?

You have to understand that security is not a 1-stop shop. It is like that thing you try to  present to your clients called a “document strategy” right? Well, this is part of that.

The client has to take ownership of this overall strategy for it to be effective (see point on flat denial) and commit to doing something about it. That is the hard part.

Here’s a softball… sure your clients have firewalls at the gate, anti-virus loaded across their swath of computers, data-security kits, and they might even have “remote monitoring services” (this is where you say, “ooohhh - aaahhhh!”).

But what are they doing to secure that piece of paper coming out of that printer, copier or fax?

Folks, paper is a preferred method of information conveyance for a reason - it’s PORTABLE…

That nice, little 3-page document can be neatly folded and put right inside your pocket and there is not a thing they can do about it - or is there? This could be sales leads, or lease documents, HR records, or that oh-so valuable P&L they didn’t want you to see (but your Accounting Manager just sold it to your competitor).

“No, that would never happen in my company,” the client exclaims! (see point on flat denial - again).

So is it that easy? Maybe I am over-simplifying, but are you walking past security risks in your clients’ companies every day? With print auditing software, document management systems, and processes these risks can be greatly reduced (and help your client sleep a little easier at night).

Think about giving control back to your clients, about protecting their informational property. There’s what you missed - take it from the IT guy.

As the calendar moves over the half way mark and we start drafting the broad strokes of next year’s sales plan, rest assured that just as a copier clicks twice for ledger size paper, sales quotas will be higher. One way to increase sales is to generate scheduling more first appointments.

"But my sales people are already busy enough as it is, [This is complete head trash and a blog for another day, but let’s appease this disillusioned sales manager for now] how could they possibly squeeze more activities into their day?" the sales manager ponders.

Next the mining of the deleted items folder searching for the email from Appts-R-Us!! claiming:

• We set highly qualified business-to-business appointments !!

• Shorten the sales cycle in acquiring and retaining new customers !!

• Quick and easy set-up gets your sales people in front of legitimate decision makers fast !!

• See more sales-ready leads, higher close ratios, a stronger sales pipeline !!

“But didn’t we try this a couple of years ago and very few of the appointments turned into actual closed deals?” asks the VP of Sales hearing the pitch from the sales manager, “Yeah, but these guys offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, if they don’t produce we’ll just fire’em.”

Well the quick and easy set up is a matter of opinion and the fast part is true if you are racing a guy in a wheelchair on the beach. After all the script writing drafts and other pre-set up preparations the last thing left on the list is convincing the sales staff that they are not losing 5% of their commission for every deal closed set by the telemarketing company but actually gaining 95%,

You give the first few appointments to the top rep to get things rolling and win over mind share. You ask her to present a status report and after you request it a second time you finally receive the following:

Appointment # 1

The prospect didn’t even know why I was there.

Appointment # 2

The guy I met with said that Facilities is in charge of the copier decisions.

Appointment # 3

The address was wrong; by the time I got to right place, the prospect had to go into another meeting.

Appointment # 4

They are happy with their current vendor.

She volunteers the following commentary - These appointments were a complete joke. What we are paying these guys its too much.

Read between the lines. Why is it when the telemarketing company schedules an appointment that does not move into the sales funnel the rep blames it on the incompetent telemarketing company? Now try this one on for size, what if the sale rep herself scheduled these exact same appointments and the outcome was the exact same?  Who does she blame now? Well, of course, its the incompetent prospect right?

Because who else could it possibly be?

As the rules of business change, thinking must change as well. For us sales professionals, I believe antiquated thinking will only lead to frustration, unhappy clients and a dwarfed income. The purpose of my blogs is to provoke a deeper level of thought about achievement in business and to challenge the comfort zone in order to provide a new level of selling and lifestyle.

Max Rosenthal is a manager with Diversified Business Solutions, headquarter in San Diego, California. He encourages your opinions and ideas and can be reached via e-mail or phone at 866-298-2737.

Before we start, let’s agree to use the official version of The Copier Sales Dictionary definition of ‘solution’: 

so· lu· tion   /

[suh-loo-shuh n]

–noun

Anything you sell other than just copiers. My copier proposal was half the price and I still got crushed! They said that even though we have been their copier vendor for the last 10 years, going forward it was in their best interest to give their business to a more knowledgeable company that can provide more than just copy machines but actual solutions to their business objectives. 

—Related forms

so·lu·tion·al,

—Synonyms key, resolution.

At countless sales meetings you have stood in front of the sales force and extolled the virtues of selling solutions. You regurgitated words like “applying industry leading expertise to…”, “develop and deliver comprehensive, customer-focused…”, and other similar facades when explaining the importance of selling solutions.

You have read all the industry analyst reports complete with the pie charts and bar graphs of industry trends moving towards the solution sale. You tweaked the compensation plan with additional incentives when a solution sale is closed. When all of this did not provide the expected results, you designated some of the more tenured reps to focus solely on the solution sale and you bestowed the sacred title of “Specialist” on their new business card. But still, no sales.

Figuring it can’t be you, it’s got to be them, you looked outside the organization for the answer. Enter the sales trainers and the one-week boot camps.  This was successful.  Successful in taking your reps out of the field for a week and further losing momentum. You were then convinced that you just needed to find the right person and the right person did not exist in your company. Seeming like a good idea at the time, you hired that ex-IKON / ex-Xerox / or my personal favorite, ex-Kodak burnout retread, to carry the company flag. This surely will guarantee your solution sales.  But the only guarantee that occurred was the outrageous financial guarantee you contracted to pay this impaired fossil.  After all this effort your solutions sales have not increased. In fact, your overall sales are down from the year before because all the changes distracted the focus of the sales team.

The Stalled Solutions Sale

The actual reason for the stalled solution sales is very simple. Copier sales people have historically never had to create a compelling reason or unearth a compelling business reason for the customer to buy.

Prove it? Of the sales that were closed last year, the overwhelming majority were triggered by either a lease expiring, a lease close enough to buyout and keep the customers price about the same, a competitor’s proposal to your current customer, or the customer complaining about the copier and demanding a new one. We have relied on the lease expiration date and customer dissatisfaction to create the reason to buy.

Still disagree? You sure you’re not just in denial?  Answer this: What percentage of the sales last year involved upgrading a copier that was initially a cash purchase and was not leased?  I bet it is a very similar percentage of printer management sales closed last year. The idea is the same. The customer owns all the desktop printers. They are not on lease. There is no stated existence of a magical time when the customer is required to make a decision on the future of the printer fleet. They do not receive a monthly invoice summarizing all the associated costs and a reminder that the lease expires in three months.  The only reason a customer would choose to procure a printer management program is a compelling reason that bridges the gap to either move towards a more desirable state or move away from an undesirable one. Copier sales people do not have experience, skills, and many times the desire to build that bridge.

What about software document management programs? If your reps can not develop a compelling case for a customer to modify an existing process (how they currently buy desktop printers, service the printers and procure the associated consumables) why would it be difficult to understand why they cannot sell software document management programs? This type of program is an entirely new process for the customer. I cannot recall a single sales appointment when a prospect has said,

I am so glad you are here. You see Max, 5 out of the 10 people in the accounting department will be expiring in 6 months and I was hoping you had a combination of hardware, software, and professional services that could not only supplement their existing responsibilities but I was really hoping to accelerate the entire document workflow process in that department. Did you bring a brochure with you?

How can we fault the reps? Just because their skills on the miniature golf course have been up to par, we expect them to play golf.  Sure, both activities use putters, require keeping your head down, and use those stubby little pencils without erasers to record the score. Heck, even the 18^thhole is the same as it determines how soon you will play again: If you hit the ball through the blue fairy’s trap door you earn a free game compared to draining one from the cheap seats for an eagle. In either case you can’t wait to play again. We are placing unrealistic expectations, on the reps to embody the sophistication of orchestrating a solutions sales type transaction just because you said to do it. Dead man walking.

If you do not develop an alternative to honing the skill necessary,  the only chance you have of consistent solutions sales will be waiting for the phone to ring and listening to the exasperated caller complain that every time they walk up to their accounting department to submit an order, the department starts making funny squeaking sounds, begins streaking, and then turns red right before deciding to stop working completely.

Max Rosenthal is an analyst with Diversified Business Solutions, a BTA member company in San Diego, California. Diversified Business Solutions works with CFO’s of small- to medium-size businesses that are interested in accelerating the time to cash. He encourages your opinions and ideas and can be reached via e-mail or phone at 858.565.2737.

Just what is it you think you are trying to sell me?

In my role with the company, I am not only responsible for day-to-day operations in our customer-facing technology group, but I am responsible for internal technology initiatives as well. This would include all infrastructure between several different branch locations, as well as contract negotiations with partners, vendors, and service providers.

So I received a phone call today from a local voice and data service provider requesting an audience to tell me about their offerings. I let the call go to voicemail because I wanted to hear the elevator speech as to why I should listen to this person - let’s call her Nancy.

So, Nancy leaves a message informing me that her company provides both data and voice services for company’s just like us all over.

OK, so far this is fine. It’s the same as everyone else, but fine.

Next, Nancy goes on to inform me of an all encompassing voice and data solution that I may not be aware of called a T-1…

Let me tell you, if I don’t know what a T-1 is, then I must’ve pulled one heck of a snow-job on the President and Owner of my company… In reality, if I don’t know what this is I should be fired.

Come on, I provide solutions for my customers every minute of my life, and here you are not only informing me how uneducated you are, but not selling me on what I want to here.

What is that you may ask?

How are you going to help me solve my business problems and satisfy my customer needs - that’s what!

So, 30 seconds into the voicemail message, Nancy is fired. She’s not even getting to first base! Take a lesson from this and apply it - please!

As proponents of technology, salespeople will always gravitate to the tools that enable us to communicate more effectively.  This is true of virtually every modern communication system such as telephones, facsimile, email, web, or text messaging.  In many respects, sales have driven adoption of these tools across a broader spectrum of business.  In the document output industry however, where the core product is the printed word, we often neglect a basic form of communication - the personal touch of a handwritten note.

To be clear, there is no way or reason to replace new methods of communication.  They are often much more functional and effective than handwritten letters would ever be, and their use is essential to many business operations.  Instead, the reason to consider a handwritten note to a prospect or customers is that it entails a sincere interest in the recipient.  This interest can’t be denied because, regardless of the content, you actually spent the time to write it, stuff it in an envelope, and then mail it.  Most people will appreciate this and remember that you took the time to write it.

The obvious times to send a card are when a customer has made a purchase, or someone referred you to another company.  A thank you card is a great way to show your appreciation.  Less obvious are the times such as after an impromptu meeting with a key decision maker while cold calling.  For example, you are cold calling an office building and you happen to meet a business owner who takes a few minutes to talk with you about their business.  What better way to cement the new relationship than with a card expressing your thanks for their time?

Still, there are other ways in which you can utilize a personal card besides saying thanks.  Like duct tape, a handwritten note has many uses and applications, particularly for the salesperson seeking to build long term relationships with their customers.  One use is to write a card after a service call (or series of service calls) to ask the customer if they are satisfied with the result, and to let them know you are concerned about their business.  A letter beginning with, “I was reviewing your account and saw that you had a service call yesterday…” would have a profound effect on any customer.

A handwritten note is an excellent prospecting tool as well, especially for warming a new potential customer.  It sounds a bit cliché, but the number of salespeople writing cards to prospects is so few today that it will definitely garner the attention of your prospects.  The key in this type of note is to make it relevant to their company.  Send a card that references an article that you read about their company, and how it could relate to your business.  You could also consider a card of congratulations.  For example, many business newspapers display employee promotions for local companies, or if a company has recently been awarded a big contract.  Heartfelt congratulations for their success will always be reciprocated.

One underutilized way to use cards is to ask for your prospects help after you lose a sale.  A card like this asks the customer to give advice on what you could have done differently to win their business.  A card that reads something like, “So that I can improve my sales skills, is there anything I could have done differently to win your business?”  The effects of this type of card are so strong that they can change the course of the lost sale, and cause the customer to re-evaluate their decision.  If this happens once in your career, it will be worth every card you had sent.

In summary, technology is always improving the speed and manner in which we communicate.  Professional salespeople must adapt to these new technologies in order to remain competitive and in sync with their customers.  However, don’t neglect the obvious - people buy from people, and that writing a basic, handwritten note of appreciation will put you above all other competitors and be a foundation upon which you can build a relationship with your clients.

Need more help writing a personal note?  Read Business Notes by Florence Isaacs.

Jeff Pitney is a long time veteran of the document imaging industry and has worked in both sales and sales management capacities for manufacturers and independent dealers alike. Jeff also runs Pitney Application Design, building websites and custom integrations for web-based solutions.

Ask any owner or manager in the typical document imaging company and they will tell you that they spend enormous amount of time and money developing the concept of ‘solution selling’ within their sales teams.  From hired consultants to expensive courseware, they look for ways to change the make up of their sales staff from the stereotypical used-car salesperson (like Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati), to a consultative sales professional.  This is the second in a 2-part series about how you can develop solution selling prospecting skills within your organization.

In the first part of this series, we developed a list of targeted accounts by reducing the total population of businesses in our area down to a select few.  We did this by looking for companies that have the need for a solution sale and receptive to the concept.  It is also essential that during this process you are willing to say no to companies that do not see value in you as a sales person, and are only interested in competing on price.  Finally, the process of reducing the total number of prospects we targeted did change the type of prospects we were working to win.

Part 2 - Create Trust Relationships

In part 2, we are going to go beyond the selection of the prospect to the actual prospecting of the account.  As you distill your list of targeted accounts you should be working to develop relationships within these organizations.  The operative word in this area of prospecting is relationship, because the level of relationship within your accounts is a determining factor in how successful you are in completing a solution sale.  Approach prospects as if, without warning, you were selected by NASA to fly the space shuttle after a 1-hour training course.  If this happened, you would listen intently and then ask a lot of questions, and take detailed notes.  You would also spend every moment of your time with that person thinking up new questions to ask so as to cover all possible outcomes.  When you do this in a customer meeting, you will create what is known as a Trust Relationship with your contacts.

Trust Relationships are nothing more than a connection with your contact that is based on mutual trust.  While personal relationships with contacts can come in all forms, Trust Relationships are much more clearly defined.  For instance, maybe you have a personal connection with your customer in that you both play golf or both like the same sports team.  These types of connections are good if they happen naturally.  However, a Trust Relationship is completely independent of this personal connection.  Some argue that you can’t have a Trust Relationship without the personal connection.  In other words, if the customer doesn’t like you they won’t buy from you.  While it is true that people will sometimes buy from people they like, more often they will buy from someone they trust, and you don’t have to be friends in order for them to trust that you are the best person to advise them about their document output strategy.

A Trust Relationship requires four ingredients: time, honesty, attention to detail, and follow through.  All of these ingredients are controlled by the sales person, and all are the foundation for the consultative process moving forward.  If any one of these items is missing you are almost assured that the sales process will break down.  Alternatively, if you develop these aspects within your customer relationships, they will come to see you as the subject-matter expert, and rely on your expertise to make decisions about how they should handle their document imaging systems.  In effect, you become their go-to person for all questions relating to document management - they trust you.

Another aspect of the Trust Relationship is that you will discover problems the customer has in managing their document output devices, as well as their entire document workflow.  From simple billing or service issues to larger systemic dysfunction you will see or hear much of the internal workings of the organization from your primary contact.  This is your opportunity to learn about the pains the customer has, and over time, how to heal them.  Your efforts will eventually lead you to act as a consultant within the customer’s organization, rewarding you with sales and profit and providing the customer with a resource upon which they can depend.

Summary

Prospecting is the most important aspect to the solution sale.  Why?  As detailed in this series, who you are prospecting will determine what the sales cycle, revenue, and gross profit you will achieve.  So begin the process by eliminating the ‘Shady Hills Rest Home’ from your list of targeted accounts.  Instead, focus your efforts on accounts that will value you for your knowledge and expertise.  Then begin to create Trust Relationships with these accounts.  Over time, you can display to them your honesty, attention to detail, and follow through in managing the customer-vendor relationship.  Finally, when the opportunity comes to compete for their business, they will call on you to act as a consultant to their business.  They will view you as a solution to their problems.

Jeff Pitney is a long time veteran of the document imaging industry and has worked in both sales and sales management capacities for manufacturers and independent dealers alike. Jeff also runs Pitney Application Design, building websites and custom integrations for web-based solutions.