Print Solutions August 2006
strategic sales
By Dick Gorelick
A late colleague of mine told the
apocryphal story of the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young
salesperson hired after extensive testing and interviewing.
Upon completing his first day of working solo making cold
calls, his manager asked about his experience.
“I had a good day,” replied the
eager young rep. “I made 23 calls and would have made 24
calls but ran into a problem.”
“What was the problem?” asked
the manager.
The rep said, “Someone asked me what
I was selling.”
The story may be exaggerated, but it makes
several points that unfortunately are often true. Bright,
conscientious young salespeople are little more than
“commercial kamikazes” when they are hired solely
because of their motivation, enthusiasm, appearance and
interest in earning obscene amounts of money. This is not
uncommon, especially when the person making the hiring decision
succeeded because of his motivation, enthusiasm, appearance and
interest in earning obscene amounts of money.
Chances are that the manager, after years
of selling, doesn’t spend much time developing new
accounts. Prospecting becomes largely based on referrals.
It’s a gross understatement to say that the world has
changed since the manager was in the same position as the
recent hire. Training a new salesperson must go beyond an
enthusiastic description of the steps that led to the
manager’s success. Pity the new salesperson who’s
given the following advice:
“You have to make more
calls.” Successful business careers are built by people
with high levels of intelligence, motivation and metabolism.
But high metabolism is dangerous unless accompanied by skills
and “emotional intelligence.” Simply making more
calls as an antidote to failure reflects the classic definition
of “insanity” as repeated, unproductive behavior
with anticipation of different results.
“Take advantage of every
opportunity to get in front of the customer.” While true
in some cases, this often is counter-productive. Print buyers
are busy. They may like and respect a salesperson but lack the
time to meet. Our surveys of print buyers indicate that taking
advantage of every opportunity to meet with the customer may
create the impression that the rep has nothing better to do. In
the old days, unhappiness with the frequency of sales
reps’ calls indicated a need to see a salesperson. Today
it usually means the rep calls too frequently.
“When I was in your position, I
made cold calls.” It’s 2006. Print is a commodity.
Busy print buyers view a cold call as rude and an imposition on
their time. It’s not good enough for a salesperson to be
knowledgeable about the products and services he’s
selling. He also must be familiar with the business needs and
challenges of his accounts and prospects. That takes
preparation.
In today’s environment, it’s
desirable to be liked, but being liked is not enough. The
successful salesperson must be both liked and valued. Why
should a prospect drop an existing supplier to buy from you?
Younger and newer reps must be armed with a meaningful answer
to that question. Increased sales calls, an enriched
compensation system and a drive to succeed cannot compensate
for a differentiated message to the marketplace.
Contributing Editor Dick Gorelick is an
award-winning authority on sales, marketing and business
strategies for the printing industry. As president of the
Graphic Arts Sales Foundation in West Chester, Pa., he travels
extensively, consulting, writing and speaking on sales
training.
