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Showing posts with label copier sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copier sales. Show all posts

Friday, September 22, 2023

New to Copier Sales: Your Future in This Industry


Copier Sales: Where Destiny Prints Your Success Story

In my more than three-decades-long odyssey through the world of office technology — from the copier to Novell servers, from sleek tablets to behemoth mainframes — I’ve rubbed shoulders with presidents, mingled with the C-suite, and tipped a few bourbons with dealer/owners. Yet, in this crazy mix of personalities and titles, I have never encountered a single soul who woke up one day and said, “I want to sell copiers for the rest of my life.” 

Yet here we are, an industry of resilience and problem solvers.

I wonder, how is this possible? For the newly minted copier rep, what can you expect from the niche as you progress along your personal selling journey?

Thursday, August 10, 2023

AI and the Digital Transformation: Reshaping the Future of Copier Sales


Out with the old, in with the AI: Copier sales just got a techy upgrade

In the ever-evolving world of copier sales, the digital age and AI are reshaping how we approach our prospects. Dive into how these changes are impacting the industry and what it means for the future of sales.

Executive Bullet Points:
  • The digital age has transformed prospects from passive recipients to active participants, conducting their own product assessments.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing copier sales, offering real-time insights, and enhancing sales strategies.
  • Modern sales training must evolve, focusing on experiential selling and leveraging AI to meet the needs of informed customers

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Copier Salespeople: The Undoing of Managed Print Services Opportunities - A Personal Account

Re-Mastered from the 2009 DOTC classic, "Copier Sales People Destroy Managed Print Services Opportunities: Daily"



Why Traditional Copier Sales Tactics Undermine the Potential of Managed Print Services

Executive Summary:

  1. The Problem with Legacy Sales Practices: Managed Print Services (MPS) is a rapidly evolving industry; however, its potential is being undermined by outdated sales tactics. This issue is deeply ingrained and can lead to unsatisfactory client experiences, as old-school copier salespeople resist change and cling to outdated dogmas.
  2. Case Studies of Poor Sales Tactics: The negative impacts of these traditional sales practices are highlighted through two real-life client experiences. Both cases involve manipulative, rushed, and misleading sales practices from competitors that lead to client distress and loss of trust. These sales tactics prioritize moving products over genuinely addressing client needs, causing significant frustration and disruption.
  3. The Future of Sales - AI & Core Sales Principles: Looking ahead to 2023, the timeless lessons from these experiences remain relevant. No matter the technological advances, core sales principles such as empathy, active listening, problem-solving, and relationship-building remain irreplaceable. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into sales, it presents opportunities for efficiency and insight while also challenging traditional face-to-face selling practices. While AI has the potential to redefine sales, the core ethos of understanding client needs and delivering effective solutions remains constant.
_________

In the rapidly evolving world of technology, the managed print services (MPS) industry is no exception. Yet, the legacy sales practices of copier salespeople are undermining the potential of MPS. 

Despite the proliferation of MPS training programs and the influx of so-called "MPS Experts", I argue that these won't make a difference. Major manufacturers like Toshiba, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Samsung, Xerox, and Canon, who are launching such programs, are likely to experience frustration and lost potential. The reason? Resistance to change and clinging to outdated dogmas.

There is a saying in the industry that encapsulates this issue: at the beginning of the month, we all sell solutions, but in the last week of the month, we move a box. This mentality is deeply ingrained, often causing chaos and dissatisfaction for clients.
_________

Friday, June 16, 2023

Can the Socratic Method Help You Sell?



“I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make them think.” — Socrates

The world is full of advice. Our little industry is chock full of articles, studies, trade shows, blogs, podcasts, and analyst reports — not to mention more marketing materials than you can shake a stick at.

In fact, there are so many marketing materials it is difficult for prospects to sift through. Combine this with the day-to-day business stresses, and it is almost impossible for you to distill data streams into relevant information. The same goes for your prospects. How can you learn to do so and help your prospects do the same?  It is a daunting task, but one that separates you from the rest of the selling pack.

So, this is my idea – I suggest you employ the Socratic Method as a foundational philosophy.

I know what you’re asking. “How the heck can the Socratic Method help me sell more copiers?” Good question.

The Socratic method is a way of thinking and using probing questions to stimulate thought, expose assumptions, and reveal deeper insights.

This is not just a tool for philosophers; it’s a practical and powerful approach that will significantly enhance your business acumen and selling process.

 Here’s how:

Monday, April 10, 2023

New to Copier Sales: The Three Levels Of Prospects, Part 3


Copier sales: Making existing customers feel paper-sonally cared for! 🖨️😉

Source: The Imaging Channel

Summary:

In the third installment of "New to Copier Sales? The Three Levels of Prospects," the author delves into the final level of prospecting: existing customers who are already using copier services from a company. These customers are considered the lowest-hanging fruit when it comes to sales opportunities. The article provides advice on how to approach these clients to ensure a successful sales outcome.

Building relationships with existing customers is vital. By understanding their business, keeping them informed about new technologies and solutions, and providing value, salespeople can nurture a positive rapport that leads to long-term business. It's essential to review account history and any previous customer interactions to avoid repeating mistakes and to build on prior successes.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Numbers Up, Volumes Down, and A3 or A4, "Just. Doesn't. Matter."


Do dealers exagerate?  Hell yeah, we all do, every single day about every single thing to every single person we meet.

Over the past 5 months, I've heard more and more positive feedback about sales than I have in the past 36 months.  

The first inkling was tales of customers initiating leases without expecting delivery for 120 days.  When was the last time a customer would willingly wait more than 30 days for their device?

Heard in the back alleys and sidebars of the industry:
 

Monday, September 5, 2022

What do, the Anti-WorkFromAnywhere movement, the Biden administration, and "V is for Vendetta" all have in common?


#WFA, Fighting for the Soul of Society


What is the common thread?  How do these points connect and what constellation is formed?

The Answer:
  • Centralized, Authoritarian rule.  
  • Propaganda-fueled messaging through controlled media.  
  • Self-centered interpretation of established norms.  
  • Elimination of a "higher power" and inalienable rights.  
  • The demonization of those holding differing views. 
  • Maximizing fear to leverage and presenting their solution as final.
What's this got to do with selling #copiers?  Nothing. EVERYTHING.

Sunday, January 2, 2022

New to Copier Sales: How to Write a Blog or Article


You’ve heard it before: “You’ve got to create content.”  Your LinkedIn feed is probably littered with all sorts of influencers pitching their personal branding and content generation classes.

Distinguishing yourself through content is undeniably effective, but how? Adding one more task to your selling process is daunting.  But writing about how you’ve helped others is a great way to project expertise and build credibility. Above all, writing can be a catharsis.

That’s the trick to good content — write for yourself, to yourself.  There are two basic audiences: those in the industry — coworkers, vendors, and the like, and those on the other side of the table — prospects, and customers.  Talking with either audience requires relevant ideas, subject matter, and empathy. Put yourself in their shoes. For example, if you recently had a great prospecting or cold-calling experience, tell the story. The odds are good that not only will your peers find it interesting, your prospects will as well.  

Remember, they sell things too.

Read the rest here.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Today, I spoke with an MpS God - she was just fired. #managedprintservices #sales


I’ve said it many times, “ the path to MpS nirvana is littered with the skeleton frames of burnt out MpS Managers, Directors and Sales People”.

No sour grapes -

I’m sure there are dozens of good reasons for termination and every separation has at least two stories.  In the past decade I've been a Practice Manager, advisor and support specialist. I’ve thrived, struggled and witnessed good people churned under the seven step, "xerographic process".

And that’s exactly what I mean - the copier niche can destroy vision, creativity, and dumb down every business solution into 30 day segments.  Managed print Services is the latest victim, with managed IT services right behind.

Some of our industry leaders are no more than box movers - they confuse ‘applications’ with business solutions and project hubris as wisdom.  Take a trip through the LinkedIN community and notice how many times we compliment each other or brag about the latest sale, certification, trip or baseball team we're associated.

It is one big, circle-jerk.

These are observations not complaints. We all get what we deserve and this industry deserves its decent into obscurity.

But not just yet.

I've seen this before, from above and below and can list cautionary red-flags for the folks still selling MpS.

Here are some signs indicating you should give my friend Steve Spencer(MpS recruiter) a call:
  • lie
  • lack of vision
  • too many rules
  • change the rules
  • filter out all creativity
  • do not see beyond 30 day cycles
  • incentivize for equipment sales only
  • promote month/qtr/year end specials
  • narrow-minded C-Level management
  • put MpS under the service department
  • dependent on hardware/service revenue
  • refuse to integrate MpS and Managed IT services
  • bad, complicated or non-existent compensation plans
  • a corporate culture centered around past copier success
  • focus on leasing and linking equipment inside MpS deals
  • install a C-level executive with little or no experience beyond the box
  • enforce identical activity expectations for support specialists and down the street copier sales people
  • say "X is a major part of the business", yet majority of revenue is copier generated
  • utilize a foggy compensation plan & do not enforce gates on sales teams
Here's a big one: Does your leadership yell? Do your C-Level meetings include loud voices, hands slapping desks and belligerent attitudes?
“You’ve got to be tough out there”
“This industry isn’t for the thin skinned”
“If you can’t take this, you’ll never make it in sales”
I’m no snowflake. This type of behavior says leagues about the yeller and the enabling organization.  At the very least this is unprofessional - would management slam desks or scream at prospects?

When people communicate in this manner, the organization is:
Insecure
Afraid
Negative
This is not normal behavior - Leave. Now.  Call Steve.

Not every organization operates like this, I bet not many at all.  But if you're in one, in any industry, consider your self-worth and get the hell out.  It's a big world. No matter your current skill set or personal/professional goals, there are companies and positions out here for you.

You're Notbroken.


Tuesday, February 13, 2018

New to Copier Sales? What Are You, Nuts?

“When I grow up, I want to sell copiers and printers,” said nobody, ever.

"If two years ago you told me I would be selling copiers, I would have slugged you in the head,” said new reps everywhere.

An aunt to her nephew over Thanksgiving dinner: “What do you do for a living now that you’ve graduated, Johnny?”

“I help companies manage and reduce the costs associated with documents!”

“Oh. You sell copiers. That’s nice. Could you pass the potatoes?"

For those of you who have been in the business for more than a couple of years, you may find the above statements apropos, if not a bit painful. I wanted to be an astronaut once, but the closest thing I’ve gotten to Star Trek is my iPad. I do know the seven steps of the xerographic process, however, so I’ve got that going for me.

Regardless, let’s say you’re a fresh-out-of-school, new copier sales representative. Perhaps you’ve taken a sales class in college, worked retail over the summer, or your friends and family tell you, “You’re such a people person, you should be in sales." Congratulations, you are more than qualified.

As a newbie, your target market is going to be what we love to call “down the street” copier sales. Everybody starts here; many stay. Down the street (DTS) selling is just that; your prospects are located up and down the street and, like the Fuller Brush man, you’re expected to prospect to these small businesses — funeral homes, real estate offices, insurance agents, auto dealers and shops, HVAC, construction, electrical subcontractors, trucking companies, churches and the ever popular print-for-pay businesses.

But the best way to approach this segment is not through a precise email campaign, massive research or a cute social media program. The proven method is a combination of door-knocking and over-the-phone cold calling. That’s it. It’s hard work, no doubt, and the first step in the journey to major and strategic accounts management.

Here’s how these DTS accounts behave:

Read the rest, here.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Three Ideas for Copier People Selling Managed Services


The move into managed services is well on its way and traditional copier reps are getting caught in the middle between selling boxes and selling services.  Pundits and consultants lament "copier people cannot sell managed services" unless they attend a day of specialized sales training.

It is true, I've seen plenty of managed services or IT sales destroyed by copier sales reps - from Cali to N.C. I've written about a couple of instances.

The thing is, for all the challenges and failures, the rep is not to blame. We train them to always be closing, find pain and twist, to hunt, take-down, close, trap and "increase share of wallet" - armed with this mentality, its a miracle anybody sells anything, let alone a nuanced offering like managed services.

So, as a copier rep, what can you do to secure more managed services contracts/agreements?  Should you heed your sales manager's advice and  treat help desk like a fax board?  Does your OEM offer any clues? How about a few days of off-site training followed up with a phone blitz?

"No...no...no..."

Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Death of A #CopierSale - Birth of a #ManagedServices Engagement

10/2014

There we were, sitting shoulder to shoulder with a freshly minted copier rep talking to a prospect. The rep was leading the team in monthly revenue and looking to lock it all up with this opportunity.

 The five of us, three on the provider side, and two on the prospect were discussing the benefits of managed services. Our prospect was lamenting the many challenges with the current IT services provider:

- "Never hear from them"
- "Whenever they come out, they charge us. And they always come out."
- "I asked them if our backup was secure and found out it wasn't last week when we lost power"
- "He only does hardware and knows nothing about printers"
- "What are we paying for, again?"

The pain was there waiting for us to isolate and trial close. We knew how much they were paying and they wanted to work with one company, for all their technology needs.

Yes - we could have closed right then and there...

But we didn’t.


Out of my mouth came the following words,

"Well, we can certainly remove all your current issues. Our managed services program is designed to address everything you mentioned...but for now, let's concentrate on getting your copiers squared away, and then talk about managed services...don't let a managed services decision get in the way of new copiers..."

Wait...what did I just say?

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Sales Reps(Copier): Pie Is Not Sexxy. Stop with Goofy Marketing, Unless it Works.


We've gone from Gorilla Marketing to Goofy Marketing.

In the old days, we would send one baby shoe with a note, "Are companies make a great pair."  Get it?
Later, we would send a radio-controlled car with an offer to deliver the remote control, when given an appointment. 
I've seen it all, crumbled letters, newspaper articles writing about how your prospect did something famous(or infamous), singing telegrams, lunch in a box, and yes even fresh apple pie in exchange for a signature.

I can't believe I still hear about these techniques.
_________

This account is based on a True Story.  The names and locations are changed to protect the ignorant.
------

The sharp-dressed, well-seasoned sales manager sauntered in five minutes late. He's read somewhere, that a strong entry is important when motivating the troops and this month's sales figures are in need of some heavy stimulation.

"All right ladies, " he starts, ignoring the fact that only two of the 18 salespeople in the room are female, "as you know, this is the last week of the month.  You've all committed to numbers that none of you have delivered.  Not one."
Initiate spontaneous, mutual sphincter contractions.

Monday, August 25, 2014

#Copier Sales People: Three Tips to Selling Managed Services

2014

It isn't that difficult...to sell managed services.  As a matter of fact, selling managed services is a lot easier than convincing a 'board of elders' to lease your new color device...with saddle stitch, no less.

First things first,  if your leadership is so wrapped up in themselves they think:

A) copiers will be around forever or
B) Managed services is akin to adding a duplexer or fax board

- keep your resume up to date.

Unless you're in some backwater market where they still lease copiers for 72 months, hardware sales are about to fall off a cliff (slight exaggeration).  Maybe your guys don't see it coming - it is already here, so the sooner you get your personal act together about services, not hardware, the better.

Just between you and I, there are hundreds of hints and tips around selling managed services.  In the end, the advice is nothing more than a shuffle of what you've already been told.

There isn't ONE training course, consultant or "MNS" expert who will mention any one of these tips:

1.  Stop being afraid
2.  Forget everything you know about hardware
3.  Ignore your quota and in some cases...Ignore your boss

Your Fears

If there's one thing I've seen from coast to coast is whenever somebody on the copier side starts to talk about Managed IT Services,  they backtrack into, "well, I need to know more about that business before I dive in..."  Horse Pucky.

Who would buy a product which openly insults?

We're taught to believe that the computer guys know so much more than we. We've got memories of feeling dumb because we called IT only to have them come up, reboot and head back.

"Reboot?  That's it????!...arrrrg..."

IT folks were strange, anti-social, and difficult to understand.  They fixed our problems and they made us feel like dummies.

Stop worrying about what you think you don't know, stop Facebooking and use the inter-web to learn about what CIOs think is important.

"You know what Mr. Prospect...every, single, copier is exactly the same..."

Yeah, we used that line all the time at IKON.  Of course, we sold almost every brand back then...

The same goes for servers, cloud, backup disaster recovery, switches, firewalls, help desk, anti-virus - your prospect does not care how many awards your hardware has earned.  They do not care how much you've invested in R/D or how long you've been in the industry.

They don't...and when your OEM rep tells you to build credibility by dropping their name, let the words go in one ear and out the other.

Tell your prospect how your stuff solves problems.  Printers, copiers, luxury submersibles and can openers solve problems.  If you can find a problem duplexing solves, I'm sure you can find an issue BDR(googlitize it) addresses.

Stop Selling and Start Solving.

Ignore Your Boss  - "On the 1st of the Month we Sell Solutions. On the 20th, we push boxes..." 

Careful here.

If I had a dime for every sales manager I've met, that wasn't worth a dime, I'd have a lot of dimes - a March of Dimes, actually.  I'm not saying ALL sales managers are worthless...and I know YOUR manager is Fortune 100 material.  I am not recommending you blatantly mock your boss - not overtly - just understand his perspective.

Here's the deal, typical sales managers are compensated on the team's hardware sales and most dealerships are driven to quota by their OEM - it is the way of things.

When you hear your manager say things like, "Everybody better start learning MNS, because these copiers aren't going to be around for long...""its a numbers game, kid..." or "you can't sign deals on the phone..." or "...why don't you get a new car/suit/wife/credit card/house..." take it with a grain of salt.

Don't get me wrong, if this style matches your core values, stop reading and get back to those 100 dials, 10 contacts, 1 appointment - there's a church out there dying to buy a copier!

Otherwise, let's talk about you.

I've always said and felt that pure managed print services has little to do devices and nothing related to logo's - its a service, not a cartridge or machine.  Managed services is an extension of the same ideal, its a service not a server or firewall.

Most managers do not understand this because they are not compensated for services.  Indeed, some ignore services all together figuring that's "the service department's responsibility" - point, missed.

I know you didn't grow up wanting to be a copier rep - NOBODY DOES.  I understand how difficult it can be describing what you do to your parents - been there, done that, got the therapy to prove it.

And here we are, in the heart of the jungle...

Do anything to improve yourself every, single day.  Polish up on your knowledge of the Cloud, nod during your next sales training session, and then go buy my book.  Write in the margins, read it from your iPad on the bus ride home...(?).  Cut and paste passages into emails and Tweets - put the cover on your desktop.

Cloud stuff here.



Contact Me

Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
262.370.4193