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Monday, February 10, 2020

New to Copier Sales: B2B People Still Use Email. No, Really. They Do.


Instant message and chat are some of the most common modes of communication today. It’s true. Back in the old days, we had a phone, the Yellow Pages and the U.S. Postal Service to reach out to prospects. Sending out around 10 letters a week, each letter was typed on a typewriter and mailed. When we graduated to PCs and laser printers, we doubled our letters per week to 20! And for important prospects, we would FedEx an approach letter.

When we sent out a bulk mailing — which was hundreds of pieces — a good response rate was 1%, with an almost incalculable close rate. Today, with the proper software, marketing departments reach thousands of email boxes an hour and achieve a “click-through” rate of 3%.

Unfortunately, the saturation of marketing email has led many to either ignore their inbox or become experts at filtering out spam. Yet, everyone uses...read the rest here.




Thursday, January 16, 2020

New to Copier Sales: How to Conduct a Meeting


If there is one constant in the copier world, it is the long, unending string of meetings you’ll attend, plan and conduct.

More than once I’ve heard it said: “If our company could sell meetings, we’d never run out.”

As experienced as we all are with attending and conducting meetings, it amazes me how often customer-facing get-togethers are unguided and formless.

I’m not sure why more time isn’t given to instruction on basic meeting structure and etiquette.

As a new copier rep, you’re expected to conduct sales appointments and closing meetings. All meetings have unique goals and objectives, and your dealership may have a standard meeting format. I’ve been on the receiving end of many copier, document management and managed print services sales presentations, and all have the same the broad structure of introduction(s), discussion, proposal, then close.

But the same structure doesn’t necessarily equal the same quality. The following...

Read the rest here.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Business and Bourbon with Greg - ArcDrive


Join me for the first “Business and Bourbon with Greg” at Vino, Etc. in Oconomowoc, Wi. on January 8th, 2020. Sampling starts at 6:30 and intermixed business conversations until 7:30.

We’ll drink bourbon and casually converse about your business and the application of technology. Specifically, I will introduce my latest project, “ArcDrive for the SMB”. ArcDrive is a computer solution designed to help businesses cross the digital divide.

New to Copier Sales: How to Talk with Prospects


The first year of appointments presents many challenges to the new copier rep, not the least of which is building knowledge and confidence. There are many aspects of sales to remember when meeting prospects for the first time, including building rapport, qualifying, informing, establishing trust and moving to the next step. But beyond all the sales techniques and training, when you’re meeting across a desk, coffee table or board room the best thing you can do is have a conversation. A simple, human to human conversation.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

New to Copier Sales: What is Document Management?



By now you know a copier is more than a copier — and a connected copier is capable of doing so much more.

In the early days, copiers simply copied. Output was the name of the game — that was it! Today our machines capture, ingest and scan almost as much — and in some cases more — than they produce. For you, the new copier rep, this may seem obvious. Document management has represented the future of the industry for over two decades.

Document management is a big subject, and I’ll try to explain it in general terms to help you understand the overall landscape. If your dealer has an application for document management, you will be trained in some manner on how to use and sell that specific solution.

Friday, September 27, 2019

New to Copier Sales: How to Conduct an Assessment



The assessment is a foundational piece of the sales process and all dealers, resellers, manufacturers have a method, even if it is ad-hoc. I am not suggesting you substitute my outline below for your dealer’s approach; I’m simply relaying some of the steps I’ve seen performed by successful selling professionals around the globe.

Needs assessment versus sales assessment

There are two broad types of assessments: An assessment determining solution requirements and an assessment geared to reveal the likelihood of a sale.

Contact Me

Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
262.370.4193