As a young man, I first consciously thought about the principle of exposure while camping out with a group of friends and running trot-lines. Trot-lines are a mostly Southern fishing phenomenon. It involves the use of a large span of stout line from which individual drop-hooks are weighted, baited and suspended at about two feet intervals along the main line.
While we youngsters would pile wood onto a overnight bonfire and stay up and swap lies and what not, a couple of of would take our turns about every hour or so and maneuver the boat along the line, re-baiting hooks where the bait had failed, and taking off the caught catfish--as big as sixty pounds or more. During the course of the night we could land a substantial haul, which we would sell or take home to our families to use in a family fish-fry.
Early did I this way learn a powerful truth. The more often you ran your lines, within reason, the more often you baited fresh hooks and plunged them back down into the murky night waters of the river, the more fish you would catch. Simply put, "If you want to catch a lot of fish, you must bait a of of hooks."
This simple universal knowledge, is a rule that any good salesman must eventually come to terms with. You can fool yourself into thinking you are working your butt off, by filling your time with busywork. But, until you concentrate that same time, or even less, upon "baiting hooks", your creel will remain mostly empty.
Although my examples will now deal primarily with selling copiers, I can tell you that it works while selling any product, whether tangible or intangible. While selling copiers, you must cut to the chase, get past the water-cooler and coffee-machine chat, and focus on key benchmarks, which vicariously become your baited hooks. Telephone surveys, personal calls--cold or warm, mailers, thank you cards, asks for referrals, drop-offs, product shows and product demonstrations are the baited hooks.Unless you do them methodically and sensibly on a routine basis--no sales will occur. The more of these benchmarks you can meet, the more sales you'll make, and the more money you'll take home to your wife and kids.
When I sold copiers and later managed and as I taught other salesperson how to sell copiers and printing equipment, I used several benchmarks. Although the numbers must be adapted to any given territory, I worked a System of Tens or the ten-ten-ten plan. I have taught and implemented variants of this plan to numerous salesmen. The results were always simple and predictable. Those who followed my System, made sales and money. those who, for whatever reason, did not do as I suggested or in some cases insisted--fell behind, made few sales, and eventually were terminated or quit.
Here's the breakdown that I use, but it can surely be adapted in numbers for any territory. Make a minimum of ten new contacts over the telephone each day. You don't try to sell over the phone. You simply gather information and make appointments to those who care to here about our products. You don't count your follow-up calls or callbacks on regular customers. You only count the new contacts, which you make. You see, you want more fresh exposure, or freshly-baited hooks.
Next, you average ten, or whatever number fits your requirements, personal calls--that's face-to-face--to interview, if you will and have an opportunity to present your problem-solving products to a new decision-maker. Sometimes you can work in forty calls, sometimes you only get three more substantiative personal call in. It should average your benchmark number over a week or month or quarter.
Then you want to use the US Post Office to provide more baited hooks by placing a compelling number of proven direct mail pieces in front of, you got it, new prospective buyers. Now let me say at this point that you can use wisdom in the placement of your bait. for example, if you are selling copiers, you can call on every Gas Service Station in your territory without many bites. but if, instead, you call on attorneys, or your previously identified list of largest businesses in your territory, you will get a lot more bites, which properly played, will net tangible sales and money in the bank.
Many sales managers focus their teams on dollars sole. This creates a quandary. The sales force individually cannot, at least it so seems to them at first, reasonably predict the future sales they are gong to make. However, they cam, and must predict the number of calls they can make. If they don't meet these minimum requirements, I recommend a zero-tolerance policy for those who consistently can't seem to do these very doable benchmark activities. I believe they should be fired in the most expedient fashion possible. You are doing these non-producers no favors when they don't, having been told of your minimum requirements, meet the minimum benchmark expectations. they belong in another industry. Not sales.
With copiers, I determined an even more powerful, doable, benchmark activity. Equipment Demonstrations. Now while this benchmark has something to do with the nature of the marketing bell-curve regarding the life-cycle of your product, it is more or less applicable in every case. by this, I mean that if you have a relatively new product, which has not yet reached a flat, replacement-only market, product demonstrations provide the salesman opportunities to show their prospects something new. New solutions, by the creative use of your effectively rehearsed product demonstrations and presentations. This makes for more exciting sales in some cases. However this is not to say that a flat or replacement market is a bad thing--it merely means that your consumers may actually know as much or more about your products than you do. Therefore demonstrations become less important. Still, most buyers want to see, touch, feel what they are getting before they hand over the check.
Therefore, in the case of new technological products such as the never-ending evolution of office-automation products, "the demonstration is a crucial, mind-altering event". It is what turns casual interest into a perception of need or even, and quite acceptably, desire to acquire or want. Read this paragraph again.
If you sell cars, it is the test-drive. If you sell shoes, it is the trying them on, walking around and admiring them in the mirror. If you sell insurance it is the moment that you realize that you are a jerk if you haven't adequately secured your family's future. If you sell industrial chemicals, it is seeing and understanding that the bathroom cleanser not only kills dangerous bacteria and smells good, but it also contains enzymes that break down the uric acid contained in little boy's pee that gets splattered all around, thereby neutralizing the odor. How would you have ever known such things unless this very informed and useful salesperson not only tells you, but shows you the product in use and provides convincing data as proof that you are not lying.
In any city in the USA, if not the world, an average person can get a job selling copiers. The mark-up of these products and the methods of distribution necessitates moving X numbers of boxes per month. This leads to an important truth. The compensation plans for those people who will follow the above-outline method only, and I have lots more to tell you how to make it easier--the comp plans are not only achievable, they are nearly obscene. I actually recall telling another successful copier salesman about two years into the business, "This should be illegal. It's too easy. It's almost like stealing." And although it's not really much like stealing, the amount of money that an average Jo can make rivals any professional in any field. And that is not only my experience, but it is my firm belief.
It's late at night. I am tired. this is enough information for you to go make a fortune. But never fear, I will soon, tell you much, much more to help you be a Sales Gladiator. Doug Wright
