Sales Gladiator

Mission Statement

I have been a salesman pretty much all my life. All of us have been. Sometimes I was even called a salesman; at other times I was merely selling myself, my services, or other aspects of a primary business. I have sold down-the-street in tough markets at times of depressed sales. Later, as a an area manager calling on dealers and branches to help them recruit and train, I taught others what I had learned. I have sold in many different geographies. I have never been the most flashy, nor even the most organized. I have seldom been the safest bet.

I have never matched the theoretical ideal sales profile. But I have often been the stand-out among my group of sales peers. My approach was necessarily different. I was not born gregarious, nor particularly social. I not good-looking. I did have a gift for words once it was found. I learned that words are often all we have. They can be powerful. I have also been blessed with a quiet tenacity. I feel that this quality more than anything else, is the quality that makes for extraordinary salesmen. 

For a time, after retiring from the mainstream business world, I consulted with businesses of many types, to help them implement programs of the types that I had used. I found a great deal of my knowledge is adaptable to virtually any type of sales. The information that I have to offer can also be used for those involved in marketing and presenting, to positive ends. Indeed, many of the techniques that helped me succeed in sales, are really acts of marketing. Sometimes it takes a lot of marketing to lead up to those few moments we cal sales.

Although much of my experience is with tangible such as computerized office equipment, many other products have been intangibles, such as software, concepts, ideas, and methods. Early-on in my career, I held a life insurance and securities license. I excelled in that job too. But since I have always tended to be a kind of gadget-guy, I found the rapidly changing technology offered in office imaging--from calculators and computers, to cameras and printing equipment, to color copiers and connected printer--were more to my liking. Even though I will often pose precise examples using copier and other tangibles within this blog, you will find that most are adaptable to any type of sales. I favorprinciples over lists or unyielding formats. Principles are universally true.

Although lacking prestige, copier sales success has become the benchmark for today's selling methods. If you can make it selling copiers savvy recruiters feel that you can sell anything. Many sales managers consider successful copier sales as a suitable background, if not a prerequisite, for employment. One such industry is the medical and pharmaceutical industry. In a sense, copier sales is really not very hard to do, once you get past the initial obstafcles. And you can make a fortune if you do it well. Ask Ross Perrot.

People have paid mightily for just this sort of information, which I now post here for free. I simply felt that recounting some of these things could help other salesmen get a jump on their careers. I wish I had had such a tool to help me when I was beginning. This is the mission of my Sales Gladiator weblog. As I produce several other blogs, I will necessarily get to this one as I can. I will also try to answer any serious questions, which are submitted via the comments feature. I will also moderate and post any comments that I feel will help you. You may wish to subscribe to this blogs feed.

Best Regards, PapaD

How to Increase Your Sales Quickly

Determine the fifty largest accounts appropriate to your products within your territory. Bone up ton the extent that you can give A FLAWLESS PRESENTATION ON YOUR MOST EXPENSIVE PRODUCT OR MULTIPLES OF PRODUCTS TO ONE ACCOUNT. cONCENTRATE YOUR ATTENTION ON THESE ACCOUNTS. IF YOU DO THIS DILIGENTLY, YOU WILL RISAE TO THE TOP OF YOUR SALES TEAM IN LESS THAN NINETY DAYS. DO IT! IF YOU FIND THAT YOU CAN’T DO THIS, GET ANOTHER JOB.

Demonstratons Sell

Learn to flawlessly demonstrate your products. This is the step that converts a suspect or prospect into a buyer. Stress the things that concern your client;s applications only. Invent ways in which they can use your product that they may never have thought of.

Rather than focusing on numbers of calls, focus on increasing your numbers of demonstrations. I will explore many ways to do this in the future.

I have proven time and again to skeptics of this process and showed them how to increase their sales by increasing their demos.

Here is a mental/notebook exercise to help you increase you demos. Suppose, just for grins, that you if you do not do 100 demos this month, that you will be be-headed. Also suppose that if you DO accomplish 100 demos this month, that you will be rewarded with a million dollars.

Now consider how you would work differently to accomplish this. Brainstorm all ideas, throw out the unrealistic ones and implement the doable ones. This is called the push/pull method of motivation, which will also engage your creative thoughts. I promise that it works. doug wright

How to Get in to See Almost Anyone

Try this if you find that you are not getting in to see the decision makers. Go to the bookstore, gift store, or wherever you can find the best scenic postcards in your area. Pick out quite a selection of the nicest ones. Color picture postcards that are pleasing to look at. It is not inconceivable to even make your own if you have such skills.

Each evening after work for a week, send ten hand-addressed and hand-stamped color postcards to your list of hard-to-sees. Say something like, I will be in your neighborhood this week and hope you can make time in your busy schedule to see me. And sign your name--no business name. Plan your calls to follow up in person within three days. Just so that they have had time to get the post card and not forget about it.

When you make your calls, don't use a business card or say who you are with. If the receptionists presses you regarding what company you are with or what this is about, merely say, I have some personal business I'd like to discuss directly with So and So. I'm pretty sure he will see me. Stick to your guns.

Now you better have something worthwhile in mind to tell this contact, a special that is limited to just a few people or something that you are positive will be of interest to him/her. You may even further the mystique a little further by telling him that you have several things to tell him, and set a lunch date with him.

"I know you are busy, but there are mutual areas that our businesses have in common, I don't expect to take a lot of your time now, but could you perhaps go to lunch one day next week?" Might be one approach.

One thing is for sure. No other salesman has sent this person a hand-addressed, hand-stamped color picture postcard this week. He will more than likely want to see the face behind the act.

Produce a Customer Newsletter or E-zine

If you are selling any product, keeping pertinent information in front of them will accrue to your advantage. I have used newsletters for over 30 years within virtually every organization I have worked for or belonged to. When using a print format, a simple template designed to fit on a quad-fold 11x17 sheet will give you 8.5x11 surfaces. The outside surface after folding will be the back page. The bottom half of the surface also doubles as the mailing surface, with a Motif and return address, a place for a stamp or postage, and a place for the address. Let me say here that your readership will increase dramatically if you hand address, and hand stamp your newsletters. If your list is small enough to make this manageable, it may be worth the trouble.

Depending on what you sell, the top half of this same page can be used for a featured product or other point of emphasis, as this will be the first part that the receiver reads. Selling printing and office equipment, I often used this part of the page for a customer-usable Buy and Sell Classifieds for used equipment of the type of equipment that you sell, and of course of the type that your newsletter is dealing with. The advantage of this idea is that you will be made aware of both sales opportunities when a member of your base places an ad for a product you sell. They may feel that all they can afford is a used item, but with your knowledge of their need, you may direct another customer who has such an item for sale, thereby creating goodwill from both parties and possibly placing the seller in a position to buy a new product from you.

On the other-hand, if a reader requests to list a used item, which they have for sale, odds are that this customer is in the market for a new replacement for the item they are listing for sale. Either way, it offers you opportunities and helps you keep your pulse on what is going on in your market. The front page, which winds up being inside the second fold, can be used for articles about your organization, special promos, or institutional information about your general Industry. I suggest that the inside Left surface, which receives very high readership for a closely cropped, professionally made photo of yourself. This should be accompanied by a personal bio and attempt to sell your readers on you. If this is a joint-effort, you may want to feature one person in alternate issues, picturing all participants equally.

On the bottom half of the inside left surface, I would picture a product. The inside right page may be best used to showcase a particular end-user of your product, who may be of high profile in your community or whom may have a special application which you feel others may see and catch onto. This third-party reference is not only a strong published reference suitable for convincing others to use your product, it has the tendency of locking in the featured user with special loyalty to your company. My own experience has proven this to be the case one-hundred percent of the time. Of course you will want to make doubly sure that the featured customer is catered to.

It is important to use a proper corporate heading or motif throughout the newsletter. Display it prominently as part of your template for the first page. Also display it as a footer for the inside two pages, and finally, display it at the top of the mailing surface and in the place where your return address goes. Provide all your access information, including your web-site if applicable, your email addresses, telephone numbers, and weblogs if apropos.

I mentioned the print format first, for three reasons:

1. We cyber-minds tend to think that everyone is computer savvy by now. But it is not true. Many people, especially older key-influencer, buyers, and owners, may still be completely put off by computers. Odd, but true.
2. Once your newsletter is prepared for print format, it is a simple process to convert it to a PDF or other format, which can be used as an email attachment or emailed as an E-zine by itself.
3. Since my experience is primarily with office and printing equipment, I also suggest that you use it to print in color while demonstrating your industrial grade color printer/copiers. The customer who comes in for a demonstration gets to see firsthand, the streamlined  production and printing process on the equipment that you are proposing to them. It makes for a very strong presentation.

If you or your staff don't have ample skills to produce a very high-quality and professional newsletter, get a professional to do it, or at least seek professional advise. Nothing can kill the benefits of this killer idea easier than sending out a piece of junk. On this point, don't ask your Mom if it looks good. This is a time to seek objectivity. Get a pro's advice.

Be a Presenter at Pertinent Cliubs

I had great success making new contacts which translated into great exposure and more sales. PP  and Mac Clubs. Local attorney and CPA Associations, IT Associations, Ad Agency Associations,  Associations for buyers, and other associations are game for this strategy, with the local PC club, I made presentations on general technology trends with specific product displays, usually a smaller network workgroup color laser printer. I would give a 30 minute overhead PowerPoint Presentation and then a show and tell of the product or products that I had the service department deliver.

I also offered to print the clubs Newsletter at least once.It can be a pain in the butt or you can hire it done by one of your customers. It usually makes their own budget newsletter look like heck. Make sure you get your own feature in the newsletter and a footer across each page. I sold countless copiers just from the presentations made at PC and Mac Clubs. But presentations to any group is worthwhile. Even civic clubs are filled with businessmen and women.

This is a simple way to bait more hooks. If you bait more hooks you catch more fish, remember (from previous post).

Add Value to Your Product that Sets them apart

So you can't drop your price any more. Or you don't want to because it affects your commissions. There are times when you must drop your drawers on price. Make it the exception and not the rule. One way to combat a lower price for a fairly equivalent product is to add something to the package that your competition cannot or will not.

When I was selling some of the first connected color copiers, I made an arrangement to offer a special class with New Horizons on How to Choose a Color Copier or Printer. It was taught for free on new Horizons premises, using their computers and software. I taught the class. It provide draw for New Horizon, who gained additional awareness of their training facilities and sold more software training classes. In turn, New Horizon gave me special package pricing on applicable classes. For a Grand, I could provide my color copier/printer customers ten grand worth of training. win win win.

The competition never new what hit them. Rather than discount three or five grand, I discounted by the one thousand dollars paid for the New Horizons training package, and gave the end-users a nine thousand dollar increase in value for the customer.

There are many ways to do this. You are limited only by your imagination. Probe to find what turns your customers on. Find something that they need or want for their office, to make life easier. Go buy it and let a small discount pay for it. Your customer is happy and they have to spend nothing. As a rule, real stuff is far sexier to the buyer than is a mere price discount. In less politically charged times, and before all the rd-tape associated with the purchase of firearms, I would include the latest greatest deer-hunting rifle with any offset press I sold. another time I gave away 100,000 Green Stamps. You think Mom and Pop in the Mom and Pop shops didn't make hay with those. I also once offered a car with a large printing press. Although I had no takers, it got plenty of attention and scared off my competition.

Figure out ways that you can personally add value to your products. If articulated well, you'll sell more deals.

The Best Demo Wins

Never-mind that your competitors copier may have the same feature that yours does--assuming that it this feature can be shown to fit the application--if you properly demonstrate this feature in a way that shows the feature to meet the needs of the prospect, whether they were looking for it or not--your demo wins. That usually translates into a sale.

I always set myself apart in the industry by coming in early and staying late, to rehearse and practice my demos, so that they were butter smooth, and letter perfect. I also used a flip-chart or an overhead to affirm the customer's needs ahead of time, and them checked them off in summary, always asking for a sale in the end.

When  I began imaging technology, the most viable technology for many applications was offset printing. I had been schooled as an offset technician and had worked as a printer, so I knew more that the average bear to begin with. It was unheard of to crank the offset press up to maximum speeds, to run color inks effectively, or to run onion-skin paper or four-part NCR paper. I learned to do it all. I would bring a prospect  into the demo room, and while I was wearing an IBM-blue suit and a starched while shirt, I would run colored ink on four part NCR at maximum speeds. The prospect's eyes would bug out and a sales was secured.

The trick lay, not in any inherent superiority of the off-set duplicator, but in my skills as an operator. Only it wasn't really a trick at all, it was skill and practice, and when the prospect got the equipment in their own shop, I could come show them how to make it do the same thing. I boast. Yes, I am proud and was then, of my professionalism and ability to smoke the competition on a demo. It meant that I was better, and consequently, that my equipment was better. It always was, no matter what I sold. They were buying me and my expertise.

As an example of how this same concept can be used with intangibles, my wife produces an International children's chorus festival. On the surface, when prices are compared to other venue destinations for children's choirs, hers is more expensive. However, the festival was actually conceived to address all of the shortfalls my wife had found in other trips abroad, and other festivals. It is by far the least-stressful on children and directors, it is held within the safety of the USA, at an historic destination, Music City, USA (Nashville). Although appealing to classically trained choirs, it explores cross-genre vocal music and the commonality thereof. In addition to famous clinicians and conductors who will instruct and conduct the mass children's choirs, approximately $150,000 has been budgeted for top-notch celebrity singers to be hired to perform with the children.

It will take place in the Grand Old Opry House, with rehearsals in the Acuff theater. Line dancing will be taught at the Wild Horse Saloon ( a kid-friendly place). The package will include a celebrity cruise aboard the General Jackson, the largest showboat in the world, along a scenic portion of the Tennessee River.  The accommodations will be in the posh, Opryland Hotel--a world-class resort, the largest non-gaming resort of its kind. There is nothing else like it! And technology can also help. check out her web site: www.crossroadschildrenschorusfestival.com  which also must be cool.

Here, the Festival must be differentiated from the competition by words, and pictures, and word-pictures. So what if it costs $300 more than the typical festival. Look at the VALUE. How many times will these children get to share the stage with top name entertainers? Numbers must be used. The celebrity budget of $150,000 divide by the 300 total participants represents a $500 per child increase in value, to say nothing of all the other venue features that can be costed out. This is the equivalent to the demo of a tangible. Words and pictures and numbers are the all-important differentiators.

I have managed many sales-persons. Some seemed ashamed of their occupation, hesitant to say that they sold copiers. But those who had passion, who said it with pride and conviction, that they were the best of the best, not because of some inherent gift of God, but because they made themselves that way--those were the ones who sold copiers and lived in houses between three surgeons, and drove sports-cars if they wanted to.

Demos sell!Demo sell!Demos sell! If you want to sell. Learn to do the best demo in the world!

What the World Needs Now is Work, Sweet Work

Was it Dionne Warwick who sang the song, Love, Sweet Love? For you youngsters, she was one of the greatest singers who ever lived. Incidentally, she is Whitney Houston's aunt. She was bigger, for longer, than is Whitney Houston. There are lessons in these facts, but i haven't yet considered what they are. However, a transliteration of her song title did come to mind as a great title for this particular post.

Once long ago, when I had more money than time, and enough energy to at least to try to keep up with an over-amped love of living life to the fullest and doing more things than is possible for one human to do in a lifetime, I called my wife on a Thursday before a long weekend and asked her to get ready to go to Bermuda for four days. I had more frequent flier miles than should be allowed one person, and I not only loved to travel, I could keep up the pace required to do such things. This was not an uncommon spur-of-the-moment occurrence. I have always thrived on change and adventure. Not so much for my wife, though.

After answering all of her reasonable objections the best I could, I finished my day and made arrangements for our trip--while I was coming home. No sooner than I had placed my plans in good motion, did I realize, or actually was tipped off by my astute and helpful travel agent, Patrice, that a tropical storm between me and Bermuda, was churning up to Hurricane levels and that no one would be flying to Bermuda for holiday fun that weekend. I had invested enough time convincing my wife and getting her fired up about the trip, that I wa not going to let it go. Besides, I was up for some down time.

It had been some time since I had been to Puerto Rico, and my wife had never been. I wasn't so interested in gambling or shopping in San Juan as are most tourists. I wanted to rent a car, once there, and head West along the Northern coast of the Island, get somewhere around the Island and have a nice fresh seafood dinner, and spontaneously find an interesting place to stay. This was my idea of fun travel. No planning whatsoever. It has often been a good formula. Not so much this time.

Following the coastal highway was easy enough. We had a wonderful feast of fresh seafood in time to see a wonderful sunset. It was then that I decided to take a short little detour into the mountainous jungle inland to a a destination marked on the map. I hadn't had to use the map previously. I'm one of those people, or at least used to be, who found relaxation and comfort in the hum of the road, the cool(ish) tropical air breezing through open car windows, while concentrating, at least subliminally on the rapid darts and sharp turns through mist-obscured asphalt and animating a story with both hands, while my sweet wife turned iridescently green and covered her face or shrieked or ducked when mist gave way to a freshly spun spider web crashing into our vision.

Although not paying much conscious attention, I soon realized that I had driven farther than the map and indicated. I also quickly realized that a recently passed hurricane has snatched every road sign off its pedestal. Puerto Rico inland is wonderfully confusing as an endless network of unmarked blacktop roads are differently marked only by occasional spills of fresh fruit or avocados from overhanging trees. The famous tow-toned tree-frogs help to make the darkness even more surreal as one wonders if they have indeed entered the proverbial Twilight Zone.  

My usual adrenaline rush was subsiding when we spied a historic Spanish coffee plantation that had been converted to a quaint roadside hacienda for people such as us to stay overnight. The setting was lovely, the jungle air fresh after a good rain, and the room and bed were clean and comfortable. The incessant two-toned frogs reminded me of the gentle din of cicadas and crickets in my own mainland Southern home. The air was insect free and high windows seemed especially open without necessity of screens. The temperature was perfect for a lazy sleep. The scent of what I suspected was almond flowers perfumed the air like a sleep drug.

We were far from the stress of the city. By for the bulk of Puerto Rico's population lives in the towns and cities. Coffee is the main agricultural crop. As an American Territory of the USA, the Islands economy has been greatly subsidized by the liberal dole. Many people work for the government. Few ware wealthy, but most are comfortable and after generations, quite content. It is common even in the little out communities to have to slow for street dances from seemingly endless after-dark parties with salsa blaring from simple boom-boxes and colorful figures dirty dancing in crazy-fun.

As with many places, especially tropical ones, drugs are so much apart of the culture they will never end. They probably won't anywhere. Sexy women are scantily dressed and all of them are extraordinarily beautiful to outsiders, but so common as to be home-spun to the locals. It is no wonder that AIDS and other STD's rampantly top the chart of epidemic areas within the Americas. English is not spoken, either in protest, or inability or both--speaking of these little pit-stops on the way to who knew where. Life appears to be one big never-ending party. What a life, I used to think to myself. Drugs, sex, dole money. No worries. Be happy. Or is that the Bahamas. the same thing, but better.

I recently heard a report about the new epidemic in Puerto Rico. The government, faced with wealth redistribution of the Administration and the grand plan of stimulus freebies--somehow didn't get the poor little tropical territory proper lobbying in its behalf. Jobs have dried up. Oh there are JOBS, just not the cush dole-ish jobs that used to be counted on the bribe the population in to a possible vote for Statehood versus independence. But there are jobs.

Coffee plantations offer good pay for a good day's work. This is what America was once built on. But increasingly, in the mainland cities, inner and outer--as with this American Progressive microcosm we call Puerto Rico--this tried and sure work-ethic has been bred out of the population--mostly. Coffee plantations, upon which the real economy of Puerto Rico is inextricably dependent, can't find enough workers on the Island to work. Outsiders (I don't know from where) are being brought in willing to work and make the money and take it away from the Islands economy.

The facade of Utopia in Puerto Rico is just another example of failed economic principles. Dope, disease, and idleness is killing the island Shangri La-la-la. these people are NOT to blame so much as are the so-called Progressive politicians who are now threatening the fabric of all of America. Americans are, as Puerto Rican Americans are, dancing and laughing and drugging--to death. How long can we last this way?

Tritely, but truly, our fathers and grandfathers were right after-all. And after all the blood, sweat, and tears they gave to assure their future generations an easier life--do we realize that an honest days work for an honest days pay--is what we were looking for all along? The famous two-toned musical frogs know this.

Stop! Listen, before you begin your Presentation.

While making sales calls with new or even experienced salespersons, I have often found their excitement to jump in and unload their schpill on the customer often reduces their effectiveness. It is sort of like ready, shoot aim. Not surprisingly, they miss the mark.

I can't think of a ituation where listening and asking open-ended questions (questions that can't be answered by a simple one word or one sentence replies), and then later beginning to use the more narrow questions to evoke just such remarks as yes or no, short answers.

What you need initially is a lot of information. The best way to get this is to ask these open-ended questions. Questions like, "Tell me about your order processing and associated paper life-cycle?" "Where do you feel that the bottleneck in your information flow is now?" "Ideally, what do you see as the number one area of improvement needed to help make your business more efficient?" Ab excellent practice drill is to come up with as many such questions as you can think of that will get the customer talking about himself and his business. Write them down, streamline them, remember them, and use them the next time you are in front of a customer.

By listening you may quickly find out several important things. You may even learn that the person you are talking to is not the best person to approach--and get his referral to the correct person(s). Ideally, the customer will give you the information to help you help him/her solve one or more problems that are crucial to his business.  By beginning with the manager or owner or director, you also gain the advantage of being referred to the correct person by the boss, which carries more weight.

A format that I have often followed, and taught to many salespersons is to first make smalltalk about the person himself. This not only builds rappart, but it also provides hot buttons that may be used to get back in and develop a lasting relationship. Next, ask general questions about his business and/or business processes until you find a problem that you can solve, then narrow the questions to direct him into a funnel to where you want ot take him to set the stage for presenting your ideas.

Give this process some thought. Come up with plausible questions to ask and rehearse them. The next time you are in front of a customer, resist the urge to talk or present, until you have gained ample information about the customer personally and his business. You will begin to see your calls gaining much greater substance.

I have related that when I first began sales, I would make a huge number of cold calls. I simply didn't know how to make them more substantitive then. Gradually, I learned techniques to get me in front of decision makers. Then I learned that asking the correct questions could lead me to uncovering problems. Where there is a problem that I can solve by selling my product and services, I found that a slaes was not too far from there.

Try it.