Cold Walking, or Cold Calling Selling Copiers

Yes, qualify your prospect.

How could you use a free report or video series to educate your prospect and get them to see you as an advisor rather than a product-pusher?

If they've been around for 70 years, do they not have a tickler file for past buyers who are coming to the end of their previous purchase's service life? I realize you are in a new territory, but that could be a goldmine for making a few calls to hear pain points in buyers' own words...that you can use in your promotional material, 30-second commercial, and sales process.

In your shoes, I would go get one of Claude Whitacre's books from Amazon/Kindle...he has one on the first 90 days of selling and another on one call closing. Very affordable and great info.

They are always on a contract (90%)

You call them and say some words like 'I wonder if you can help me....[pause] I'm John from XYZ copiers and I've been asked to give you a call.....I understand you may be coming to the end of your copier contract and have decided to take a look around at what 's available these days...have you been having problems with the machine?'

Doesn't really matter what they say. You should at the very least find out when their contract will be ending.

Into the diary...onto the next call.

S'easy ;0)

A couple of ideas.

Your company has a "Greatest sales rep". Somebody that is doing a ton of business and wins all the awards. Find out that person's name and give them a call If this person is is your immediate area (or in your office) great....buy them lunch and learn the ropes.

In fact, if your company is small and doesn't have a star salesperson...your industry has at least one of these people. Find them, and give them a call.

Believe me, they will cut your learning curve dramatically. And it's almost a certainty that they will be eager to help you. You know why? Nobody calls them. They have all this training/knowledge/experience and they want to share it with somebody.

Whatever you do, do NOT start talking to the other reps that are barely getting by. They will destroy your ambition, and only teach you what they know...how to barely get by.

Does your industry have a magazine? Read back issues. Learn about your competition.

Become an expert in your industry.

And....SPEED. Whether you are calling or stopping by, speed is important. If you are only making 5 visits a day....you are wasting most of your day. If you are making phone calls, you can call 50 or more people a day, without breaking a sweat...and you;ll get business every week. If you are visiting, you can see at least 10-15 prospects every day.

Does the best guy in your business make prospecting calls? Do that. What does he say when he/she calls? Say that. What questions does he/she ask? Ask those questions.

An hour on the phone with a top producer (or working with them for a day) can change your life. Trust me, somebody is making a fortune selling copiers.

Not only are many of the best accounts on some type of maintenance or supply contract, they also renew automatically unless the customer cancels. You really need to offer some compelling reason for overcoming this inertia.

I get calls and walk-ins from copier and photocopy supply salesmen almost every week. They generally all have the same spiel, so it's just easier and less hassle for us to say "We're on a contract" rather than a flat rejection. Hardly anyone presses beyond that wonderful response!

The truth is, I don't have a contract and haven't had one for about 10 years.

What happened 10 years ago is a salesman came in and offered a free audit of my photocopy usage with a no-obligation analysis of ways to cut expenses.

I told him (just like all the others) that I was on a contract.

He then said, "That's too bad that you locked yourself into unecessary expenses. Let me show you how I've been saving companies like yours an average of 20-30%. I'm in a rush right now, but if I could guarantee you the same level of service or better than what you're getting now at significant savings, would that earn my business?"

Needless to say, he got my attention and kept in touch with me as the end of my contract approached. And as soon as my contract expired, that was it. I don't even have a contract with him. He just provides refurbished cartridges with an "as new" warranty at prices no one has been able to touch.

We have 4 new large commercial copiers now (all from my favorite copier salesman), and all of the routine maintenance is free. So when another copier salesman comes in, they are simply dismissed with "We're on a contract", rather than having to put up with time-wasting old scripts recited ad nauseam by those amateurs.

EVERY single point of contact you make... and you ask about the current status to the existing contract.. WRITE THAT INFORMATION DOWN. It wont help TODAY.. but you now know when you can go after them LATER.

This single list is worth every bit of effort.. ask other questions like what equipment they have.. the things they like best, the things they dislike... prepare to nail the sale when the time comes.

Ok so i'll be honest. The only experience I have in sales is Direct Response Life Insurance sales by phone. Copier sales is a little different. I have a list of about 300 businesses in my "territory." The list could easily grow to over 2,000 but this is my start. How would you contact them first? Phone or walking in? To me it seems more effective to call by phone first and weed out the ones that I won't close on in the next few months and visit them. Sound quicker than visiting all 300+ companies on my list one by one.

I'm familiar with this industry and have some tips that may help you!

But first...

Understand that you are in a very competitive industry and will have to learn real world selling techniques to be successful.

The only results that count are numbers (new business) on the board. The industry as a churn and burn reputation!

Are you working for a dealership?

Have you received any training?

These are the first letters of the top brand names...KM, C, X, T, S...which one(s) do you sell?

In your portfolio of products what is the slowest speed system you sell and what is the fastest?

Do you sell digital color systems?

This will give me enough info without you revealing too much on a public forum.

Here's another bit of advice I got from another "old school" pro.

If you can't be number one (the guy with the business), the best position to be in is number two. In other words, you want to be the guy they call when #1 does something to mess things up. Maybe they change the terms to something the prospect doesn't like. Maybe they "improve" the product and it's no longer viable. Maybe the prospect catches the current rep with his teenage daughter. It does not matter.

Sooner or later, most vendors do something to open the door. You want to be the guy they invite in.

So how do you do that?

Two words - "drip campaign".

You keep in touch. You send content about how to be more productive. If your company has things like white papers, you offer them. If they get an award, you send them a note or email congratulating them (no pitch, just sincere well wishes).

Here's another tip, specific to selling copiers.

Look for the people who are in the office on a regular basis - the janitor is ideal, but also people like the lady that waters the plants, the guy who restocks the vending machine, etc. Ask them to tip you off if any of the businesses they serve have full to overflowing wastebaskets by the copiers. It's a tell-tale that all may not be well.