Good question from a coaching customer today:

"Many of my long time customers are calling and looking for pricing on repeat jobs. These were jobs that we once did automatically. I fear that they are bidding me out. What do I do?"

My answer:

The LAST thing you want to do is to drop your price. Amongst other things, doing so says, "Yes, I've been screwing you all of this time and you finally bagged me!" You don't want that, so....

My suggestion is to price the job as is: no changes, no discount. Once you have that price in hand, call the customer back and say the following: "Your price is $X. If you are looking to save some money, perhaps I can offer some design ideas that will lower the cost..." and then start asking questions about how the piece is used. Your goal is to find out WHY they are asking...Read More

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You can't make this stuff up...

A client just called me. I had been coaching his sales rep and it was clear to me very early in our dealings that troubling times lay ahead. I didn't like what I was hearing and we wound up having several back and forth conversations to try and straighten out expectations. Last Friday, the rep was canned.

So, the owner calls me today and gave me the whole story and told me he'd use me again, blah, blah, blah. But then he adds, "The next time we go to hire, we are going to Google search the name." I asked why and he continued, "Turns out the guy had done some modeling in the past...for Playgirl."

Now, neither of us ever saw the pictures and I doubt that his choice of periodicals would have impacted his sales abilities, it's just that you'd think a young guy would have the cognitive thought, ...Read More

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Good morning, campers!

This is the last full week before Thanksgiving, one of the worst weeks to make a sales call. No one wants to hear from you that week and you might as well just cruise into the all American holiday.

Um.....NO!

First of all, don't do that. Let the customer tell you it's a bad time for them. Assume nothing. Second, use that time to increase your sales efficiency by taking a look at the various types of electronic tools you use in order to do your job. Visit the Apple store (Mac users) and call your cell phone provider. Tell them what you do and ask how they can help you to do it better. Pull out the manuals of the software programs you use and learn how to get more out of them. In general, use that time to get better at what you do.

...Read More

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I am a lifelong Apple computer user. I am an Apple believer. I am an Apple disciple. Let's get get that out of the way immediately. It should come as no surprise, then, that I believe Apple has the solution for those companies who are looking for digital/VDP sales people
If I were starting a digital or VDP print center and needed a sales rep, I'd look first at an Apple store. Huh? Let me 'splain....

The Apple tech people who teach the one on one sessions are amazing. They know each application inside and out and aren't hired unless they have the communication skills to pass along that information to the technically-challenge customers. Man, that sure sounds like the breeding ground for a digital/VDP sales rep, doesn't it?

For $99 you can sign up for their personal training program. That gives you one hour of time each week for a year. Consider that ...Read More

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If you asked me if I'd see a black president in my lifetime, I would have said, "No." I would have thought there would be a white woman before a black man. This is a historic moment and one that I am drinking in. I just got off of the phone with my 84 year old father, a native of Kingston, Jamaica. Dad came to the United States in 1932 and settled in Boston. He volunteered for service in WWII and served his new country. He found success here and taught his three children that we can become anything we choose. All it takes is hard work and an undying optimistic faith. And opportunity.

If you need me to tie this Blog entry into sales, here you go: "Anything is possible. You must never give up. Regroup. Rethink. Try again with a new approach. Believe in yourself. When you hit the canvas, get up and try again. You can do it."

Optimism. I bel...Read More

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I am SO sick of hearing the word "Surviving" and all of its cousins (survive, survivability, etc) when it comes to the economy. All of the upcoming conferences for our industry are on surviving and it is making me NUTS. What a self-fulfilling prophesy that is. Let me give you an example.

I got a call last week from one of the PIA Affiliates. They want me to write 3000 words for their upcoming magazine, which is to titled "From Surviving to Thriving." Gag me. I couldn't stand it any longer, so as we were talking I said, "Can we PLEASE find a better way to say what it is we are trying to say? How about, 'The Top Profit Opportunities in 2009!'? That has such a better spin and sound.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all get it. We all know how crappy the economy is and how negative the environment is these days. WE GET IT! It is everywhere. It is...Read More

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I have a very basic personal philosophy: I'm a pretty easy guy to like. If you don't like me, there is probably something wrong with you. So, I am always shocked at the sheer number of rude people I come across in my travels.

This past week I was prospecting heavily and tried to call two AlphaGraphics stores. I get that not everyone wants to buy from me. That's fine. But why the attitude? Being rude is inexcusable.

The hard part is not taking it personally and moving on to the next name. A woman who used to sell for me named Jennifer Cheetham used to keep an Evian water mist spray tube in her desk. She'd get off of the phone with someone who upset her, spray some mist in the air, and walk through it. It was funny to watch.

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One of the weird things that I love about my job is that I get to choose whom I do business with. Isn't that cool? See, I figure it this way: A good vendor is as important as a good customer. I believe that I bring value to my customers and that I am an asset. Because I work so hard for them, I feel that I have a say in whom I choose to do business with. So, when I call to sell them something, they are auditioning for me every bit as much as I am for them.

Take the calls I just made, for example. I've been calling around New England to speak with the owners of a printing chain. I know most of them and the first seven calls went great. Then I called a guy from Woburn, MA. Let's call him "Dick." From the moment Dick picked up the phone, he lived up to his name. He was curt and without personality. He didn't listen to me, interrupted and added, "Good for you...Read More

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At the risk of being self-serving, I want you to check out the two videos below. I posted them on YouTube last Friday as a promotion for two of my training programs.

Click here if you are a Selling Owner.

Click here if you are a Sales Rep.

I point them out not to demonstrate their content, but rather to suggest that you look into the medium as a sales tool. Making the videos was incredibly time-consuming, but completely worth it. I did everything myself, working off of my Mac. After writing the script, I created the slides on Keynote (Apple's version of PowerPoint), recorded the voice overs in GarageBand, the video on iMovie, and edited the whole enchilada in a few hours. I had to go to the Apple Store three times to get some que...Read More

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I got an email from my Editor (or maybe he is a Junior Editor or Assistant Editor or simply Ed, Jr. Who knows?). Anywho, he passed along a Sales Tip that was sent out by one of the trade associations. The date was October 17, 2008 but it might has well have been October 17, 1968 the suggestion was that outdated.

Now I need to stop here and point out the following:
A. I am very tired as I write this, so I apt to be less than kind;
B. I am choosing my words very carefully, typing, reconsidering, deleting, and retyping (a rarity);
C. I know the guy who sent out the time and think he is a...well...there's that reconsidering thing again. Let's just say he missed his calling in the Custodial Arts and that the last time he had an original thought, Johnson was in Office (which explains his thinking and the tip itself).

But I digress....
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Some call it "Sensory Overload" while others call it "Graph Expo." For thousands of printers, it's the greatest show on Earth once a year. If you haven't gone at least once in your life, consider it to be the Mecca. That is, you need to go. I'll be there giving a speech on October 26. I'm actually coming in early with my 15 year old daughter, but we are driving to Iowa so that she can meet a friend. That leaves me doing NOTHING all day Saturday. Any football in Davenport I ought to know about?

All seriousness aside, Graph Expo is a great meeting venue. Everyone you'd want to meet is going to be there. So, for the price of a airline ticket and a night's hotel, you get a lot of answers and a lot of contacts.

As for tips, I have none. How's that? I can tell you that the train from the airport to downtown is $5 and can be much faster than dr...Read More

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An old friend of mine, David Heitman, has a Blog entry that I thought you all might enjoy. His company, The Creative Alliance, is a wicked smart bunch of people and I highly recommend you check them out, too. Here's the link:

http://www.thecreativealliance.com/presblog.html#10.10.08

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