Sales pros need some advice

[hoosier]

I have been selling commercial printing for the last 10 years and have had good success with it. I have taken care of my clients and they have been extremely loyal to me.........The industry like others is just not as lucrative as in the past, and am trying to grow my client base to compensate for the loss of income and revenues

Any advice or tips on getting past the gatekeepers, it is almost impossible to find out without any inside information who to contact within an organization??

Any advice welcome

 

[bran987]

great question.

I have heard about people doing really nice things to make friends with secretaries like sending cookies etc.. and getting the info that way but honestly it was just a story and not anyone I knew personally.

 

[help4john]

great question.

I have heard about people doing really nice things to make friends with secretaries like sending cookies etc.. and getting the info that way but honestly it was just a story and not anyone I knew personally.

<<<<<<,
Good question and good advice!

I have some friends in the sales industry. Their feedback to a bag of Hershey's kisses or Hershey's hugs and kisses has been of financial benefit. This is typically offered to a handful of employees in each organization along with several business cards and catalogs. People always remember food...especially chocolate.

Have you researched printing jobs for your State? Most State's have commercial printers on contract for a specific period, normally a year. Perhaps you could try bidding on that contract for the entire State or for a particular Agency or two. Worst case scenario...you could find out what your competition is doing and the fees they are charging for similar services.

Good luck! I'm sure all will work out well! Hopefully the economy will continue on its track yielding positive results for repressed sectors such as yours.

 

[hoosier]

Thanks for the replies....Typical contracts around here are for 3 yrs, but they can be terminated at any point by either party. They are pretty much just set up for rebate purposes based on volume. Generally the contracts are awarded to the preferred vendor of the buyer....The way to get around these are to offer more incentives to upper management to switch vendors.

I have heard a few stories of some pretty off the cuff ways of getting your foot in the door. I personally know of one guy who asked the secretary out to lunch to thank her for being so kind one day when he was waiting to try and see the CEO of the company that they now are married and have 2 kids together.. I didn't know if anyone here had any success with HR or something along that route......It has been awhile since i have needed to prospect, I forgot what a pain in the ass it actually is, but i am up for the challenge

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Our company is not a typical sales process, but there are some lessons in what we do. We sell service agreements (usually several hundred million dollars over 3-5-7 years) to the insurance industry.

The key decision makers for us are usually CXOs. Occasionally an SVP with gigantic balls will help us, but usually, not; they are interested in protecting their turf more than anything else.

We have found, over and over, that these key execs often do not know what the hell is going on. You'd think a CFO would know WHY his litigation spend in $700M per year, but they don't. All they know is the number. This typifies the deals we pursue.

Anyway, getting on a CFO/CEO etc's calendar can be tough, usually their assistants are helpful, and, rather than sending stuff (tried, true, tacky....) just talk to them get to know them a little bit, etc. My assistant gets a dozen sales calls a day. None of them ever take the time to talk to her. One jackass sent $50 in for "an hour of my time" As if I come so cheap, focker

Be nice, be pleasant, be talkative. Ask the assistants how they are doing, etc.

And be persistent. One of my people came to me once and said "I called 3 times and I have not heard back yet." I said, "When you call 30 times and don't hear back, let me know".

We heard back. Negotiations are underway....

One of our key selling points is our ability to explain our value proposition in terms that a buyer can understand;

these are the issues
these are why the issues
this is why your people cannot understand them and will never correct them
this is what we do

and so on.

I am hopeful some of this helps.

 

[poopmonkey]

What you need is a white-page, a compelling "sales sheet" that clearly explains why doing business with you is the answer to all your prospects problems.

Drop it in a fed-ex envelope and mail it to your prospective clients.

Show them what you can do for them. Get them interested. Have them call you, instead of you fighting through the gate keepers.

 

[Synpax]

Go into a business that is not a commodity. Most of the shops out there can give you reasonable reliability but you are going to be bled dry by economy of scale operations. Maybe you can sell your shop to a big guy or gather the needed capital to acquire a larger firm to get your costs down.