Telephone Prospecting Tips for Printing Industry Salespeople

By Bill Farquharson and T.J. Tedesco

• Cause of sleepless nights—late deliveries, poor quality, reporting compliance, personal job security, price (cough cough).

• Print providers—current printers and length/strength of relationships.

• Decision maker and key business influencer info—names spelled right (please!) and job function, not always title.

Step 4: Establish Minimum Quantity Standards for Dialings and Conversations. In tele- prospecting, only consistent efforts are rewarded with good results. Therefore, embrace the work ethic of the patient tortoise, not the easily distracted hare. Establish a minimum number of dialings and intended conversations. Don't stop until you've met your daily activity quota.

If necessary, call early in the day. If you aren't sure how your prospecting voice sounds after a full day of business conversations, record yourself at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The next morning, listen to both and pay attention to any audible differences. If they don't sound different, congratulations! You're a tortoise and can make calls any time. However, if they do sound different, figure out how to keep your voice fresh-as-a-daisy or your results will be variable.

Step 5: Reporting and Follow-Up Activities. Accurate records of every dialing are necessary to ensure you conclude each sales call with more "collective" information on that account. If you make a promise to a key business influencer (no matter how small), record it in your tracking system. Then KEEP it! If you say you'll call back on Tuesday during a voicemail message, do it. Sure, your prospect probably has more on her mind than you or any other potential print vendor, but kept promises are a sales differentiator. Trust us, we're in sales.

During your calls, you will uncover a lot of information about possible print buyers—some of it useful, some of it not. Make sure the useful information doesn't disappear into the ether. Develop a data entry record-keeping system (i.e., Act!, Goldmine, Salesforce or even an index card box) and be as faithful to it as a lapdog.

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Bill Farquharson Author's page

Bill Farquharson is President of Aspire For, sales trainer for the graphic arts industry, author of "The 25 Best Sales Tips Ever" series and co-author of "Who's Making Money at Digital/Inkjet…and How?" Both are available on Amazon.com. Email him at Bill@AspireFor.com or call (781) 934-7036.

In addition to Bill's Printing Impressions monthly columns and weekly blogs, he publishes a weekly Short Attention Span Sales Tips providing instantly-applicable ideas for sales growth and its challenges. For further information, visit BillFarquharson.com

T.J. Tedesco Author's page T.J. Tedesco is a sales growth, business strategy, marketing and PR consultant operating at the intersection of clear vision, compelling content and effective outreach practices. For nearly two decades, T.J. has been an independent consultant and sales growth team leader. Previously, he sold commercial printing, graphic arts machinery and supplies, and finishing and bindery services. T.J. helps North American companies with content development, Web and print design leadership, nurture marketing programs, sales coaching, sales team alignment and business strategy. Since 1996, T.J. has worked with more than 100 clients on retainer, 80 percent in the graphic arts industry. T.J. is author of "Win Top-of-Mind Positioning," "Playbook for Selling Success in the Graphic Arts Industry," "Fire! How Marketing Got Hot," "Direct Mail Pal" and four more books published by PIA. He can be reached at (301) 404-2244 or tj@tjtedesco.com.

Prospecting in 5 Easy Steps —Farquharson/Tedesco