Redouble Your Efforts
In honor of my first blog entry as a new writer for Printing Impressions, (and I am really honored) I want to talk all about new beginnings. Remember the phrase, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life? I really like that phrase.
I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this. Here’s where. In your printing business, when it comes to sales, every day is a new day. Even if you have never made a sales call, or have broken every promise you’ve made to yourself about your selling activity, today is the day to turn it all around. And so we’re clear, I am not talking about big sweeping changes. I am talking about baby steps.
So here is my challenge to you. Whatever you did yesterday, double it. Or, if you made no sales calls yesterday, make ONE today. Now, I’ll go easy on you at first. A sales call can be defined as any of the following...
• Calling a customer you haven’t heard from in 6 months or more.
• Calling an existing customer to suggest an account review so you can make sure the relationship is working for both sides (This is a great opportunity to share some new ideas. We’ll talk about that in another entry.).
• Asking an existing customer for a referral.
• Making a plain and simple cold call.
And, if you are already making sales calls, make more. That is, unless you are so swamped with work that you couldn’t possibly manage one more account. Extend yourself, shorten your lunch hour, or stay late. Some of the best calls I ever made happened at 4:00 on a Friday afternoon. I’m serious.
And, finally, I want you to share your results with all of us here. Did you try something new? How did it go? Did someone treat you terribly? I want to hear about it. Did you score a new appointment? Shout it from the rooftops. Share! We’re all in this together, and we can all learn from each other!
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
