by Brian Sullivan

A key fundamental in PRECISE Selling is saying only words that will advance the sale and no more. It means knowing not to use a bunker buster bomb when all it will take is a sling shot. The reason we use only enough is because our ability to say less will help us say more. Think about it. When somebody is selling to you and pounds you with too much information, do you have a tendency to shut down? And when this happens, isn’t it difficult to remember what the salesperson even said? But when they give you just enough to educate and excite you (and no more), aren’t you more satisfied? It’s like eating a bag of candy. (more…)

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by Ryan McNally

For print salespeople, time is of the essence. You’re putting in long hours while customers expect you to be accessible 24-7, 365 days a year. You’ve got to answer to print buyers, marketing personnel, ad agencies and more, all while juggling a variety of tasks, including communicating with customers, interacting with CSRs and suppliers, and keeping up to speed on paperwork. And oh yeah, you’ve got to drum up new business too. With a finite number of hours in the day, making the most of your time is critical to
being a good salesperson. But how do you master the art of time management? (more…)

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by Peter Ebner

As Daniel Boorstin said in his book “The Discoverers,” “The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents and the oceans was not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.” It is this illusion of knowledge that prevents many salespeople from reaching their objectives.  (more…)

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Is a great sales person born or made?  Sales guru Brian Sullivan will tell you that he can make a bottom-rung sales flunky into a top performer in 20 days.  An award-winning sales person and top sales and leadership trainer, Sullivan doesn’t just give pep talks, he lays out a practical formula for improving a person’s power to persuade.  And, according to Sullivan, part of that practical formula is knowing when to stop talking. (more…)

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What Your Boss Wants You to Know

No matter what the size of the business, success in the printing industry is inextricably tied to the performance of individual sales representatives. They are in the trenches, on the front lines, performing every day.  If you’re a sales rep making a good living – maybe you’re even the sales leader for your company – is knowing how to close a sale all you need to know? (more…)

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Profile of an “A” Salesperson: Do you have what it takes to earn top dollar in print sales?

Are there certain characteristics that all top-level sales people in the print industry have in common?  Is there a “sales” personality or “sales gene” that you MUST have to succeed in this uber-competitive field? Could it be that there’s a secret handshake and a guide book that only the chosen ones are given that ensures a successful sales career?  Well, don’t go looking for a secret decoder ring just yet, but it would appear that there are certain common features that are found in the best sales people, no matter what field they are in: (more…)

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A CSR by any name is key to developing customer relationships that translate into dollars.

It’s hard to describe the true value that a customer service representative (CSR) adds to each sale, but there’s no doubt that they are virtually indispensable.  Most printers find CSRs to be a crucial element in maintaining strong customer relationships and enhancing the efficient execution of every job. (more…)

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What Keeps Printing Sales Reps up at Night?

For some sales reps, it’s the demands of meeting increasing customer expectations.  For others, it’s juggling a portfolio of products.  And for all sales reps, the ups and downs of the industry certainly provide both potential – and angst – to keep them up at night. (more…)

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Why We Are All Afraid to Take a Risk

“Stay focused! Please! No…not like that! I thought you would do so much better. You need to color in the lines. Why are you doing it that way! Don’t you want it to be perfect?” Those were the words I heard three weeks ago as I sat in a two-foot blue plastic chair next to a fellow parent at Kansas City’s Pottery Playland. This was no typical Saturday at the “Playland.” Oh no…In fact, there was a Princess Pottery Party going on, and I found myself surrounded by a pack of five year olds dressed as Cinderella, Snow White and Belle. Unfortunately, I was also surrounded by a pack of parents who, without trying, were playing the parts of the Evil Stepmother, the Wicked Witch and the Beast. (more…)

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by Ryan McNally

During the last decade, the print industry has become more complex, and for printers, that means customers have become more demanding. “Ten years ago it was possible to succeed by simply fulfilling the opportunities required by clients,” says Kevin Joyce, managing director at Eastman Kodak Co. “There was a well-defined need and definition of what products they desired, and we simply fulfilled them. Today, this is simply not good enough. The top-performing individuals and/or companies must first help the client create the opportunity, and then fulfill it.” (more…)

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