SPOTLIGHT Anatomy of A Successful Salesperson BUSINESS The Difference Between Expense and Investment Full-time salespeople represent a significant expense for any company, but the key is to turn this cost into more of an invest- ment. Yes, I know, semantics… but the distinction is important. Salary plus benefits and especially travel (and possibly, en- tertainment) expenses can quickly accumulate to $100K an- nually or more, which is substantial, especially for a smaller business. Think about how much incremental business you need to generate, at acceptable margins, to recover your cost. You obviously need to do better than to just break even on this investment, although probably not in the embryonic stage of the game. Time on the road must be well spent, efficient and productive. Let’s discuss how salespeople can function more efficiently. Where to Begin: Existing Customers You find yourself in a new arena (company, industry or service/ products or geography) and are wondering where to begin. Whether you’re an experienced sales professional or a rookie, a great place to begin is with existing customer accounts. Start by looking at active customers, their purchasing history, cus- tomer profile information and website. If you can, it’s a good idea to chat with someone in your com- pany who’s familiar with that particular account. Then, con- tact selected active customers by phone, introducing yourself and thanking them for their business. At the risk of sounding obvious, for now, it’s probably best to avoid selecting custom- ers who are actively engaged in disputes or collection issues. One of your colleagues (who is familiar with a particular cus- tomer and contact) might be able to provide an account briefing and make the introduction for you with a phone call handoff. This “thanking them for their business” approach will usually have a disarming effect and produce a more favorable response than opening with some kind of sales pitch. The idea here is to learn by asking questions, and established customers are oſten welcoming, forgiving and more patient with their suppliers’ new employees. Lower-Hanging Fruit: Inactive Customers Having successfully completed your onboarding and initial training, supplemented with knowledge from contacting active customers (perhaps followed by some research), you’re ready to enter the land of potentially low-hanging fruit. No, sorry, but this has nothing to do with nudist colonies or Adam and Eve! 8 SAFE & VAULT TECHNOLOGY | July/August 2022 Can we pause just for a moment to clothe those images in your head and get your mind back on track? OK then... A very good place to find such low-hanging fruit opportu- nities is oſten the inactive customer files. Companies should review their inactive customer files semi-annually, or at least annually; even more frequently for larger customers. It’s amazing how many otherwise good marketing companies don’t routinely engage in such a practice. What’s perhaps even more astonishing is how productive such a review of inactive customers can be. Even customers that you may have ticked off years ago can become prospects again, and there may even be new employees who don’t have elephant memories of your past sins and alleged egregious deeds. Hint: If you’re the one who personally locked horns with this defector, have someone else on your team make the call. Even if all you learn is that your former customer has gone over to the dark side (competitor), such information has real value. Don’t assume anything. Just call and find out! If nothing else, find out who the current players are, let them know that you are here should their existing service provider be unable to offer solutions for them. Update your records — including your customer relationship management (CRM) soſtware’s customer profile — and follow up accordingly. You’ll want to be top of mind should the competitor drop the ball. Such for- tuitous timing can be everything! Planning Plan your day and week. Don’t go on the road without a plan, and start by being organized. You can do this by identifying each market segment and the top 20 to 30 target locations. Map them, make an appointment and plan your route to see each. If you want to take one morning or aſternoon a month to hit some spots, such as perhaps a new construction site you saw in your travels, do so. Visit customers along the way and ask for leads. Market segments can be identified through general knowl- edge of territory and area and, more specifically, through research of companies and websites, business journals and directories. With a company subscription to a source of such potential leads, you’re better able to narrow down prospective targets by factors like business type, size, number of employees, dollar volume, square footage, building owned or leased, etc. Even in our age of incredible online resources, it’s astound- ing what you can learn from a friendly and helpful librarian. Explain what you’re trying to do and ask for help identifying www.savta.org
