How I sold $100 million in print #3

How do you get started? It’s your first day and you’re staring at a blank page. Your email inbox is empty other than the “welcome to our company” message and your phone isn’t ringing. How are you going to change both of those indicators of success?

Here are some possible ideas. Consider these but come up with your own list.

•  Look at the successful reps in your office. Who do they sell to?
• What kind of businesses do you see buying from your company?
• What kind of companies send things to your personal mailbox. The US Mail is full of printing prospects.
• Visit a home improvement store. Walk the aisles. How many products do you pass? Where are they made? Are they printing prospects? Most of them are.
• Visit job sites like Monster.com. Who is hiring graphic designers? Who is hiring print buyers? These companies are prospects.
• Join networking groups like AIGA, AMA, BMA.
•  Attend trade shows and see who has collateral in their booth. Everyone will.
• Get on LinkedIn. Look up companies located in your area. Research their employees. 
• Talk to suppliers (especially the paper suppliers) and find out who is doing what. Nothing…absolutely nothing moves information about the business faster than the paper vendor network. 

When I took a sales growth assignment in 1992 the business owner had one goal. He wanted to double the size of his business in five years ($12,000,000 to $24,000,000). His question was "where are you going to find the clients?"

I pointed at his file cabinets and responded that I was going to call everyone he had lost. My exact words were "I'm going to call the people you have pissed off." He laughed and left me to my work. I'm proud to say we did double the business size. It took six years but the owner was very happy.

The truth is, any firm's dormant list is a great place to start. Viable companies that have quit calling did so for a reason. Getting in front of them can validate the neglected prospect and give them a chance to vent. You...the new rep at the table, have an opportunity to restore your company's image and to be the architect of making things right.

If the old files don't interest you or if the data seems too difficult to unearth, take a good look at your employer. Create a "new company industrial average." That is to say, make a list of the top ten clients. Identify what kind of organizations they are. Once you've done that, create a picture from the work you see going on of how they buy. Now...identify other business or organizations in each space represented.

In my 45 years of print, I remain amazed at how few companies and reps take the time to profile the business they currently enjoy. If they did, they would have a list to duplicate and a talk track for every segment identified. Prospecting would be obvious and continuous.

Prospecting, which is so crucial to our business isn’t complicated. We generally know where the business is. At least we know segments that buy. Or dormant account files are full of names that bought from us once upon a time. Potential clients are virtually on every corner. This is certainly true if you work in a major market city.

You’ll be well served if you spend some time thinking about businesses and organizations you admire. If you manage to do business with these people it will be something you enjoy and the work will come easier. Your excitement will be evident to your prospect and they will appreciate your sincerity.

Once you start selling to a client don't stop prospecting within them. This is especially true of enterprise accounts. There are likely to be pockets of spending scattered all through the organization. There will be marketing, purchasing, technical, training, HR and shareholder relations.

When I do this segment in a workshop with reps, we diagram a large soft drink company. It takes longer than anyone expects and exposes multiple pockets with money to spend. Each one is an account all on its own. The same can be said for most organizations.

Whatever you do...have a plan. Never stop working it. Your sales garden cannot continue to bear fruit if you don't continue to work and plant seeds.