Copier Sales Tips "How Well Do You Listen?"

How well do you listen to your customer? I mean, really understand what your customers need and how they want it. Over the years of selling "down the street", I've learned to let the client do most of the talking and I'll do most of the listening.

Of course I'll ask a few key questions like why are you considering a new solution, do you have any pains in your day to day business that involve your printing or copying hardware. It took many years to understand that listening is the key to consultative selling and the key to success in being a top producer.

What makes a great sales person....., is that innate ability to inspire the client about a solution and have them ask "what if", "why not" and "how can we".

Most customers have a round about way of telling you what they want from you and your company. Like telling a story about a previous experience and or a rep that they had to deal with (listen to this carefully, they are telling you what they want from you when they tell you about their past experiences). I hear many complaints from clients about the pushy reps, the ones who only want to sell what they think the customer should have and not what the customer really needs. Heck, we have one guy at the office and 90% of his sales are always a 35ppm box, how is that? Customers will appreciate that you have met and interpreted their needs and will respond with references down the road.

Today, I was at a clients account and would have liked to pitch a 25ppm color system to them, this customer has an 18ppm digital system that scans, prints and faxes and also a color laser printer that prints upto 11x17. They printed more than 100,000 pages on the printer and only copied, faxed or printed 36,000 pages on their 18ppm digital system, plus they get service as they need it for both units.

I would have loved to sell them a c2500spf to replace both of the units, however the customer stated that business was slow and that they may look to buy the 18ppm from the leasing company. I listened..... and then asked to schedule another appointment to discuss their needs for the next three years.

-=Good Selling=-