Selling Copiers & MFPs "The Quarter Aint Over Till It's Over"

The end of the third quarter draws closer and closer.  My end for the quarter will be September 24th, since the 23rd is on the weekend. I'm surprised that I haven't received an email yet that we'll be closing the month on the 21st because the bean counters can't keep up with the orders! hehe

Sales is always what you make of it, if you have to have the Desire to be the best.  After 33 years in down the street sales I'm still  not satisfied with just making quota, not just satisfied with eeking out a living.  For some reason I need to BE THE BEST, all of the time and if I'm not then watch out because I'll outwork the other person to BE THE BEST.

As I move into the last quarter of the third quarter, I've got a lock on Presidents Club again (the wife will be happy) and I find myself in need of 30K (to make the top tier of 166% of quota) in sales for the final 7 selling days of the quarter. Some may look at the final 7 days and say oh my gosh, how am I going to do this I have only 7 days left!  To me 7 selling days means that there is still 33% of the month left and it should be more than enough time to get the numbers I want.

In my bucket for the month I believe I have almost 90K of opportunities that have a shot (even the slightest chance of closing) of closing before the end of the quarter.  Out of this list I have a target of six accounts that have more than a 50% chance of closing. That 50% chance equals some $50k of business, the business is there I just need a little bit of luck (the harder you work the luckier you get), and some pre-planning to get what I want.

I prepare in advance a plan to close the sale, most of my sales can center around ROI (return on investment) and or lower costs, this can make it a no brainer to move forward NOW. So, lets take an appointment that I have tomorrow with an incumbent account.

This particular account can be a problem account, they have more than two years left on a lease for a color MFP, but they are blowing out their color prints to the tune of overages each quarter that are exceeding $3,000.  From the review that I've done is that their color volume has exploded.  So tomorrow I'll be there with a report analysis for the last 12 months for the lease cost and the service/supply costs. I'll also have a projected solution to upgrade the current system to another that has a much lower per page cost.  Thus, I'll be able to present the customer with an immediate savings proposal, however what I'll also have is all of the paperwork ready to sign the deal on the spot (the lease, the ma and the sales order). Why wait and make another trip, right?  If they agree then off we go with the order. 

My point is that we should always be prepared to close, you nor I can tell the future nor the outcome of any meeting.  Sales is not a 9-5 job, I'll be doing the paper work after I finish this blog tonight for this particular customer. Why? Because I want the darn sale tomorrow!

-=Good Selling=-