If you are just tuning in… I (Deborah Corn) am currently in “sales” bootcamp with my personal drill instructor Kelly Mallozzi. Kelly has agreed to use my journey as the example, and create a blog series for PMC called #PrintSales Training. Since this is what she does for a living, and very successfully, consider yourselves all lucky to be getting this advice for the price of a click! Happy selling!
OK Deb – Based on our most recent email exchange, we are going to go a little bit off topic this month to address a couple of key issues that you brought up.
1. You said, “My whole world has changed! FINALLY, people are getting what I do, and coming to me! As a matter of fact, I am trying to figure out how to not say NO to new clients!
This is a common problem for lots of people: you get busy, things start to look really good, and then you feel forced to stay focused on what is right in front of you and have a harder time looking at the big picture. This is totally normal and understandable. I will just say this: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE! Make sure you dedicate a small bit of every day to working on the broad strokes of where you want your business to be, not where it is today. I am talking 30 minutes if that is all you can muster. At the end of every day, ask yourself this question: “What is one thing I should do tomorrow to further my broader goals for this business to carry me from this year to the next and on to the 5 year plan?
2. You want to focus on Graph Expo, which is awesome.
So now I want you to get really specific about it. Are there packages that you offer? Again, I want you to be thinking 360 degrees here, and don’t make a move until you have it all figured out. Begin with the end in mind. What do you want from people? Let’s decide on a comprehensive plan for engaging with them. A script is in order. I am not saying that you have to follow it to the letter when you start reaching out to people, but the more clear you are about how these conversations will go the better. And most importantly anticipate the objections. What are the common things you will hear from a person/company when they say “no”? Let’s make sure that next month we come up with some great retorts to those statements so you can make the most powerful value proposition possible. In fact, we can even incorporate some of those into your pitch to get ahead of them and take the wind out of the sails of any negativity. Make sense?
To recap, we are focusing on two things:
- Keeping you focused on the big picture
- Getting you ready to kick ass at Graph Expo and really make it have huge impact on your business.
You got this girl.
Kelly Mallozzi will contribute to the PMC as often as her life and four small children will allow, which will be at least once a year. As a sales and marketing coach and consultant at Success In Print, Kelly advocates for graphic arts companies to start a revolution and fight to keep print relevant. She may be irreverent, but what she lacks in convention, she makes up for in smart-assery.
Connect With Kelly: Twitter @SuccessInPrint and check out her weekly blog on Printing Impressions.
