What's old is new again

In the analog days before marketing went into a digital frenzy, some of the toughest sales challenges was selling office copiers or long distance service (remember having to pay to call outside your area?). Back then, sales people made in-person cold calls and depended on the powers of persuasion to get past the gatekeeper.

Well, many of the guidelines that channeled sales people; they are now also called business developers or producers, still have merit. As a matter of fact, depending on your industry, they may be a refreshing vein of opportunity for you and your team.

Here is a sample of a sales directive that a copier company distributed to their team in the mid-1990s.

Choose 5 Daily Activities plus Lunch

• Customer Visit
• Introductory Appointment
• Follow-up Appointment
• Closing Appointment
• Installation or Training
• 10 Cold Calls
• Proposal Prep & Writing
• Office Paperwork
• Demonstration
• 50 Phone Calls

When out on an appointment

• Be early
• Promote you, company, and services.
• Make sure to get decision maker’s name and understand acquisition process
• Ask for tour of location to understand information system and take notice of any problems
• Find out current budget situation.
• Outline our process
• Get permission for next action, make appt. for next action
• Ask for referrals and reference letters
• After appt. Cold Call to left and right of the appointment address
• If in an office building cold call all around the suite, go left, right and across the hall