I'll Take Manhattan. One Sale at a Time.
Tips from New York City

I recently interviewed CS (I’ll refer to him by his initials), an experienced sales rep who sells copiers in New York City. I’m always interested in talking to successful salespeople. I want to learn what makes them successful. And so should you.

During this interview we talked about sales techniques and sales presentations. I wanted to see how this guy sold.

The results will surprise you. The partion included here is about this NYC salesman and the way he sells. It’s also about you and the way you sell.

JG: Tell me a little bit about what you sell and how you sell it.

CS: I sell copiers and fax machines. I focus primarily on the copy side, mostly the high ticket stuff. I rely very heavily on the relationships that I have developed with my clients over the years.

JG: Do you use them for a referral base or as a sales base to expand from within?

CS: A little bit of both. I rely heavily on referrals. I get a good amount of business from my base as well.

JG: How do you qualify your leads to make the best use of your time and your follow-up time?

CS: I have a series of questions that I rely on. They are consistent in our industry such as the type of equipment they may be using now, their volume, and any unique needs. I almost do this as a reflex because I’ve been doing it for so long.

JG: When you go in on a cold call or a first call, what is the first question you ask?

CS: I like to know I am dealing with the right point of contact. I like to ask what function they serve in their organization.

JG: Suppose they say ‘I’m the office manager.’

CS: I ask them to tell me about their organization. I find that people like to talk about their interests and their company.

JG: How does it go from there?

CS: That is the beginning of establishing rapport. When I ask them ‘Tell me a little bit about yourself or your organization,’ I usually find something in their response that I can elaborate on. If I get the sense that I am being rushed or that the prospect wants to get down to business, then I will get down to business and the questions become more direct.

JG: Give me an example of a direct question.

CS: Whose equipment are you using now? Are you satisfied with the equipment and the service? What’s the average response time? How often do the machines go down? Depending on whether or not I’m talking to someone who likes to talk, I’ll either move to close-ended questions or open-ended questions.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.

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