Welcome back to our weekly blog! With one month left to go, we are trying to focus on the Sales Process and qualifying businesses for our Industry Research Project.
Since the start of this co-op placement, I was very enthusiastic about trying to understand what it takes being a salesperson. A major motivation tool has been learning about the sales experiences of all the members at Tri-County Copiers. Different sources of motivation resonate with everyone. For those people who wish to go into sales, it's important for them to find their motivation. Each person has their own way of making sales. Working in this office, I've learned that there are a few approaches when it comes to finding your sales technique.
These techniques include: the relationship building seller often uses the "buddy" technique, the strategic and educational seller, and the competition-oriented seller. The "buddy" technique is basically a preview of the seller's natural-born enthusiastic and friendly personality. They have to show interest in the prospect and develop an emotional connection with them. The strategic/educational seller pitches every great aspect of their product line and tries to persuade the prospect based on all the benefits. It's more of a learning experience for the prospect -- who tries to acquire and understand all of the information. The competitive seller gets motivated by trying to out-sell their coworker(s). All of these techniques work great for people with different personalities. In a sales position, it's important to find the right technique for you!One of my favourite moments has been receiving such great feedback from businesses I've cold-called to. Some of the feedback has resulted into job offers! I think this co-op experience has been a great way in growing my network and meeting some fascinating people.
The last three months at Tri-County Copiers have passed by fast, leaving us with some memorable experiences in the process. Sales agents that are just starting out usually don't forget their first rejection. It's a process all agents will go through. Sales is all about perseverance, and pushing your way through all of the rejections to get a sale. As all rejections, my first one was terrible, but there's a lesson behind every rejection. We have to brush off the negativity that comes from rejections, and continue cold calling on a positive note. The only thing we can do is learn from our experience, and become better salespeople.
The second most memorable experience was conducting my first meeting. The first meeting was scheduled through a cold call, where a business asked us to quote them for new equipment because their current lease was coming to an end. We developed a quote for their business based on the information we had gathered, then presented the proposal to them in our meeting. The meeting went well, however, that never guarantees the sale when you're in a competitive environment. Customers don't always need your product, especially when prices could be higher. Xerox prices tend to be on the higher end of the scale, but certainly deliver high quality and great service.With 3 months completed, we're on the homestretch with only a few weeks left of this placement! Our time spent here has been a great learning opportunity for educational and real-life work experiences. Our Industry Research Project is coming together and our data analysis will display consumer behaviours in regards to brand loyalty, technology and service. By doing so, we also want to conduct enough meetings to have a data set large enough to make accurate assumptions. The analysis will help us understand exactly what prospects want from vendors and brands to serve their needs. It's important to acknowledge whether the majority of consumers prefer better quality, lower prices or outstanding technology. It will give Tri-County Copiers a feel for what consumers are thinking when purchasing products.
Referring back into May, one of the first pieces of information we learned was The Sales Process. Santeena is almost at the end of the sales process, with Paul helping to get credit approvals and paperwork completed! The sales process for Santeena began at the beginning of June, but has taken so long due to vacation days, difficulty connecting, and having to rescheduling meetings. For people working in sales, delays are often expected. Michel is hoping to target prospects in need of new products and services. By doing so, the rest of our time here will be spent cold-calling, making follow-up calls, and booking meetings.
Thanks for reading our blog. Wish us luck for the next few weeks!
Santeena & Michel
| Tags:University of Windsor Co-Op |
