Not Enough Appointments Is the Symptom

“If we had more opportunities at bat we’d sell more” is a comment I commonly hear from dealer principals. It is true that all else being equal if you had more appointments you would generate more revenue, so the question to be asked is “Why don’t we have more appointments?”  Some problems have simple solutions and others are more complex than they look.

So why can’t a company in the copier business get more appointments?  Here is my assessment:

• The sales turnover is unacceptable. It is difficult to grow revenue with turnover > 20 percent yet most companies in the “copier industry” have turnover at or over 100 percent.
• The sales professional is using the wrong talk track, usually focused on saving money or providing better service.  These value propositions require that the prospect company believes their copiers are a material expense—they usually aren’t—or that they are receiving less than acceptable service today.
• The sales professional is being trained with techniques that worked when copiers were actually high tech rather than utilitarian. There aren’t any true innovations with today’s MFP/D so there is nothing to “wow” a prospect. The sales professional needs to focus on paper and workflow and then scope devices to fit the company’s use of paper.
• The sales professional is not educated on business processes in vertical markets so they cannot have a business discussion with a prospect. This results in being pushed down, if they can even get the appointment at the correct level, and a focus to “when is your lease up,” vs. uncovering a business case for a next step.
• Most companies allow the sales professional to control the account when today’s “copier companies” actually provide numerous products and services that could result in wallet share gains or entry into a new prospect. Therefore, the sales professional might not be leading with the correct product for the given account.
• Management oversimplifies what it takes to get a solid appointment at the correct level. Many times senior management doesn’t look at the techniques their sales team is using through their own eyes: Would the approach they are teaching their sales professionals work if they were trying to get an appointment with them?  The overriding belief is that activity = results but if you can’t swim, you can flail your arms twice as fast as the next guy you’re still going to drown.

Here’s what needs to change to consistently grow revenue:

1. The industry needs to move to a more competitive compensation approach to attract quality sales professionals. Simply go to salary.com and search for salary ranges for “account executive” in your zip code. My experience is that median salary will be in the $54,000 range with total compensation in the $65,000 range. The 10 percent quadrant will be somewhere in the low to mid $40,000 range, meaning only 10 percent of account executive jobs pay a salary lower than that figure. Search for “starting salary for 2015 college graduates” and you’ll find that business majors start in the low $50,000 range. If the industry continues to pay a salary in the $30,000 range then we are solidly in the 10-percentile range and have very little attractiveness to sales candidates. This doesn’t mean we need to pay more as a ratio of revenue or GP—turnover and low sales productivity actually drives higher sales expense. The industry can pay a higher base and reduce sales expense if done correctly.
2. We need to make better hires. It makes no sense to pay more and hire the same candidate we hired with our $30,0000 base.
3. Sales territories need to be account focused so senior management is confident that the sales professionals are spending their time on accounts with enough value for your company. I’d rather have one appointment a week with an account with 4 copiers, 20 printers, and 70 employees that could benefit from MNS, document management, and the other products and services your company sells then three appointments a week with a company with seven employees and one copier.  I am not suggesting one appointment a week is acceptable I am just highlighting that all appointments are not equal.
4. On that same note, the appointment needs to be at the correct level to make a decision.  Again, I’d take one appointment at the CFO level in that aforementioned company with 70 employees rather than three appointments with office managers. To accomplish that goal—getting the appointment at the correct level—the sales professional needs to be able to have a business discussion as no senior manager is going to spend time with a sales professional that clings to the notion they can save them money and wants a copy of their lease agreement.
5. Even if you have numbers 1 – 4 in place, this one is critical to success: The sales manager needs to be focused on developing members of their sales team. Development isn’t simply going out on appointments with the sales professional because we already know we aren’t getting enough of those.  Development starts with helping the sales professional get those appointments through working with the sales professional to identify every opportunity inside an account to sell the products and services that your company offers. The sales manager is the key person in the sales organization and needs to be held accountable to retain and develop sales employees.

So if you want more appointments—and more revenue—focus on the more complex problem and fix your management.

Check out our next Strategic Sales Management workshop in Phoenix on September 15-16. Your sales managers will learn a sales process that will ensure success.  Reserve your seat today, our last three sessions sold out!

Register today for the September 15-16 SD Strategic Sales Management Workshop and give your sales managers a blueprint for increasing business and developing their teams to their fullest potential.