Author: Pete Petersen

Posted on by Pete Petersen Posted in Case Studies & Profiles, Tips & Tricks
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Good Will Printing, Laminating and Recycling

Recycling inkjet media and laminates

Excess scraps of media and laminate films generally end up in messy piles destined for the trash. Some people go the extra mile and recycle their printing leftovers. David Wiggins, photographer and owner of Wiggins Photography in Ridgeland, Miss., found a way to take recycling to another level.

Wiggins uses LexJet Performance Textured Polypropylene Laminate (5 Mil) to protect his prints. “We use the product based on Michael Clementi’s [Wiggin’s customer specialist at LexJet] recommendation that it will give our in-house prints the maximum protection and longevity.” This particular laminate includes a clear plastic release liner that is removed upon application and subsequently thrown away.

“I was interested in recycling, and I noticed the clear plastic liner was similar to what is found in gift baskets.” says Wiggins. “I took some samples to a local flower shop and they were thrilled to use it.”

Wiggins recently donated about 1,000 feet of release liner. “We’re still working on a way to use the liners in our packaging. It’s just a little thick, but perfect for flowers,” Wiggins adds. “We have a great history with the florist, so she was very receptive to the idea. The 24-inch liner is perfect for flowers and small gift baskets.”

Wiggins will continue to donate his release liners to the flower shop. “Any time we can recycle a product we feel good about it. We just hope that once the individuals receive their flowers or basket, they will take the next step and continue the process either through re-use or placing it in the recycle bin.” says Wiggins.

Wiggins and his wife have been satisfied customers of LexJet and Michael Clementi’s since 2004 and 2006, respectively. “Michael has been great; he’s very helpful. LexJet has been our source for paper and ink – and we’re very pleased with product ordering and shipping.”

Posted on by Pete Petersen Posted in Marketing & Sales
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Make up Your Mind and Improve Your Sales Techniques, Part 5

The forth segment of this series highlighted the importance of keeping our sales presentations and proposals simple, straightforward and focused on the benefits we provide to our customers. It also stressed the importance of guiding the customer’s decision process effectively through solid planning and organization.

Sales techniques for winning businessIn this final installment of the series you’ll see how connecting with your customers by demonstrating your understanding of their challenges and goals, is the cornerstone of building enduring loyalty. We’ll end with showing you the joy and success that comes with a continuous commitment to learning and self-development.

These are points 9 and 10 from the Make Up Your Mind essay…

9. That people buy today, not nearly so much because they understand your product thoroughly, but because they feel and believe that you understand them, their problems and the things they want to accomplish.

Here’s the cold, hard truth; what customers have to say to us is more important               than what we have to say to them. One of my cherished mentors put it this way, “God gave us two ears and one mouth so use them accordingly.”

Early in my sales career I needed to hear that wisdom. I needed to hear it a lot. I consider myself a relatively bright fellow, so I reasoned that I needed to prove it to my customers. I couldn’t understand why I was losing business! I learned the hard way that only my customers had the information I needed to know.

That information alone would help me recommend the right solutions to overcome their business challenges and improve their business productivity. They had what I needed and without it I couldn’t provide to them what they needed.

How you get this critical information is simple. Ask. Effective questioning techniques are the most important skill any sales professional can develop. I’ll say it again: Learning how to ask probing questions that uncover customer needs is the most important skill you can develop as a sales professional.

Only questions will allow you to uncover what you don’t know. Only questions will help you dig deeper into a customer’s business and learn about what makes it tick (or not tick). Only questions will help you learn what your customer is really thinking.

How do you feel about the importance of asking questions? What types of questions have you found effective in identifying customer needs? Who do you question within a customer’s organization to obtain key information?

See what I just did there? With three questions I would have learned a great deal about you and your approach to effective questioning techniques. I would have learned how you feel about the concept I’m trying to sell to you in this article. I would have gotten a better sense of the types of questions you use when interviewing your customers, and I would have better understood where you go to get the information you need from your customers.

You just told me enough about you so that I can better help you become better the questions you ask, why you ask them and who you ask to get the info you need.

One last thing on the importance of asking questions and this is critical. You have to listen for the answers.

10. That almost all development is, in fact, self-development and that personal growth is the product of practice, observation and self-correction.

Learning is a journey, not a destination. Since change is constant, learning needs to be as well. Mistakes are essential to effective learning. If we don’t make mistakes, we can’t learn how to avoid them in the future. I’ve learned from my success too, but failure has taught me a lot more.

What is the solution for learning better questioning techniques? Ask more questions. Learn what works and what doesn’t. Learn what types of questions work best with different customer personality types. Learn and then apply what you’ve learned. I love this line from the Clint Eastwood movie Heartbreak Ridge: “Improvise, Adapt and Overcome.”

Don’t be afraid to try new things. Study different selling methods and approaches. Strive not only to replicate, but to innovate. If you’re not learning, you’re losing.

I hope you’ve found this series informative and helpful. Make up your mind to help, not sell to, your customers. Make up your mind to listen more than you speak. Make up your mind to never stop learning. Make up your mind. It’s the key to being an invaluable asset to your customers, your organization and yourself.

To read Part 1 of this series, click here; for Part 2 click here; for Part 3, click here; and for Part 4, click here.

Until next time…

Posted on by Pete Petersen Posted in Marketing & Sales
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Make up Your Mind and Improve Your Sales Techniques, Part 4

The third piece in this five-part series zeroed in on the importance of honesty with our customers and channeling our efforts intelligently to obtain maximum results. I also pointed out some ideas on how to create win-win encounters with customers. These encounters lead to successful business results for the customer and for you.

Sales techniques and policiesHere, in part four, I will cover why simple, straightforward presentations and proposals help you win more business. I’ll also discuss why helping and guiding your customers in an organized way will lead to solid customer relationships and higher levels of customer satisfaction. These are points 7 and 8 from the Make Up Your Mind Essay…

7. That the power of your sales presentation will always lie in its simplicity.

All business segments have their unique “speak.” People who might be listening to a conversation between two individuals in the digital printing industry may think they are speaking in code. To them, the conversation might as well be in another language, and in many ways it is. Production folks may use terms like color correction, ink adhesion and laminate tunneling. Those of us on the inside get it, but others don’t. It’s cool. It makes us a part of the collective. It shows that we know what’s what in our profession. However, using industry slang can be a deadly trap for sales professionals. How so?

  • It doesn’t separate us from our competition
  • It works great in production, but terribly in the business office
  • It causes us to assume that the person we’re talking to understands what we’re talking about
  • We want to show our customers what we know instead of focusing on what they need
  • Our priority becomes features and functions, not benefits

You get the picture. We fall into the trap of telling customers what they should buy, instead of why it’s better to buy from us. Lexjet co-founder Art Lambert uses a phrase I like a lot when it comes to working with people who want to sell to him. He says, “Get to the verb.”

This simply means that if you want him to do/buy something, ask him what you want to do right up front. Follow that request with a solid set of reasons why doing what you ask will benefit him and his business. Here’s an example:

Request: “Art, I’m here today to ask you to move LexJet’s banking business to First Federal.”

Benefit: “First Federal will create a local LexJet-Only team focused exclusively on your financial requirements. That team will learn about the LexJet’s unique money management processes and then develop custom tailored programs to improve your financial efficiency. This will help LexJet achieve improved financial flexibility and provide for future investment and profitable growth. We have this program in place with twenty major customers now and their financial growth and efficiency has improved 18% in only two years. At LexJet’s current sales volume, our program would deliver an additional $500,000 to your annual bottom line.”

Response: “That sounds pretty good. I’d be interested in learning more about that program.”

The approach is simple, but effective. What do you want, why should I do it and why should I do it with you?

As salespeople, it’s important for us to tailor how we communicate to who we’re talking to and in what department. However, the simple approach above will most likely always move the conversation forward.

8. That the purchase must be “helped along” and is more often made because you guide the prospect’s behavior in an effective, organized manner.

There is an old sales cliché I like a lot. It says, “Stop selling, start helping.” A companion phrase that goes along with that one is, “If you’re not helping, you’re hurting.” I like these because they help me to stay focused on what matters to my customers and not what on matters to me in the salesperson/customer relationship.

Okay, so you have a solution you know will really help your customers’ business and will help them help their customers. Great! How do you help your customer integrate your solution into their current business environment? You need to have a plan. In this case you will need a new solution adoption plan.

A new solution adoption plan doesn’t tell your customer what they should do with your new solution; it answers the standard journalist questions of:

Who? Who makes it happen?

What? What detailed steps need to be taken to make it happen?

Where? Which area of the business will be positively affected?

When? What are the specific milestones and project deadline?

Why? These are the great results you will realize from doing this.

How? Your plan.

How Much? What revenue increases or cost savings will the customer receive?

The key here is to do the work for them. Make it easy for them to say yes to your solution. Guide them. Lead them. Always be the most important part of the solution. Why? When the need help, they’ll come to you. When they encounter a  problem, they come to you to solve it. When they want positive results, they come to you first.

In the final installment of this series, we’ll discuss why knowing you customer is more important that knowing your product. We’ll then close by telling you why the topics covered in this series are critical to your ongoing growth and professional development.

And, for Part 1 of this series, click here; for Part 2 click here; and for Part 3, click here.

Until next time…

Posted on by Pete Petersen Posted in Marketing & Sales
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Make up Your Mind and Improve Your Sales Techniques, Part 3

The second article in this series continued to elaborate on the key attitudes salespeople should adopt if they want get to the top and stay there. It focused specifically on the importance of managing, versus being managed by your time. The piece then went on to discuss how critical it is to know precisely what your time is worth.

Sales tips and techniquesIn the third installment of this five-part series, I will cover why honesty and intelligence in our sales efforts will result in financial and professional rewards. I’ll also discuss why each sales interaction with your customers must be a win for both of you. These are points 5 and 6 from the Make Up Your Mind essay…

5. That honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded.

Each year a survey is conducted among customers across a diverse number of industries. These surveys are focused on what customers value and demand from the salespeople they decide to work with and trust. Guess what attribute tops the list year after year after year? Honesty.

None of us wants to say no to a customer. We also don’t like to deliver bad news regarding a commitment we’ve made, product we’ve recommended, or professional advice we’ve given to a customer. This most often revolves around our fear of losing their business or incurring their wrath over the mishap. Quite often this fear is unjustified. Customers understand that mistakes will be made and will forgive the event (assuming that this type of thing isn’t chronic).

What customers will not forgive is you lying to them. Losing a customer’s business over a mistake may happen, but there is something much larger at stake than lost business, and that is the loss of respect and trust. Hard work and persistence may make it possible to get your customer back. But once broken, respect and trust are rarely restored. Here is a rule that has no exception: Always tell your customers the truth!

They may not like what you have to say and they may bite your head off over the event, but keep in mind that they will more than likely have to deliver bad news to their customer because of your lapse in service. Put yourself in their place. How would you feel if mistakes (yours or those completely out of your control) caused a problem with your customer? You’d be upset. Now contrast that with how you feel when someone lies to you. Mistakes are accidents, but lying is intentional. Don’t do it.

6. That it is to always be a “win-win” encounter.

Customers always want more and they want it better, faster and cheaper. That’s good because it drives the development of better products, processes and service. However, it is a proven fact that a business needs to make a reasonable profit if it expects to deliver better products quickly and with a high level of customer service.

If a company can’t continuously invest in itself, it can’t maintain its competitive edge versus the competition, win new customers and keep current customers delighted. Top tier sales professionals must be adept at communicating to their customers the value of the solutions they provide and the service they deliver. In short, the customer must be shown that their relationship with you is worth far more than they are paying and they must be continuously reminded of this fact.

Expand the conversation with your customer. Detail for them everything they get for the price they pay. Show them how their relationship with you is a smart investment, not simply an exchange of products for money. Demonstrate to them that when you win, they win even more! It’s your job to always make the conversation about value, not price. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when you both win, encounter after encounter.

In part four of this series, I’ll cover the importance of keeping your presentation simple, and why helping is better than selling. For Part 1, click here, and for Part 2, click here.

Until next time…

Posted on by Pete Petersen Posted in Marketing & Sales
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Make up Your Mind and Improve Your Sales Techniques, Part 2

In the introductory article of this five-part series, I introduced a sales motivation piece I uncovered years ago entitled Make Up Your Mind and the positive impact it’s had on me as a sales professional. I elaborated on the importance of being sold on yourself, your company and your products as a foundation for sales success. I also covered how critical it is to focus on the needs of your customers versus any compensation you might receive from them for doing business with you.

Effective time management techniquesIn this installment I want to cover the importance of efficient time management and knowing what your time is worth. These points, which are the third and fourth points in the Make Up Your Mind essay, are the next key building blocks you need to put in place as you work to join the elite corps of sales professionals.

3. That time is money and that learning to manage your time productively will be one of your most profitable achievements.

Many salespeople make the fatal error of mistaking activity for productivity. Even worse, they go through their entire career believing this illusion.

Let’s look at two salespeople we’ll call Jim and Joe. Jim wonders, “I’m just as busy as Joe is, but I don’t understand why Joe makes more sales, earns more money and has more satisfied customers than I do.” While both make a to-do list each day, Jim doesn’t prioritize his list and is constantly distracted by what he thinks are burning fires or “deal-with-it-now” emergencies. Jim is reactive, rather than proactive. He has what I’ve come to call Sales A.D.D. He lacks focus, organization and flexible efficiency.

Jim does more than just make a to-do list. Jim creates a daily plan that accounts for possible emergencies. His plan allows for flexibility when prioritizing daily selling            activities, but inflexibility on commitments he’s made to his customers. Jim manages his day rather than being managed by his day. Big difference.

4. To believe in the law of averages and the wisdom of knowing the dollar value of each of your primary activities.

What is meant by “the law of averages?” LexJet co-founder Art Lambert told me many years ago that sales isn’t complex math; it’s simple arithmetic. You start with the never-ending task of prospecting for new business. How many prospecting calls will I make today? Write it down.

Next, keep a record of how many no responses it takes to get a yes response. Write it down. Now, measure how many yes responses it takes to hit your assigned quota, or even better your personal stretch selling goals. Write it down.

Finally, adjust your prospecting call volume on a regular basis to get the number of yes responses you need. Pretty simple, huh? It’s the managing of your time, focus          and attention to constantly changing priorities that separates the average from the top sales performers.

Make your daily task list. Prioritize that list according to must dos, need to-do’s, and if I can get to it, do’s. Plan for possible emergencies in your timeline and re-evaluate your list after each task is completed.

Remember that anything having to do with satisfying customers and keeping commitments always come first. If necessary, that cigarette, water cooler conversation, or picking up your dry cleaning can wait. If you put your customers first, it’s a pretty good bet that they will do the same for you.

In part three of this series, I’ll cover the importance of working smart versus working hard and the benefits it will deliver in sales results. I’ll also share ways to make each customer encounter a win for your customer and for you.

Until next time…

Posted on by Pete Petersen Posted in Marketing & Sales
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Make up Your Mind and Improve Your Sales Techniques

I’m a big reader. I was fortunate enough to have worked for a company early in my career that put me through a rapid reading course. Their one-time investment in me has paid life-long dividends for my career. I’m able to read and digest large amounts of information efficiently. Why tell you this? Because I’ve used the training I received to find and read a ton of excellent articles on how to be a sales professional and not just a salesperson.

Sales techniques for sales professionalsOne brief, yet impactful piece I’ve come across during my 32 years in sales and sales management is entitled Make Up Your Mind. I’ve never been able to identify the author of this little gem, but following the simple advice it provides transformed me in several important and valuable ways.

The benefits it has given to me pale in comparison to the resulting value it has delivered to my customers. You’ll find the piece below. Over the next five weeks I will highlight and expand on two bullet points contained in the article per week. I hope it will be as beneficial and inspirational to you as it has to me…

MAKE UP YOUR MIND
Your power to persuade others originates from your philosophies and beliefs. Your selling philosophies determine the attitudes you develop and the habits you form. The principles of selling and living that you adhere to will move you up to join the successful people who get to the top and stay there. MAKE UP YOUR MIND to live by these principles…

  • That you are your most important customer. You must be sold on your job, your products and your ability to perform.
  • That your product and service, properly sold, is of considerably more value to your buyer than any commissions you can possible earn.
  • That time is money and that learning to manage your time productively will be one of your most profitable achievements.
  • To believe in the law of averages and the wisdom of knowing the dollar value of each of your primary activities.
  • That honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded.
  • That it is to always be a “win-win” encounter.
  • That the power of your sales presentation will always lie in its simplicity.
  • That the purchase must be “helped along” and is more often made because you guide the prospect’s behavior in an effective, organized manner.
  • That people buy today, not nearly so much because they understand your product thoroughly, but because they feel and believe that you understand them, their problems and the things they want to accomplish.
  • That almost all development is, in fact, self-development and that personal growth is the product of practice, observation and self-correction.

Let’s take a closer look at the first two important points…

1. You are your most important customer. You must be sold on your job, your products and your ability to perform.

This is the alpha and the omega. The lesson I learned is my success begins and ends with me. I must believe. Customers can sense insincerity, dishonesty and a lack of confidence from a mile away. They can also pick up on enthusiasm, integrity and self-confidence in very positive ways.

Have you ever lost a sale when you seemingly had the “best” solution and proposal? You may never find out why and the customer may not consciously   know why either. When asked they may say, “I just didn’t have a good feeling about that company.”

Since you are the face of your company to the customer, that means they didn’t have a good feeling about you. Think of it this way: You can’t take credit for a big sale and then blame a big loss on something else. The key word in the point above is sold. It only stands to reason that before you can sell, you must be sold.

The best way for you to believe that you’re a sales professional who delivers measurable value to your customers is to invest in yourself. Invest time to know more about your customers’ needs than anyone else. Invest time building on your business education. Invest time in researching your competitors, their products and how your solutions outperform theirs.

Investing in you translates into confidence in yourself. These investments will pay huge returns in your career over the long-term. Hard work equals seamless confidence. Do it for you and your customers.

2. That your product and service, properly sold, is of considerably more value to your buyer than any commissions you can possible earn.

A famous line from Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler croons, “You never count your money when you’re sittin at the table, there’ll be time enough for countin’, when the dealin’s done.”

If you’re thinking about you, you’re not thinking about your customer. This is another one of those things customers feel without anything being said directly. Our personal income goals are not our customers’ business goals.

Your customer pays for you to solve their problems, not yours. This is really a state of mind issue for us sales professionals. Focusing on the customer and genuinely caring about their satisfaction will result not only in financial rewards for us, but also in job satisfaction. You can’t buy that!

You can’t pay yourself a dime, but your customers can reward you handsomely. Sure, they will reward you by buying from you. But by caring about them and solving their problems, they will recommend you to other potential customers. You can’t buy that either!

What is meant by “properly sold?” I’ve found that this means the customer gets a lot more than just the products they purchase from you. They get an expert who understands their business goals and can represent those goals within their organization. They get an advocate who communicates to manufacturers/suppliers on their behalf.

They get a problem-solver who knows where to go and what to do to get things done without passing the buck. They get a pro that learns to anticipate their needs and solve problems they don’t even have yet. Don’t just deliver for your customers… over-deliver.

Commit completely to what you do, accept nothing less than your absolute best when you do it and do it for your customers, not yourself. This will lay a firm foundation for being a respected sales professional instead of just another salesperson.

Until next time…