Sales Clinic: Do You Have A Follow-Up Machine? CRM software should be the backbone of any printing salesperson’s sales efforts. I just lost an argument with a soft ware guy. I was trying to convince him that his product, a CRM program, was fl awed. Th ey tried to make it simple, and in many ways, succeeded, but in several very important ways, I think they failed. Which is too bad, because I would really like to fi nd the perfect CRM program for my clients, and it doesn’t seem to exist. As I have written before, I use ACT! as my own CRM, and I oft en tell people that I couldn’t run my life without ACT!, let alone my business. But I also tell them that ACT! is a product that can do 100 things, and I only need eight of them. In my experience, the sheer bulk and complexity of ACT! and other products like salesforce.com keep many salespeople from committing to a CRM. And that is truly sad, because this kind of soft ware should be the backbone of any printing salesperson’s sales eff orts. What’s It All About? I say that because, at the most fundamental level, selling is all about getting someone to the next level. Th at may mean getting a raw suspect to respond to an email or voicemail. It may mean progressing from an email exchange to a face-to-face meeting. It may mean converting a quote to an order to getting an actual customer to buy more from you or give you a few referrals. Until someone becomes a maximized customer, there is always a next level, and I think you want to get there. All of that means that selling is about follow up. Follow-up is how you get people to the next level. And the most important function of a CRM is to be a follow-up machine. Two Questions Here is a very fundamental sales strategy. Aft er every contact, or every attempt at contact, with anyone you are selling to, or trying to sell to, you should always ask yourself two questions. Question #1: Based on where I think I stand right now, what should I do next in terms of At the most fundamental level, selling is all about getting someone to the next level. getting this person to the next level? Question #2: When should I do that? In other words, how and when should I follow up on what just happened? Th at gives you a plan. Now you need a place to store your plan and a way to remind yourself to execute it. Th at’s what a CRM/follow-up machine can do for you. I had an interesting conversation during an onsite visit last week. One of the salespeople I was working with stated that more printing sales op- By Dave Fellman Contributing Columnist Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Cary, NC, a sales and marketing consulting fi rm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact Dave by phone at 919-363-4068, or by e-mail at dmf@davefellman.com. Visit his website at www.davefellman.com. Find this article at PrintingNews.com/12192866 50 Printing News ® September 2016 PrintingNews®com
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