Copier companies are not exempt to strategic plans and proper structuring when it comes to entering the MSP sphere. Just because the business has been steady for many years doesn’t mean it will continue to go that way. Especially once you start seeing that your sales team is just not selling. There are five main issues behind why sales is not selling and copier companies can relate to just about all of them.
- No Defined Product or Solution
The first is that you may not have a defined product or solution. This may sound silly considering copier companies do, in fact, sell a defined product. However, when moving into the managed services area, defining your solution may be a little more difficult. What is it exactly you plan on selling? IT services, client support or perhaps even items in the operations realm? This needs to be firmly established before moving forward. Another conundrum many have is allowing clients to choose the services they think they like from you. They don’t know. The service they choose most likely is not the one they need.
- No Sales Plan or Strategy
Secondly, many copier companies continue to use the sales expectations that they are comfortable with. Often times, these are outdated methods that contribute to a lack of service sales. Most don’t have a
sales plan, solid sales strategy or are missing a combination of both. Sales team structure can make or break a company’s revenue. Different people may have varying skills or selling points. All of this can be taken into consideration when building a structure. Too many hunters and not enough farmers won’t allow closes to happen. However, too many farmers and not enough hunters won’t allow for new leads. There is always a fine line in successful sales processes. Finally, a formalized sales process is necessary. It aids in accountability and employee expectations.
- Hiring the Wrong Person
The third and fourth issues, can go hand in hand. First of all, not
hiring the right employee is obviously going to put a damper on how effective your services are sold. Training is always a necessity, but you simply cannot train someone to be someone they’re not. This could be a hinderance in copier companies because you can have a sales rep excellent at selling a printer or copier machine, but not be able to wrap their head around selling managed services. Also, you need to know a salesperson has money on their mind. This needs to motivate them, and they need to not be satisfied with their current paycheck, otherwise you may be wasting your time.
- No Training Program
Though an employee should have a natural knack for sales, if there is no training program in place there will not be any accountability. There is a right and wrong way to train a new employee. The firehose strategy only burns people out. They receive so much information it becomes increasingly difficult to concentrate on a task, let alone perform it correctly. Companies often try to use the phone book strategy for training they didn’t prepare properly, yet they think the employee is learning by doing. However, this can be problematic too because they can continuously disrupt someone else’s work flow with double checks and reassurances. Not to mention getting bored and burned out when the strategy doesn’t work. The best way to train a new employee is to, once again, build strategic plans and proper structuring. Come up with a concrete solution that will work across the board.
- Lack of Accountability
Finally, copier companies that run on a small team can relate to the problem of accountability. Often accountability fails because business owners simply don’t have time to hold their employees responsible. This can create a whole slew of additional problems. Employees can get complacent, or lax in their work. Sales can suffer and overall morale decreases. This can be solved by making time. Would you prefer to lose sales over a lack of motivation? Or would you prefer spending fifteen minutes with an employee coaching them? Ultimately the choice is yours, but with accountability comes productivity.
If your sales are not selling and you can relate to even one of these issues, it is time to invest in a service that can give you the tools you need as well as coach you through the process.
CharTec can aid in your success. The definition of success is “the accomplishment of an aim or a purpose”. Your job is to bring your purpose, ours is to guide you toward accomplishing that purpose.
