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In exploring marketing best practices at the top of the sales funnel — that stage in the buying process where you invite prospective customers to consider your company for their inkjet printing needs — it’s essential to understand how Google helps people find what they’re looking for. Tweaking your website here is known as search engine optimization (SEO), making it more likely your company and services will appear toward the top of search results. This is important because as much as 92% of search traffic clicks happen on the first Google page. Internet users rarely keep turning the search page to find additional options. SEO done right is a specialized skill, so ask an SEO expert to analyze your keyword click successes and tweak your site to improve click-throughs. You, however, are essential to the process, assuring that your SEO efforts dovetail with your internally developed marketing strategy and tactics. Where to begin? Both you and your SEO expert have to start with the …

Let's say you were at a sales meeting and the company president announces the addition of a new piece of equipment. This device, an inkjet printer from Canon, is not only better and faster than what it's replacing, it opens up all new opportunities for you as a salesperson. Looking at the inkjet printer, you are amazed despite the fact you're not sure if you're looking at the front or the back. It doesn't matter. You learn that the boss got every possible option except for the surface to air missiles which apparently are still in beta. Needless to say, we made that last part up. Come on… You go through sales training, even sitting through a day with the authors of this blog, attending one of three thINK Virtual Workshops held in 2020. You learn about applications, what to expect, and the vertical market approach you can undertake. After all this information and all this knowledge, you walk into your boss’ office, sit down and proclaim, "I don't want to sell inkjet," and then await the …

How can you help steer the conversation and stay on message? Be a proactive passenger! When you do an interview with someone or engage in Q&A – it’s like traveling with that person in a car. Whoever is asking the questions is in the driver’s seat, with their foot on the gas pedal, pushing the journey forward. You’re the passenger. You’re a part of the journey but you don’t have as much control as the driver. When you simply answer questions without thought of bringing in your message, you’re like a passenger simply along for the ride. That’s because in the moment, when you’re nervous or unprepared, you’re more likely to see questions as obligations instead of opportunities. When you just answer questions, without thought of bringing in your message…who knows where you’ll wind up! But if you’re a proactive passenger that means you’re helping steer the conversation towards the message you want the audience to hear. Here are the two things you need to do to be a proactive passenger: Know …

Selling inkjet printing successfully is not a matter of understanding what a particular company within a vertical buys (i.e. their print needs) but rather what their challenges are (i.e. their business needs) and what you can do to solve them. Using this approach allows you to finish the sentence that starts, "The purpose of my call" with an idea, such as what's discussed below, rather than the words "to find out who buys your print." With that in mind, we offer the following selling opportunity… Once upon a time, long ago, it was standard operating procedure for banks to solicit new business by handing out gifts to anyone who opened an account. There were toasters and blenders and even crystal. When his brother got married, Bill opened so many accounts ($25 at a time), he was able to create a fantastic wedding gift (right after he learned what the word "crystal" meant).   Today, banks have upped their game.   According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2018 there were 15 banks in the …

While this is a great question to ask yourself anytime, it is especially relevant now as you wait and wait for the COVID-19 crisis to pass. Even during “normal” times, who doesn’t get sidetracked or distracted in this giant game of Whack-a-Mole called Sales? The goal is to make certain you are staying on track and making the most of your selling day. After all of the planning and preparation that goes into effective time management, the rubber eventually meets the road and a plan is engaged. The task that you choose to work on needs to be the best fit for that particular moment in order to achieve efficiency and productivity. So, when life got derailed by COVID-19, asking yourself this question was still apropos. The only thing that changed were the answers...and the sudden lack of urgency that usually motivates a rep to complete a task and move on to the next one. Gone are the calls with clients, voicemail attempts regarding new opportunities, and interaction with others in the …