The Digital Imaging Association’s Crushing It meeting Wednesday, November 16 at Spicers in Vaughan, Ontario, delved into successful sales strategies and tactics for today’s printers and print buyers. “Growing the sales team, adding new logos, increasing top-of-the-funnel activity, leveraging inside sales, initiating new marketing campaigns, etc., can add to an increase in sales revenue – but they aren’t the sure-fire way to get you over the top,” explained Jim Keenan of Forbes Magazine. The key to increasing revenue and expanding your sales organization is aligning four critical areas – strategy, structure, people and process. The meeting brought together a panel of leading printing industry executives and senior sales managers who discussed new sales strategies and tactics, finding and motivating good sales reps, different approaches to the sales process, and much more.
Here are some fascinating facts from the National Sales Executive Association that are well worth remembering before you formulate your 2017 sales strategies:
- 48% of Sales Reps never follow up with a prospect
- 25% of Sales Reps make a second contact and stop
- 12% of Sales Reps only make 3 contacts and stop
- Only 10% of Sales Reps make more then 3 contacts
- 2% of sales are made on the first contact
- 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
- 5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
- 10% of sales are made on the 4th contact
- 80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact