Friday, October 31, 2008

Why Copier Sales is a Great Foundation for Your Sales Career

Another letter, from someone I interviewed a few months back. I thought they had great potential, but not enough sales experience yet.

I recommended that he get some experience in copier sales. I've made this recommendation many times before, and not everyone likes to hear it. However, it is an excellent foundation for your sales career. As challenging as the experience may be, it gives you a chance to develop more sales skills better and faster than in any other arena.

If you have watched the 212 video, you'll remember it says,

"The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it possible."

He has taken up the challenge, which demonstrates to me that he is committed to developing himself and ultimately to success.


Ms. McCallister-Grant,
How are you Ms. McCallister-Grant. I spoke to you a couple of times. I just wanted to give you an update on my current job situation. The last I spoke to you, I was leaning toward accepting the job at (Copier Company A). Since then, I have accepted the job. I am currently employed as an Account Representative with (Co. A) in the (X) branch. I am glad that I spoke to you and thank you again for your guidance and advice. I feel strongly that I have accepted the right company (I was also offered a position at (Copier Company B).) They have a great training program. It was just revamped. My start date was (date). Since then I have been through 3 weeks of training. And am currently going through another 2 weeks of the training process. I know when we spoke you told me that it would be a good idea to find a company with a good training program. Here is an outline of what type of training (Co. A) is putting me through:
In branch for 2 weeks observing tenured reps.
2 Weeks training at the (Co. A) facility - This involves some product training but mostly focuses on selling strategies.
2 Weeks of training in facility - This involves implementation of what was learned in the two weeks along with networking.
2 Weeks training back at the (Co. A) facility (I just finished the first week of these two weeks. I am e-mailing you from the hotel room they have provided. I will be here until next Friday.) - More selling techniques with some product training.
The training (Co. A) provides is very thorough and extensive. It is 9-5, Mon-Fri. After I complete these two weeks of training I will return to the office to begin networking and using the skills I have learned from training. In 6 months they will send me back for another week of training and 3 months after that for the final week of the training. In total I will go through 10 weeks of extensive training. The training is a great help and will be very useful in the field. The funny thing is that this training program was just implemented. I have spoken to many account representatives that have gone to training but their program was only one week. I am happy I got in when I did. I am enjoying the sales aspect of the job very much and am excited to get out in the field.
I hope everything is going well for you. I would appreciate any advice or insight you can provide. I highly value your opinion. Thanks again for the help. I hope to hear from you soon.


Note every copier company offers training this extensive, but many do. Training like this, plus the experience of hitting the streets and cold calling daily, are part of what makes copier sales a great opportunity for learning a lot in a short period of time.

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