The assessment is a foundational piece of the sales process and all dealers, resellers, manufacturers have a method, even if it is ad-hoc. I am not suggesting you substitute my outline below for your dealer’s approach; I’m simply relaying some of the steps I’ve seen performed by successful selling professionals around the globe.
Needs assessment versus sales assessment
There are two broad types of assessments: An assessment determining solution requirements and an assessment geared to reveal the likelihood of a sale.
For as long as I can remember, I've played this video on 9/11. Super Bowl 2002, months after the attack, our country was numb and jumpy.
Well before self-loathing Americans started calling our movements in the middle-east "invasion" and "occupation", patriotism was on every street corner.
I remember that night; I remember seeing it live. I can't tell you the football teams playing, but I can say it was one of the deepest, moving TV moments, ever.
U2 - that Irish rock band, stood on the world stage, honoring the greatest country on earth and her fallen citizens. Names float to the sky, as the rousing "Where the Streets Have No Name" beats on. The song, second of the half-time set, was written about a place without class stigma, where the distinction between religions and income is no more; a World Without Sin?
Bono ends the tune exposing the Stars and Stripes - Triumph.
Here we are, 15 years later - The Twin Towers, replaced by that defiant Freedom Tower, slip deeper into the fog with each passing 911. The threat remains the same, if not more pronounced.
Do you honestly feel safer now than you did that faithful day of empty skies, September 12, 2001?
Day of cogitation: What have we learned?
On this day of reflection, consider not only the ones who've helped you see who you are, but remember the hearts you've "imprinted"; son's, daughters, mothers, fathers, friends, lovers and ex-lovers, customers and co-workers.
Be gratified knowing you've changed somebody's life for the better - we all have.
Take time to remember those on the 98th floor, at 8:47 AM, sipping a Starbucks, considering a sales forecast or the regret of not saying "I love you, I always will..." on that morning, 14 years ago.
"I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name..."
I recommend going to YouTube and watch, the stupid #NFL won't let it be viewed anywhere else. What a world we have become.
"The convergence of human and machine, the biological and mechanical, is the result of a confluence of innovation, technology, and social flows destined from the beginning. This motion is unstoppable. Unstoppable. In addition to the high-thinking, man/machine convergence, we’re starting to see the impact of all things converging.
Consider the way connectivity, manufacturing, software development, business, society, and, yes, even managed print have converged into a borderless, almost transparent solution."
I postulated this idea back in 2013 over at the Imaging Channel,
Today, I'm promoting the idea of "The Converged Professional. (CP)
In what can only be described as the greatest personal appearance in the history of mankind, the folks who bring you #ArcDrive will be attending the Grand Slam event in New York city. That’s right, live and in person.
See the latest #ArcDrive devices. Wonder at the marvel that is #ArcDrive - RTS. Be amazed and stupefied as our crack team of workflow experts demonstrate how #ArcDrive - SCN and #ArcDrive - SX solve real-world problems for you and your SMB clients. Revel in the simple sophistication that is the #ArcDrive managed print services platform.
Talk with the creator of #ArcDrive as he shares his vision of the industry, OEMs, software conglomerates, the death of the copier, the rise of managed services and why ‘edge’ and ‘fog’ computing and the IoT is the future.
Caution: You will not find ‘booth-babes’, raffles, pens, beer-coozies, #ArcDrive frisbees, stress balls or swag of any type - I doubt we’ll even dole out ‘slicks’. Just relevant conversations and low-pressure, attraction-selling.
I remember one of the first MPS training sessions I sat in on, back in 2007. It was conducted by Steven Power. He admitted to taking his “how to sell copiers” material and molding the curriculum into “how to sell MPS.” Truthfully— and to his credit — the class could have been applied to ANY industry and type of B2B sales.
Which is why I paid attention and remember it to this day.
Since then, I’ve been a party to hundreds of different sales classes, seminars, and symposiums.
