Selling Copiers

There's a lot of different ways to make a sell. I'm always trying different things to find out what works and doesn't. I usually try to go around the gatekeeper when cold calling on the phone. It's a cat and mouse game and if you're not careful, you'll piss off the gatekeeper and that's never good.

Recently I went back to my old tried and true method of "winning over the gatekeeper".

How does that work?

For me, I call her/him up out of the blue say the following:

Hi, my name is Billy Carpenter with Coast Business Machines, we're a local copier and printer company here on the coast. (You must be clear about who you are and what you do.)

Next I say this:

Would it be okay if I email some information over on our company and products? (My goal isn't to email over information. This is a softball request in order to get them to give more information. The email will be used in an email campaign, though. )

If yes: Great, what email should I send it to? (I then go into my list of questions to gather information: ( Lease/own? Any problems with copier? How many copiers? Color/Black? And so on.)

If no? I understand. Quick question before we hang up. When you are in the market to buy a copier or printer, who makes that decision? ( I have a list of questions that I try to go down. More on that later.)

When selling a high ticket item, you must know your objectives. When cold calling, it's usually to make an appointment, not make a sell. That requires qualifying the lead. Only after I know they have a need and the buying window is open do I try to set an appointment.

Yesterday, I made 77 calls and made 2 appointments. And it's only an appointment if its on both parties calendar. When they say "drop by anytime"...that's not a appointment...it's a brush off.

I'd love to hear other methods.