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N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / Q U I C K P R I N T I N G 25 w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m By Dave Fellman 'It May Seem Disorganized, But I Know Where Everything Is!' Really? SALES CLINIC At the end of the day, I sat with the ow ner of t he compa ny in his ow n office, which was also fairly messy. On his wall, he has a poster which states that "A Clean Desk Is The Sign Of A Dirty Mind." I pointed at his desk, and at the poster, and said "I'm not sure you're setting a really good example for your employees, especially Carl (the top salesperson)." "I don't care about neatness," he said, "I care about results, and Carl brings in a lot of business." The question, of course, is whether he could be bringing in even more business if he was better organized. You can probably guess what I think! Everything In Its Place The secret to organization is simply to put everything in its place. If that place really is on the top of your desk—or on top of your chair!—then that's where whatever we're talking about should be. But if it's not, it should be somewhere else. That might be a file folder, in a file cabinet, in a file room. It might be a digital folder, on a computer desktop, or somewhere deeper inside the file structure. It might be in the trash! I'm not saying that your desktop, physical or digital, must be perfectly neat and organized at all times, but here's what I want you to ask yourself: Is there any upside to the kind of mess you see in this picture? Also ask yourself this: What would Carl likely find if he took the time to look through every piece of paper in his workspace? I think he'd find that most of the documents are no longer current to his workflow. I think he'd also find some lost opportunity! I took this photo on a recent on-site visit. It's the cubicle of the com- pany's top salesperson. He assured me that it only looks disorga- nized, and that in fact, he knows where everything is. So I bet him that he couldn't fnd a hard-copy document I'd sent him two or three weeks earlier. Lunch was on him that day! Lost Opportunity This is really the critical issue. I've been saying for a long time that selling is mostly about follow-up. And please understand, I'm not just talking about persistence. I'm talking about follow- up that's appropriate to the situation at hand. I have seen far too many printing salespeople miss out on opportuni- ties because they were blindly persis- tent when they should have employed something more creative in terms of follow-up, but that's a topic for another day. For today, it's prett y simple. If you miss an opportunity because you didn't follow up on time because it was hidden under the clutter in your work- space, that's an indefensible loss. I actually forced Carl to dig though his clutter as part of the follow-up to my on-site visit. He found five quotes that he'd never followed up. He also found 23 leads that he'd never followed up on. He even found a job jacket for an order that had never been put into production. He swears that he's seen the light, and that he's going to get himself and keep himself better organized. I'm confident that if he does that, he will bring in even more business and make more money. Contact Management Software As I've written before, I use a software product called ACT to keep myself organized, and I think ever y sales- person should be using this kind of tool. Other products in the CM/CRM category include Outlook, SalesNet, and salesforce.com. In ACT, I've set up a database record for ever yone I do business w ith or hope to do business with, and in that record, I can store everything from na mes, add resses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses to the notes I take during every call or contact. I can send e-mails from ACT and store them in the database record. I can attach quotes, artwork, or any other digital file. I can also schedule my follow-up activity after each contact. In other words, ACT gives me a place to put everything in its place. Better organized probably equals better sales results. Do you agree? ◗◗ D a v e Fe ll m a n i s t h e p re s i d e n t o f D a v i d Fe ll m a n & A ss o c i a t e s, Ca r y, NC, a sales and marketing consulting f irm ser ving numerous segments of the graphic arts indust r y. Contact him by phone at 919-363- 4068 or by e-mail at d mf @ d a ve fe llm a n . co m . V i sit h i s website at www.davefellman.com "I don't care about neatness," he said, "I care about results, and Carl brings in a lot of business." The question, of course, is whether he could be bringing in even more business if he was better organized."