The absolute BEST way to sell commercial work is to get in front of the decision maker, and stay in front of them. There is no other alternative that will work as well. As I outlined on the teleseminar that that you listened to - call first, follow up with an introductory sales letter. Then call back and make a personal appearance. You have got to get in front of the decision maker. This type of selling can not be done remotely via phone calls and mailings. The phone calls and mailings are only used to get you in front of the decision maker.
You will have to dig around a bit to learn who is responsible for making the maintenance decisions. You will do that when you make your first phone call to the building. Once you have learned who is responsible for making the decisions for carpet care, you now have your target! Lock in and keep firing until the account is yours.
Once you get your meeting with the decision maker you can use the items in the CMS kit to close the sale, i.e. PowerPoint presentation, perform a thorough carpet inspection, write up a proposal, provide a contract, etc. Repeatedly sending flyers and post card are also helpful to keep the line of communication open with them, since it often requires making multiple impressions on them to make the sale. And be sure to keep making effective return visits on them by routinely calling back on them.
The most important thing to keep in mind if you want to be successful at commercial selling is simply to get out and do it! Defy gravity, and get out of your chair and out the front door. That's not always easy, we're all a little lazy at times (including me). But it sounds like there are a lot of great business opportunities waiting for you in your area. Keep in mind, SOMEONE is taking care of those carpets now, shouldn't that someone be YOU? So get your butt out there. Schedule one morning a week for commercial marketing/selling, and stick to it. You CAN do it.
Wishing you success!
Rick Gelinas
rick@excellent-supply.com
