Need to Register?

ocdp · December 17th, 2007

Hey everyone! Boy, am I in a pickle. I was brought on board with this mid-sized apparel company as a sales rep after they hadn't had someone in that role since about January (apparently, that person did really poor). Mind you, I've never worked as a sales representative, but because of my outgoing nature, connection to my local music scene (I'm a drummer) and desperation for employment they hired me.
Since then (nearly two months ago) I haven't had a lot of luck with selling-this is just plain difficult. No one seems to like cold calls, be it over the phone or in person, so I've been trying other methods, like e-mails. Those have worked a little, but not much. I'd love for orders to be pouring in, but it ain't happening. Quite the opposite. My boss didn't really train me, either-he pretty much just told me that I'd learn as I went along. He's never around, either, he's always at the other office (the company is located out of two offices about fifteen miles from each other). Although I've received no indication that I'm on the verge of being fired, I'm still worried. I certainly can't afford to lose this job. I'm sure they still see me as a beginner, as I haven't been here for very long and for that reason they might cut me some slack, but that won't last forever, either.
What do I do? Is this just a slow time of year? What alternatives are there to cold calling? I'd really like to explore the e-mail side of things-we all know how annoying it can be to receive a call from a telemarketer. And, before I forget, I've tried talking to my boss, who pretty much just repeated the same things as before. Since I'm basically stuck, I need to know what I can do to move forward. Please help! Any ideas for sales, and my situation in general, would be appreciated!

sportsrock · December 17th, 2007

Ouch. I feel you. My first job was going door to door raising money for clean water lobbying. I learned I wasn't a natural salesperson pretty quick. One thing I did was take no for an answer. Apparently in sales you can't do that - but rather keep pushing and pushing until they agree to something, even if it's a fraction of what you were trying to get. As for ways of reaching potential customers, possibly try faxing or direct mailing. It seems as though people are more likely to consider an offer when it's physical and have to be thrown away versus deleted with a single keystoke.

Good luck!

mshakir · December 17th, 2007

I am assuming you are talking about selling t-shirts as you are on t-shirt forum.

One possible reason is market is slow as well. It seems like hardly any one is buying t-shirts and other clothings. Even if you sell it, the customers may require 30 days terms and then you will have problems collecting. If they can not sell your products, you do not get paid.

It does take time to make customers. The game is persistence. One book I read suggested assume you are going to contact 1000 customers, but only one hundred will buy. So you keep going down the list. If you get a 'NO', move on to the rest of 1000. You do not know which 100 out of 1000 will buy. So you do not let yourself down when you hear NO. Think your list is getting smaller and you are getting closer to those 100 who would say Yes. It is hard, but that is the only way to go.

The best way is to send some kind of direct mail and see who has interest before calling. This would give you better chance of meeting those who are interested and save you time.

Try your friends, family, associates and the people they know and find out who is buying the products you are selling. Use the people you know as references when meeting customers.

Hope this gives you some clue.

Xander · December 17th, 2007

Welcome to the wonderful world of selling, I am a sales exect for a global company selling newsletters to dentist and I will soon be entering into the clothing world very shortly. I feel the pain of the cold call, 70% of my day consists of it. My advice is worker smarter not harder. The book you are reading is wrong, cold calls are the lowest form of selling and as you know the least successful. Direct mail is good, ( thats the business I am in and the way my company markets) however first look at who you current market is, once you have identified it, find more people like it. Like mohammed said find friends and network and get references. The biggest reason people don't buy is because they are afraid of risks. Identify the risks and take it away. It could be anything from afraid your product sucks, or the quality is no good. Afraid they will buy and wont be able to sell it in their stores. Whatever it is identify it and confront it and solve it.

Hope this helps. gitomer.com has great sales advice, you have to take it with a grain of salt like any advice though

sunnydayz · December 17th, 2007

I was a welder for 15 years doing hand forged Iron work. I would go drive around and find houses that were being built and approach the contractors with look books of my work and what I could offer them, and convince them that my product would be best for their new property. The point of this is, find those most likely to need your product and then sell it in a way that makes them know that your product is the one that best suits their market. If you are calling people that are not in your particular market they will not buy no matter how hard you try to sell it to them. You need to find the customer that fits your product to make sales.

I also learned it is alot harder to say no to someone when they are standing in front of you. An email is easy to delete, a phone call is easy to hang up. Bring your product in person and let them know why your product is so great. This is what kept me in business for 15 years, it was because I beleived in what I was selling and therefore so did the customer.

peteVA · December 17th, 2007

Actually, I've done quite well cold calling. Much better than any other method. There is nothing like meeting your prospect face to face.

It can be a problem getting to talk to the person who does the buying. Getting past the gatekeeper can be a chore.

You don't say just what you are selling or how you are selling it. "Apparel" is an awful broad category. If it's mainly tees, hoodies, etc. for immediate purchase and resale, that's one thing. If you're traveling with rolling racks of garments, it's something else again.

Are you booking orders for future delivery, or just writing orders for immediate fill? Are you selling dozens? Pieces? etc.

When I walk through a new door I do so with the attitude that if the prospect does not buy from me, it's their loss, not mine. I know when I walk in I've got a good product at a fair price and that dealing with me will benefit them.

I never go in empty handed. I never "just happen to be in the neighborhood". I go in with business on my mind. With the intnetion of writing an order. I didn't stop for coffee and to shoot the breeze. I'm there to sell and make no bones about it.

If I end up speaking to someone at the counter of check-out, I never linger to finish a sentence or a thought, I back away immediately if a paying customer approaches. I may wait off to the side for some time, never interrupting or commenting on any customer or getting involved in any way with a transaction.

Only when "the coast is clear" do I take up where I left off.

I'll often ask to use the restroom, just to get an idea of what is going on behind the scenes. "Getting lost" in the back room can give me a good idea of the amount of stock they keep and who they are buying it from. I'm not above reading shipping labels and cartons.

I never go in empty handed. In addition to my sales catalogs and/or literature I always carry something to catch their attention. Even if they do not ask, I can tell they are interested in what I've got this call. Usually it's an inexpensive product they can't resist ordering. Sometimes it's just something to get a conversation started.

I will often sometimes offer "everyday items" that all stores sell at below cost prices. When they will not give me an order for something they sell on a recurring basis at a price I know is way below anything they could possibly be paying, and they refuse to buy, I'll ask them point blank why not.

"I've got white cotton anklets at half your current price and you won't give me an order?" "I'll sell you Hersheys with Almonds for 10 cents a bar and you won't buy?" Anything to get that first order. Once you break the ice it gets easier.

The area also makes a difference. I don't want to offer you excuses, but in my situation there are two metro areas just an hour or so apart. In the Hampton Roads area, with a heavily transient military population, it is not at all uncommon to write an order on the first call.

Just an hour up the Interstate, in Richmond, things are entirely different. It's unusual to write an order until you've made several calls. They want to know that you are going to keep coming back before they make a commitment. I've had some people tell me just that. And I reply that I can't keep coming back if I don't write some orders, that the boss will fire me. I say it with a smile, but I get the point across.

It's a game. You leave with an order and you've won. You leave empty-handed and they have won.
.

sunnydayz · December 17th, 2007

Let me point out about my post above that the reason I brought look books is because the work I did was custom hand forged Iron stair rails, gates and very large built in items. Had it been a product that I could carry I would have hehe.

SunEmbroidery · December 18th, 2007

I think the key to marketing whether it is through cold calls, direct mail, email or another format is to FOCUS on your target market. You most KNOW who your potential buyer is. Some prospective customers will respond better to cold calls, some to email, etc depending on who they are. Some sales people will be better at different sales methods depending on who they are and what their skills are. You must be able to convey to your potential customer what it is that your company will do better than your competitors. Also, if you have a niche, market to those who will buy in that niche. When talking to a potential customer try to find out if they have a "pain", a problem that they had when ordering in the past. Once their "pain" is revealed you can address this problem and discuss how your company will do better.

TripleT · December 19th, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by ocdp


	Since I'm basically stuck, I need to know what I can do to move forward. Please help! Any ideas for sales, and my situation in general, would be appreciated!

Tell us a little more about what kind of shirts you're trying to sell, who you're trying to sell too, etc. That will make it easier to give you an answer.

imeccentric · December 19th, 2007

Cold calling is fun. I've done it for years. To me it is just making new friends. You just have to target your market well through research, walk in and, unlike Pete who posted above, I DON'T try to sell. I like to find out if they have any problems with their current suppliers(they usually say no), explain that I would really like to work with them in the future, and, if the account is big enough, stop back every month just to say hi and buy them coffee if they have time. Haven't had many who didn't respond to this and give me a try. Then it was just up to me to deliver what others couldn't or wouldn't. Had a really stubborn guy one time who kept refusing to see me. I told his secretary to tell him that "I didn't want his first born, I just wanted to leave him a catalog of new products". We ended up changing his manufacturing process and we were both happy. I was never above referring them to another company if they had the same products for less money. I don't think I ever had anyone take me up on it. People buy from people they like and ones who can make their lives easier. Just like consumers, cost is usually secondary unless it's a really wide gap. I traveled a 4 state area and loved it. As with all sales, it's just a numbers game and everyone approaches it with a technique that best suits their personality.

Jim
Embellishments in Thread

hobby · December 27th, 2007

If you show up to speak with someone you had best believe you can provide something good for them. Some people will sell **** but most cannot, if you don't feel like something will benefit the customer then don't do it. I worked selling cell phones and agree 100% with Jim, make friends with your customers and they will return that friendship.

Are you wearing the apparel when you are working?

VectorKing · February 28th, 2008

I agree with some of the above comments: cold calling has been very ineffective for me. I am the director of sales and I am always trying to come up with new ways to attract new prospects. If you do make cold calls, make sure you state your name first when trying to get through the gatekeeper. Important people always do this and the gatekeeper knows this. Here are few places I started.
If your going to do cold calls, you may want to ask your boss if you can target old customers who have not ordered in a couple of years. This way the call is not as cold and if another sales rep complains that it is there customer they have little argument for not following up with their customers properly. That is the policy with my company.
Start with your current customer base and ask for referrals(preferably after a sale and the customer has a good feeling about you). Its seven times easier to close a sale when you have a referral.
Join your local chamber of commerce. I am on a volunteer committee with my chamber that celebrates grand openings and special events within the community. Sure it takes time, but your in front of the people who buy. The easiest way to make sales is being in front of people.
If you can afford it, give away products with your logo or the companies logo you are going after. This will give them a favorable opinion of you and maybe the next time they are looking to order they will have your product in front of them. Customer's don't like to be sold, so just listen to their needs and let them sell themselves!
Hope this was of some help.

tim3560 · February 28th, 2008

Cold calling is definetely an aquired taste and a skill. If you don't enjoy it, you're not going to be good at it. If you enjoy it, you still may not be good at it. While I actually loathe cold calling, it is responsible for most of my sales. You will definitely learn as you go and you'll pick up skills unique to you that make it more fun and easier every time.

Need to Register?

Resources

T-Shirt Sites

Dilema: in a new sales job but having trouble: any alternatives to cold calling?