Brian Woodman, Kelley Imaging Solutions
How does a dealership like Kelley Imaging Systems of Kent, WA—or any dealer for that matter—employ sales reps that have some specialization in certain vertical markets, but can talk the talk of a given market space without having a majority of its business in any one or two markets? Yes, it’s a bit of a leading question—subject-matter experts mean all the difference in the world for the successful dealers, and Kelley is certainly no exception to the rule.
Be it in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) or legal, Kelley has SMEs who boast decades of experience within a given discipline and can provide that counsel and augmentation to the rep space. “When you throw in those folks on the front end that are in support roles for the sales folks, we just arm them up,” noted Brian Woodman, vice president of sales for Kelley Imaging Systems.
Indeed, Kelley Imaging offers skillset knowledge development for reps twice a week. “We share success stories from the people who are having successes, but largely, we teach them the questions to ask and how to engage the proper resource so you can have a higher level, deeper and more meaningful conversation and provide some value to the client,” Woodman added. “It makes it very easy to differentiate us versus the other competitors out there who are reading specs off brochures.”
Manpower development has provided vast dividends for Kelley. Woodman noted that one new rep has been flourishing in his first month on the job, bringing in $500,000 of opportunity into his pipeline, despite lacking industry knowledge. But being the driven rep that he is, this individual listens and engages Kelley’s knowledge resources, and that has spelled early success.
Legal Matters
Brad Yocum,
Funcion4
It appears not all verticals are created equal, at least in the eyes of the manufacturers and software providers who proliferate the office technology space with solutions. Brad Yocum, marketing director for Function4 of Houston, believes the legal space might be most in need of attention.
“As time goes by, there appear to be fewer applications geared to the legal market that accurately keep track of case and matter information as it relates to their profession,” he said. “We’ve kind of standardized on a Nuance eCopy product that seems to be one of the last ones that will still focus on the legal market, but others are not making products that are very prevalent in that space.”
Evolving Vertical Approach
TGI Office Automation of Brooklyn, NY, has been growing its government business nicely by leveraging larger accounts as references, according to Vincent Colaianni, director of sales development. The dealer is seeing success penetrating smaller towns and villages in New York and New Jersey.
Vincent Colaianni,
TGI Office Automation
“We’ve implemented talk tracks and scripts that sales reps can reference so that when they’re going on a face-to-face meeting or making phone calls, they can speak to the specific concerns that people in a given vertical have expressed,” he said.
TGI Office Automation has partnered with a company that provides up to 15-minute recorded interviews of executives in different verticals. This content is filled with end-user pain points and other issues that keep the client awake at night, and the reps can use this insight to help foster those deeper, more meaningful conversations that can open the door to selling tailored solutions. It’s a tool that speaks to problem-solving.
