Men With Pens

Shooting From the Hip

No, they do not sell Penis-Mightiers. In my quest to improve writing skills I have looked at many, many sites - this one is a good one.

I really liked this post.

They are on my Role and can be found here.
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Edgeline - "Just an InkJet"

July, 2008

Just an Inkjet printer? Well, yes...it's like comparing the Kon Tiki with the Space Shuttle. 

I have heard this from a few prospective Edgeline clients recently. 

 - And I have to ask myself, how did this come to be? 

 - How did this statement of fact come to be an objection in the selling process? 

 - How can Edgeline Technology, ink-based, first be compared to and then relegated down to the level of a "DeskJet 500"? 

In the phrase, "My Competition and the Ignorance of my Prospect." The ignorance issue, I can deal with. Ignorance can be cured, but stupidity can not. And in this case, if Ignorance is the disease, I am the Cure. More importantly, what lies beneath this "objection" is the fact that competitors to Edgeline may be paying attention and developing strategies against it. 

I can not tell if this is an organic occurrence or if some "xerographic" people are distributing "talking notes" - to be honest, I can not imagine anyone (Xerox, Canon, Ricoh, K/M) worrying too much about their eroding market share relative to Edgeline. Edgeline just isn't there yet. Well, the Edgeline technology is but all the necessary "accouterments" around the technology (channel, brand recognition, business philosophy, etc.) from HP are not in place just yet. 

Edgeline has only been on the streets for about a year now - and there is a long row to hoe on the way to moving 3400 units a year. It will get there - and in five years, we may be all lauding how impossible it must have been to use machines that only produced color at 60 pages per minute. If you like this post, try these:

So Really. What is the Big Deal about "Ink Jet"??

A Return to Edgeline

Edgeline...and the BreadCrumbs...

A Return to Selling

"Copiers, are all the same."

You could call that statement "The Neutralizer". In one swoop, you have just made all the copiers your prospect will ever see or evaluate into a commodity.
Let's face it, most clients already think that all copiers are the same. So why not confirm their beliefs, putting all the "spec sheet minutia" aside and concentrating on real problems and business cases.

This strategic approach not only puts the prospect into a different mind-set, but re-positions the sales rep into a Selling Professional.

Imagine, if you sell copiers and every single one was the same. How would you differentiate yourself? Think about it...your first copy out time is identical, all the machines scan to folder, use electronic bread crumbs to clear misfeeds, have large, proven, successful, U.S. based, global manufactures behind them, and easily connect to the network.

Well, yes, salespeople in general "take the path of least resistance"(translation, we're lazy) so the easiest way to differentiate is to lower the price. It's also the simplest way to fall into the commodity model. But then again, sales people take the path of least resistance.

For the rest of the story, go here...

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