My interview was with the President of BOE and the interview started off fairly well but then got more uncomfortable as it went along. I had checked out their website and Facebook pages as part of prep for my interview.
A little small talk and then I asked him what does the typical day and week look like for the most successful Outside Sales Account Executives? He said I should know the answer since I have been in sales for a while. “Getting in the office before 8:00 am, prepping for some cold calls by phone, then be on the road by 10:00 am and pulling twenty doors a day.” “Every day?” I asked. “Yes, that's what our most successful salespeople do.” I hadn't heard the term 'door pulling' but I knew he meant cold calling twenty businesses a day.
I asked about leads from BOE’s website, Facebook, call in’s, inquiries from advertising, and referrals? He brushed my question aside. The funny thing was that one of the recent articles posted on their Facebook page authored by Xerox, which owns BOE, was ideas for prospecting. #1 idea, was that cold calling is not the best way to prospect in today’s business environment and most buyers don’t respond to it.
I thought BOE might have changed the way they have their outside salespeople do sales but I found out that they are doing the same approach as copy machine companies did in the 80’s/90’s.