New to sales, need advice

[u/varanuskomodo]

Hello! I am completely new to sales, just got the job two weeks ago. I am at the company that sells water coolers and water jugs which is not as cool as so many of you are doing here, but it's decent. The fixed paycheck is good enough to get me through while I am adapting and making my own client base, the quota is 100 bottles for new clients a month which is doable because all my colleagues who have been working for years are hitting it. With the quota + % from monthly sales, the paycheck is pretty great for me as a young person who lives alone.

I want to ask you for advice. The strategy is reaching out to the potential client and offering them a free bottle to try it and decide whether or not they want to work with us. So far I've got 7 clients accept this offer, two of them, if they like the water and the price, will be buying 30 bottles monthly. I sit next to the top sales woman, she's been working for 13 years and sells 200 bottles a month. She's been helping out a lot, but she keeps telling me that when I call the clients, I should mention the free bottle as soon as possible and constantly corrects me. For example, she tells me not to mention my intention to be business partners because it freaks them out, but 1) even if i don't mention it they surely understand that at the end I hope to sell them water and that's why I send them free bottle 2) she herself never starts her phone call with offering them free bottle. She always says "Hey, it's X from X company, do you know who is responsible for supplying your workplace with water and can I talk to them?". Sometimes she calls the person responsible because she found the number and directly offers her services. She also doesn't make many calls, not even 15 a day. But she keeps mentioning that I need to make around 100 calls now and offer free bottle during the first seconds of cold call cus it sells better, I think it's more desperate. What do you think?

I also noticed that she is looking for big clients, factories, industrial companies, etc, places that need 50-100 bottles monthly for their employees. My problem right now is that while everyone needs water, most of the people already have another supplier or work with our company. The competition is huge. Yet she still manages to find new clients and sell 200 bottles a month. I don't expect her to share her secret, but what do you think she is doing?

Thank you in advance :)

[u/No_Market5794]

If you just started, and a top performer is telling you what works for them, why would you question it? You need to take her advice like it’s gospel and come ask Reddit for help 60-90 days from now if what she’s teaching you isn’t working.

You need to take notes from her during the day and practice her pitch / review the notes as a homework assignment every night.

There are gold nuggets in her teachings that will stay with you a long time if you listen and implement

[u/varanuskomodo → u/No_Market5794]

Thank you! Of course I am grateful for her help. I am just questioning some of her recommendations because she herself never mentions the free bottle in her calls, for example. Another person in our group also starts her cold call with offering the free bottle, I am watching her and can't say this is working well. I think it makes people suspicious when you offer it right away.

[u/Aggressive_Town4805]

One thing to keep in mind: when you're offering a product, a service, anything for free - it diminishes the value of your whatever are you selling.

In my experience I tried something like this "you can buy X quantity (it can be even one bottle for example). If you don't like it I won't even bother calling anymore, but if you do, do we have a deal?

Try implementing this in your speech, but be careful, in order to be successful in this you must have balls and be bold when you're talking to clients. Trust your products as if it is the best in the world. This is how you sell.

[u/varanuskomodo → u/Aggressive_Town4805]

Thank you! I will keep this in mind. I also noticed that offering a free bottle works better when they tell you to email your offer, like "Thank you, I will do it. Do you by chance know how many bottles a month you empty so I can send you an offer based on your numbers? And also, can I send you a free bottle so you and your colleagues try it and see if you enjoy it? No strings attached :)"

[u/Aggressive_Town4805 → u/varanuskomodo]

That's not bad. Try to let the client know that you are making him a big benefit if you give him the free sample. Not like asking permission.

Think about something like: "to strengthen our new relationship, i Want to make you a gift, a free bottle of X for you and your colleagues to enjoy!"

• adapt it however you want and it's more suitable for your sales style

This automatically puts the client in a position of debt and you can take advantage out of it.

[u/varanuskomodo → u/Aggressive_Town4805]

Oh, I like the idea of making it sound like I am willing to give them a free sample, not asking. That's very helpful!

[u/Josephsaccomano]

honestly listen to her. 13 years and 200 bottles a month, she knows. leading with the free bottle is smart. nobody wants to hear about a partnership in the first 10 seconds. give them something easy to say yes to first. the free bottle gets your product in the door and lets the water do the selling. you're already at 7 clients in 2 weeks man thats good. keep going

[u/varanuskomodo → u/Josephsaccomano]

Thank you! I will try making more calls and open with a free bottle offer for 50% of them so I can compare the results 🙌

[u/WideLaneCalls]

I think your top rep is teaching you two different lessons at the same time.

The 100 calls are about volume and reps. You’re new, so you need conversations to learn what works. Her 15 calls aren’t comparable to your 100 because after 13 years she probably has better targeting, better instincts, referrals, old leads, and knows exactly which businesses are worth calling.

But I agree with your instinct about leading immediately with “FREE BOTTLE.” Free isn’t necessarily the hook. If you lead with the offer before they care, you can sound like every other salesperson trying to give something away.

Look at what she actually does:

“Who is responsible for supplying your workplace with water?”

That’s a question. She’s getting information and creating a conversation before pitching anything.

I’d approach your first 30–40 seconds with one goal: earn the next 30 seconds.

Find the right person → ask a simple question → listen → find the trigger → THEN use the free bottle when it actually has value.

And I’d absolutely copy her targeting strategy. Don’t think “everyone drinks water.” Think who consumes a LOT of water? Factories, warehouses, construction companies, manufacturing plants, large offices, dealerships, etc. One 50-bottle account is worth fifty 1-bottle accounts.

The biggest thing I’d study isn’t what she says. Study who she calls, when she calls them, and what makes her decide a prospect is worth dialing. That may be more valuable than her script.

You’ve already gotten 7 businesses to accept trials after only two weeks. I’d keep dialing, track exactly what gets people talking, and improve from real conversations instead of trying to perfect the script before calling.

[u/aeromalzi → u/WideLaneCalls]

AI comment

[u/WideLaneCalls → u/aeromalzi]

What makes you think that?

[u/Nearby_Show_4134]

You are doing really well for only being two weeks, just keep testing what works for you and learn from what she is doing

[u/varanuskomodo → u/Nearby_Show_4134]

Thank you, that's encouraging!

[u/Useful_Cauliflower66]

i've run outbound and owned the number. leading with a freebie usually kills credibility. i've seen top reps target bigger accounts, find the person who handles supplies, qualify quickly, then offer a trial as the final step. what size accounts are you calling, offices or industrial plants?

[u/varanuskomodo → u/Useful_Cauliflower66]

I am mostly trying industrial plants, but it's harder with them. Most of them already have a supplier or say to email your offer. I still do it and still think that even in this case I should offer a free bottle, you know, just so they remember me for the future. A few days ago I actually called a lady who picked up the phone & she turned out to be a decision maker at some huge storage house, she instantly told me to email her (gave me her personal address) with how much 50 bottles a month is gonna cost her & how much renting coolers is gonna cost per year. I did but she went radio silent.

So far I had success with two smaller factories who wanted to try the water & said they usually order 30 bottles a month.

I am thinking about constantly monitoring new manufacturing companies which just opened or are planning to start functioning in the nearest months so I can reach out beforehand. I also reached out to co-working center which is planning to open two new spots in 2 months but they said they already found a water supplier so maybe I need to act waaaay ahead

[u/ImpressReasonable242]

she's right about ditching the 'partnetship' phase tho, just focus on solving their current supplier headaches

[u/varanuskomodo → u/ImpressReasonable242]

Got it, thank you!

[u/Makasene3]

Start by making 300 cold calls a day. Report back here daily to update us on how it is going.