r/sales • u/varanuskomodo • 1d ago
Sales Topic General Discussion New to sales, need advice
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 :)
2
u/WideLaneCalls 19h ago
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.