When it comes to Ashley Tatum’s uniquely creative approach to sales (her forte), Area Sales Manager Robert O’Gorman can quickly name three of his favorite examples.

And we’ll certainly come back to those. But let’s start with the facts.

Let’s face it, sales can be a pretty black-and-white business. What signatures have you obtained? What numbers can you show? What activity have you completed? It’s all in the spreadsheet or the report. Somehow, though, Ashley goes beyond this. She skirts “template” sales approaches and prospecting norms, paints between the lines, discovers creative ways to stand out among other suitors, and leaves a lasting impact on clients. When it comes to sales, Ashley takes creative license.

From handmade cards with eye-rolling yet endearing puns, and holiday-themed paper clips, to demonstrating an extraordinary interest in what’s going on in the world of her prospects, two things are clear when it comes to this DFW Business Prospect Consultant.

• In a sea of others banging on the same door, she is not easily forgotten.
• She is “All In” on landing their business.

“Even if it’s quirky or even a little weird, I just want to do something to be a little different,” Ashley said. “When we go into some of these offices, many are hit up with people every single day trying to "sell" them the next best thing. If I’m just another person with a business card, chances are they aren’t going to call me and I'm not going to be memorable,” Ashley said.

How memorable? Take this example. Late last year, she visited a church that was getting ready for its fall festival. They apologized for the mess and then Ashley completed the Discovery. Two nights later, she, her husband, and her kids attended the festival.

“The pastor was blown away,” Robert said. “That’s just another example of Ashley doing something that nobody else who was proposing that church a copier would ever do… She is probably the sales team’s best example of showing what you can do to separate yourself from the other 10 to 20 sales reps that knock on a door daily.”

Robert’s 3 Examples of Ashley Taking Creative License.

1. Saying Thank You.

"Ashley writes Thank You letters to every FTA prospect she had met with that week. I don’t believe she has ever missed a single one,” Robert said.

It’s just another way she tries to connect on a more “person-to-person” level.

“I’m not afraid to be silly or make jokes or even poke fun at myself, we’re all human,” Ashley said.

2. Tailoring her leave-behinds to a specific vertical.

“Not just the content of the leave behind, I swear she has paper clips in the shape of a cross for churches, ones that look like tools for construction, etc.,” Robert said. “An awesome example of a little investment you can make to differentiate yourself.”

3. Building rapport with prospects... through referrals. 

There was a print shop recently, where she developed a great relationship with the owner and she built rapport FAST.

“He said he needed to hire more people before looking into new equipment,” Robert said. “Ashley has referred several contacts and friends to interviews there. The owner has never seen a copier rep do anything close to above and beyond like that. Developing a partnership rather than a potential client.”

Creative? Absolutely. Competitive? Undoubtedly. That’s Ashley Tatum, Business Process Consultant, in a nutshell.

“Simply put, I like to win. If you don’t want to do that, then what are you even doing? I’m going to put my whole heart into it because people deserve that 100 percent. I go 'All In,' all the time,” Ashley said.