Whale Hunting Practice #4: Create Target Filter Categories

The Whale Hunters believe that companies should decide deliberately which large companies they want to do business with and are well-suited to serve.  Rather than sending a message to the entire market and waiting for leads, whale hunting helps you develop a list of companies that you can research, follow, and learn how to approach.  This work begins with developing a Target Filter, a set of criteria for your ideal customers.  Download a free copy of this Whale Hunting tool.

The first step in building your Target Filter is to determine the categories of your criteria–not the metrics (they come next) but the criteria themselves.  That is, categories like

  • Size of the company
  • Geographic Location
  • Annual Revenue
  • Number of Locations
  • Reputation
  • Financial Stability
  • Strategic Direction
  • Product Quality

Every whale hunting company will have a different set of categories that are important to you. And each may value differently certain metrics. For example, some sellers look for companies with a solid pattern of growth. Others look for a decline in growth because they sell ways to correct that path. Most want to work with brands that enjoy a positive reputation; however, others are skilled at changing a bad reputation to a good one.

Sit down with your leadership team and a whiteboard to define the categories that matter to you.  Argue about them!  Test them against your current or past customers.  Then get ready to set target metrics as the basis for your research.

Learn more about building a Target filter in Whale Hunting: Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company.  

And join The Whale Hunters Institute for courses about the Target Filter, how to create it, and how to use it to locate ideal clients or customers for your company.

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