Many sales people give up on their dreams because they worry about and try to avoid that feeling of rejection that comes when a prospect says “No”. It’s a natural concern. No one really wants to feel like a reject in life. However, it is a word that successful sales people must navigate past if they are to close deals, especially big ones.
When you hear “No”, it’s important to discern the story behind the “No”.
Sales in and of itself can often feel confusing. “What can I do to get my foot in the door at this company that I know (based on my research) is a perfect fit for my business offerings when I don’t have any connections there? Why won’t she return my calls to discuss the proposal she requested? Why didn’t they buy when they gave me all the right signals? How could they have possibly selected our biggest competitor when clearly we are the best fit to meet their stated objectives/needs?” I’m sure most of these sound familiar. So rather than sit at your desk ho-hum and ruminate on these questions, recognize these challenges during the sales process as opportunities to INNOVATE.
Here are five key points to consider in preparation to make your initial call on a prospective customer. No, they’re not about putting brochures in a folder or loading up the power point!
We had a great whale hunting session working with the Asia/Pacific sales team of an international company. This company specializes in “spend management.” They help their customers significantly reduce their purchasing costs for many goods and services.
In the course of the workshop, this team reached a very interesting and unexpected insight about their most promising business deals, which was this:
We are not closing the proposals that demonstrate the very best ROI for our prospects. In fact, on our very best proposals, where we believe we can have the biggest positive impact for our customers, we are only closing 20%.
How would we explain that apparent anomaly? Something’s going on that they don’t understand.
The trickiest part of whale hunting for small and midsize companies is to capture your sale: deliver your products and services as promised once you’ve made the sale. Big contracts with big customers are not business as usual for many companies. Smaller companies are often long on energy and enthusiasm but short on operational processes, policies, and rules. And big customers have higher expectations than many of your smaller customers have.
So, how do you bring a new whale on board smoothly?
Our guest post today comes from our Certified Partner in Southern Florida, Barbara Hauser. Thanks, Barbara! I’m in the middle of a deal right now that represents 15x the revenue of my average sale – so I can relate to the sense of overwhelm and anxiety that a situation like this usually produces. I’d like to […]
When you are engaged in a complex sales process in which you are meeting face-to-face with the potential buyers, you know how to interpret what The Whale Hunters calls “The Buyers’ Table”–the literal and figurative table around which your team interacts with people from the whale’s team who will influence the final decision of whether or not to buy from your company.
But when you are engaged in responding to an RFP or RFQ, are you still paying as much attention to the buyers?
Let‘s say you want to get a bigger client. Like a huge international group. And you want to sell something, that is so big, that you have do deal with the board of directors, to get it signed. How do you navigate and align all those people that are involved in the sale?
I can’t tell you how many owners and CEOs I talk to who are looking for a rock star with a rolodex to save their sales. But today’s complex B2B sales require thoughtful, analytic team players who can put ego aside and involve their company’s subject matter experts in the sales process.
As this economy brings changing market conditions, the process of scouting, or honing in on the preferred customer, becomes essential. It is the dedication to a focused, strategic business development process for targeting that ideal customer that may mean the difference between accelerated growth versus business as usual.
Whether you are a die hard whale hunter or follow some other sales methodology, success in sales really comes down to following a defined sales process. I am not going to get into the specifics about any one process, but I would like to talk about the value in pairing your process with the right technology. I look at technology as a tool and not an end in and of itself. Like any tool, when it is used correctly, it can help you do great things.
Today’s guest post is by Larry Smith, Partner in The Whale Hunters, and CEO of GreenLyne, Inc. Thanks for posting, Larry! As the owner of a new start-up company that creates software to make manufacturing plant floors paperless, I have used The Whale Hunters Process™ to identify potential clients who can benefit from our […]