We had a great collaborative team event yesterday with a new client. This company has about 40 employees, and at my recommendation they invited every one to participate in their first “whale hunting” day. Here’s what we do. First, we tell the Whale Hunters story and engage the whole company in comparing their company culture […]
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.
Recently all of you out in the blogosphere have been finding us via the search term “business development tactics.” Curiosity hasn’t killed this cat yet, so I did my own search to see how we stack up against the competition.
I’m happy to report, you have a lot of good options out there. Surprisingly relevant information.
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 […]
Last week I was talking with a VP of sales, who had just returned from a “big deal” sales pitch across the country. Expecting that his team was to present a multi-million dollar sales proposal to the senior executives of the prospect, he found instead a disjointed quasi-meeting. The meeting started 90 minutes late. The chief […]
Interestingly, if I received this call a year ago, I would have politely listened for a minute; politely replied that I am not in need of his services; and politely ended the call. But I am not the same solopreneur sitting at my desk writing proposals as I was a year ago. Now, I am a partner with The Whale Hunters. I saw his call as a missed opportunity for him. I am not his prospect and his call to me kept him from connecting with someone who really could be a client and possibly a “whale-sized” client.
You run a business. You don’t have time to keep up. Does it feel like, somedays, you’re being left behind?
I’ve always loved this quote by Jim Collins, “If you have more than 3 priorities then you don’t have any.”
For today’s small business owners, it’s more important than ever. How many hats do you wear? Too often the day-to-day of small business gets in the way of big strategic moves. I bet you could use a little more simplicity. The Whale Hunters Process™ is all about defined goals, roles, and outcomes. We teach companies how to create a clear plan for business development. Why is clarity so important?
Instead of randomly shooting messages out into the market and waiting for leads to come in, smart companies on a fast-growth path need a way to identify the specific prospective customers that ought to be their best candidates. What if you could make a list of the companies that are best for you to go after instead of simply following up on leads or cold calling?
Isn’t thought leader just old biz jargon? After all, the term’s been knocking around for years, like “headhunter” and “game changer” and “team player.”
But no, for a B2B company today, being known as a thought leader demands your attention. And fortunately, through social media, becoming a thought leader gets easier for small and midsize companies than ever before.
Social media platforms and spaces foster conversations among companies and their customers in unprecedented ways. In the B2B space, we’re just starting to figure out why do we want to have conversations, what’s their value, how to conduct them, and how to how to nurture them over time. How can your company talk to your […]
You might think social media activities are simply random, and you may wonder if you can really acquire B2B leads through social media sites. But here are five proven ways to use social media to create leads in a B2B market.