From The Whale Hunters, we know it takes a strong team with a variety of skills to land a whale. You want women on your team. There are natural advantages Wonder Woman brings to the table that Superman and Underdog don’t have. And I’m not just talking about her magic Lasso of Truth.
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?
If you’ve been in a room with me for more than an hour or so, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ve heard me say the title to this blog post. If you’ve been in a sales meeting or a goal setting session with me it is certain that you’ve heard it. The words lead right to an important thought – in order to be truly successful you have to have some big goals. You’ve got to Think Big, Act Big, and Own It.
New York City: The Big Apple filled with big buildings, big businesses and big egos! The line “If you can make it here you can make it anywhere” is a mantra. If NY bravado does one thing it is to keep people from thinking small. Everyone has to be prepared to be on a razor sharp competitive edge all the time.
Playing a bigger game makes partnering for success a “must”, yet few amongst us has ever made that happen in a healthy and sustainable way. Let me list a few of the new and different things successful partners do. How to partner for growth……5 basic steps towards success.
Don’t think for a second that you’ll keep this whale-client because you landed the big, initial sale. Your team needs to be accessible, reliable, and flexible. Business is about people, relationships. An authentic email. Thoughtful phone call. Focusing on them. All of these things will go a long way to building trust and growing your revenue potential.
In today’s world “instant gratification” is a very strong mindset. It seems we may not have learned enough from the economic collapse of the past few years. “Instant gratification” is especially prevalent in the sales world these days, as well. It seems that the teachings of “getting to no” in conjunction with management pressures to close deals today have created a sales professional that is only interested in spending their time with prospects who are ready to buy now. Effective prospecting in sales has become what day trading is to the stock market – no one is investing for the long term.
Today’s prospecting behaviors involve finding someone who is ready to buy, submitting piles of proposals, or responding to RFQ’s (Request for Quote) that have little chance of being won.
Implementing needed, comprehensive change is hard. It’s really hard when it changes they way your company brings in revenue. As I’m finding with many small businesses, however, sometimes the implementation isn’t as difficult as just getting started. Sometimes just having an idea really heard is just as hard and doing the work. Even worse is when no one admits there’s a problem! In order for The Whale Hunters Process™ to really work, both leadership and employees need to be bought into the program. In order for everyone to be on the same page, it can take some convincing.
Nothing makes a stronger statement to your clients than “thank you.” Thank you is part of the customer experience. “Thank you” demonstrates appreciation, builds loyalty, and personalizes the relationship. After all, if you are not truly grateful for your client’s decision to enter into a business relationship with you, it is only a matter of time before your client will realize you expect their business and you don’t value it. “Thank you” is the easiest and most sincere way to initiate your gratitude for the opportunity to establish and continue a valued business relationship.
What’s your growth strategy? (If you’re reading this, I hope its whale hunting.) What are you employing to take your business to the next level? Whatever your strategy or tactics, I think it really all starts with a “think big” mentality/philosophy. You have to first embrace a philosophy of growth before you start work on anything else. Some resent conversations have left me convinced some businesses don’t want to grow. Or, rather, their fear of change is bigger than the desire for growth. Now is not the time to be afraid of the future.
We hate change. We really do. Unless, of course, we’re already in a bad place and we recognize that change is less painful than where we are now. Here’s the funny thing: we hate change yet always desire improvement. This was the topic of conversation for Dr. Weaver Smith and I the other day as […]