For a long time, I’ve been exhorting clients to be certain that the sales team is selling what the operations or implementation team plans to deliver. In the past couple of weeks, The Whale Hunters team has been on the receiving end of that potential mismatch, which compels me to write about it again. Here’s some context that may resonate with you as a seller (and possibly even as a buyer)!
Earlier this week, in the blog post by @jolewitz he talks about how critical people are to a business’ success. In the comments he and @RaynaNyc talked about how your team is one of the biggest unique selling propositions (USP). It’s so true, and it got me thinking.
The “grey matter” of your team is what matters.
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?
Today I was reading the blog post by Sam Richter on Jill Konrath’s blog about sales intelligence. It reminded me about all the time I devote to researching prospects. I’ve been asked before what I do to prepare for a call, so I thought it would be helpful to document some of the searching that can help you get your foot in the door. Afterall, sometimes getting that first contact is the hardest part! See some of my advice on prospect research below. The goal is to send off or call with the most high impact outreach possible.
Making a commitment to hunt whales is the beginning of a dramatic cultural shift. It’s more than just a new business development strategy. Embarking on this process successfully requires vision, planning, implementation and personal development from everyone involved, particularly the CEO.