Business Growth Strategies

Whale Hunting in Tampa

Monday, February 22, 2010 by Barbara Weaver Smith

I am pleased to introduce the new Whale Hunters Certified Partners in Tampa, Florida, who are hosting two introductory events this week, on Wednesday, February 24. The Whale Hunters CEO Margie Traylor will be attending both events and talking with participants.

Rosemary Brehm and Brian Zaas are teaming up to launch Whale Hunters Chapters in the Tampa area. Their first chapter will begin in early April.

Here's how you can learn more.

They are hosting an Intro to Whale Hunting at 12:00 - 1:00 pm. This is a free event with light refreshments served. You can register for this event here: Open Registration--Free Event

Later in the same day you are invited to cocktails and hors d'oeuves at Capital Grille from 4:30-5:30 pm. This event requires a $30 registration fee for food and beverages. You can register here: Open Registration

Rosemary Brehm, president of turningpoints2results, is an entrepreneur and expert in helping organizations accelerate their potential into profitable results by focusing on five key shifts in their businesses: strategic business performance; leadership alignment; team dynamics; customer intimacy, and competitive positioning. In addition to her consulting services, Rosemary is certified as a Professional Facilitator (CPF) through the International Association of Facilitators.

Rosemary was founding Chair of the Tampa Bay Women President’s Organization and served that group from 2003-2009. She is a member of the International Association of Facilitators; the Senior HRD Forum; ASTD; and the Organizational Development SIG. She holds a Certificate in Training and Development from New York University and a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

With over 22 years of experience in leading business development and sales efforts for Technology, Software, and Outsourcing solutions, Brian Zaas has a background in business operations optimization, systems integration, custom application development and technology leadership. He has been responsible for driving global business development and professional service efforts for leading Fortune 500 corporations including Fujitsu, CA, and MCI-Worldcom as well as start-up growth for Pilgrim Software, Best Programs Telcordia, and most recently is leading efforts for Enterprise Solutions with Avineon.

He has led strategic and innovative solution areas for Fortune 500 and emerging growth customers in need of IT, technology, outsourcing and the infrastructure management. Brian has also consulted with market leaders across a number of industries on leadership, pipeline development, innovation, and sales in new product development and market penetration focusing on large, complex deals.

The Whale Hunters are proud to introduce these new Certified Whale Hunters Patners who will provide services to the Tampa business community.

Introducing Anita Grantham in Phoenix

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by Barbara Weaver Smith

Anita Grantham is a Certified Whale Hunters Partner in Phoenix, AZ. Anita is recruiting members now for her Whale Hunters Chapter which will convene early in March.

Anita is a native of Phoenix and has been Chief People Officer for Jokake Construction for the past eight years. She specializes in strategic planning, training and development, and business development. Recently she undertook a leadership role in business development for one of Jokake's major lines of business. Jokake is a whale hunting company!

Anita is passionate about helping business owners be successful and achieve their goals. She has worked with numerous entrepreneurs to help them grow both business and talents. She also works with college students who are preparing for their careers and their first job.

For more information about The Whale Hunters Chapters, please click here.

Whale Hunting Best Practice #30: Continue to Build Trust

Monday, January 25, 2010 by Barbara Weaver Smith

The longer you do business with a whale, the harder it will become to ensure that you have a mutually trustworthy relationship. People on your team and the whale's team will come and go, job responsibilities will change, new sales will require everyone's time and new customers will be in the intake process. It is very easy for both teams to become complacent about the other and discontinue some of the early practices that were designed to build trust.

Yet small business absolutely runs on trust. It is the key differentiator between your company and your large competitors. But that will only be apparent to the whales if you actively work on the trust relationship all of the time.

Here are some suggestions:

(1) Get with your team on a regular basis to audit the trust relationships. Assess whether you are gaining or losing trust over time.

(2) Look for the weakest links in your chain. Whatever department or service creates the most hassle for the whale is the one that will determine the whale's overall sense of your trustworthiness.

(3) Discuss whether there are any inadvertent "trust busters" in your company--throw-away lines to the whale that pit one area of your company against another. These are communications like "Well, customer service is always trying to cover themselves" or "I hear that training is really backed up" or "If they don't take care of you, just call me." Often these are well-meaning phrases but they lead to a reduction in trust.

(4) Remind your team that "the village survives because we hunt." Whale-sized customers are difficult. They have high expectations. They do thinks differently than you may be accustomed to and they challenge your team's good will and your resources. Nevertheless, it's better if everyone develops an attitude that the whale is what feeds the village.

In The Whale Hunters model, business development does not end with the sale. You will not be successful at growing your company unless your service delivery matches--and especially exceeds--the promised you made during the sales cycle.

How is your company doing on trust with your key accounts?

Whale Hunting Practice #28: Develop Outstanding Internal Control

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Barbara Weaver Smith

By their nature, whale-sized accounts are complex. Invariably, delivering your products and services requires the coordination of many people in your company with many more people in the whale company. You have an opportunity to greatly improve your internal processes and controls each time you serve a new whale.

The most important thing for members of your team to remember is that their counterparts on the whale side are accustomed to a very high level of formal communication, which is the norm in a large, most likely bureaucratic, organization. In contrast, communication at your company is likely to be much more informal and delivered in meetings or emails rather than formal memos or documents.

Even if you do a good job of managing the account, failing to manage the formal communication of your control processes can do you in. Here’s how to plan:

· Determine the key people on the whale team who need to be informed of progress on the account

· Establish a regular reporting schedule, weekly or bi-weekly, with an internal “owner” on your team.

· Ensure that each team leader on your side reports key progress, issues, or hold-ups to the internal owner on a clear deadline.

· Develop a simple template for the “controls” report or project update.

· Distribute to your team and to the whale team on a predictable, regular basis.

This discipline will accomplish two very important things. First, it will keep your team on track with the deliverables and on the same page regarding the entire deal. Second, it will communicate to everyone on the whale team that you are a professionally managed company that understands and accommodates their need for information.

When problems are called out in a regular, routine report, they become routine—not cause for alarm but simply for action. It's one more example of how the sale will not result in business development unless you deliver at the highest level. Your business growth requires a balance between the sales cycle and the delivery.

Whale Hunting Practice #27: Bring the Whale OnBoard Smoothly

Sunday, January 3, 2010 by Barbara Weaver Smith

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?

· Collaborate. You need a seamless handoff from the sales and contract negotiation team to the delivery team(s). The more complex the sale, the more people need to be involved in the on-boarding process. Depending on your size, it’s an individual, a team leader, or an area head that needs to be represented on the intake team.

· Document. If you don’t have a detailed intake process, create one as you are serving this new whale. Assign someone to assist the project manager by capturing all the details of what your teams are doing, what the whale team is asking for, and how things are moving forward. Document any pitfalls or unforeseen problems.

· Communicate. Share progress on at least a weekly basis; daily if necessary in the earliest stages. Communicate internally with your team and externally with the whale’s team. Implement a formal process of communication and document all of your interactions.

· Escalate. If anyone or any team runs into problems, these need to be brought to the attention of higher management immediately. Leaders need to cultivate a culture in which people are encouraged to report problems rather than fearful of being criticized or worse. If a serious problem occurs, such as a serious lapse in your ability to deliver at the next step, your CEO should address it promptly and honestly with the whale while the team sets about to rectify.

· Debrief. Regularly discuss your progress with an eye to improving for the next time. Note problems and successes. Pay attention to deficiencies on the whale team as well as problems and opportunities on your own side. If the whale team is hard to pin down, for example, that may indicate a typical problem that you will encounter for which you need to devise more effective tactics. Include everyone who touches the whale in the debrief sessions.

When you master your intake process for new large accounts, your whales will be happy and give you repeat business, your team will gain confidence and poise, and your company will grow.

Whale Hunting Practice #24: Win the Pricing War

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

In many industries, price has become the only apparent differentiating factor in contract awards. Pricing wars put small and mid size business at a disadvantage because larger competitors can low-ball a bid in order to freeze you out.

How will you know if you are in a pricing war? And if you are, how can you respond?

In an RFP circumstance, you should intend to be the lowest cost suitable provider or to decline to bid. Unless,

you can beat the field on unique past experience (and don't kid yourself!)
you can beat the field on a unique plan of work (which will save money)
you know what the current provider is being paid (and you can beat it)
you are the incumbent (and you can leverage the relationship)

Regardless of the overall bid price, there is an implicit cost of change that the whale will consider. That's why price wars favor the incumbent.

So how will you prepare your pricing strategy? Here are some ideas:

Explore your bidding history. What are the proposals in which you have lost out on price? Do you have detailed feedback on pricing and other elements of your proposal? If so, use them going forward.
Find and use data. Be certain that you understand standard pricing for sales in your industry, especially pricing among your large competitors.
Hire a consultant. Use a pricing expert to help you consider options and to understand the competition.
Take more training. For government contracts especially, many training programs are available for your team to learn more about costs and pricing for government business at the local, state, and federal levels.
Match your deliverables to the requirements. When you must compete on price, don't add any frills or "nice to haves." Stick with the minimum requirements and price aggressively.

Your sale is not complete until the buyer says "yes." So whether it's an RFP or a face-to-face consultative sale, your business development strategy requires a comprehensive pricing review to accelerate your business growth.

We would love to hear your personal strategies for winning the pricing wars--or examples of coming in second and lessons learned from that experience!

Whale Hunting Practice #22: Plan a Road Show

Friday, December 11, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

When your team heads out to a customer's location for a presentation, how well prepared are you? Sometimes you will be coming in at different times from different locations. You will probably have print materials and perhaps visual materials. Will you bring your own projector or will one be provided? Who will be at the meeting? Are you sure? Do you have an agenda--and did you prepare it or did they? Dress code, time zone, directions to the correct building and the proper room?

I once drove from Indianapolis to Columbus, Ohio, for a meeting at Battelle. I had been given a street address, but when I arrived (in a downpour) I discovered that the address refers to an entire campus of buildings. I had no specific directions, no phone number, nothing to point me in the right direction. From then on, I was determined to have a detailed Road Show plan!

It's process, not magic. Work with your team to create a check list of every conceivable detail that needs to be covered. Assign responsibilities and due dates--for example, agenda completed by the team leader and verified with the prospective customer by seven days prior to the meeting. Business cards, Name Tags, Table Tents gathered and prepared. Laptop and projector packed. Spare batteries and universal connectors included. Assign the team member who is responsible for the technology. Will you need note pads, sticky notes, white board markers? We've all been in customer conference rooms that are bereft of important tools because they are constantly in use.

Schedule the date when your presentation must be drafted. Schedule rehearsal time and invite those who will critique. Allow for review and editing time plus production time. Who will bring the written documents, or will someone be shipping them ahead of time? To whom?

On a personal level, I suggest that your plan has a place for each member of your team to check off dry cleaning, shoe shine, hair cut or manicure in advance of a critical presentation

Be certain that everyone on your team has detailed directions, including names and phone numbers of people you can call if you have problems.

And when you arrive, assign someone to check off the last few details--cell phones off, smiles on, handshakes firm.

You will exude the confidence that comes from knowing you have everything under control, and you will make a powerfully positive impression on your whale.

Do you have any favorite road show strategies?

Whale Hunting Practice #21: Energize Your Presentations

Monday, December 7, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

At one or more points in your sales process, you will make a live presentation. Buyers participate in these pitches all the time--how will you set yourself apart?

1. Own the room. Your most important tactic is to control the space in which you are meeting. If the presentation is at your headquarters, you can assign seats, issue name tags, and provide table tents. But if--more likely--your team is presenting at the prospective customer's site, how can you own the room?

First, be absolutely certain that you know who will be in attendance. Check and double check with your key contact(s) and their staff.
Match up your presenters with their attendees. Be certain that everyone on your team knows who they are responsible for on the whale buyers' team.
Show up early. Bring table tents. Place them where you want them. Intersperse their team with your team.
If you are providing handouts or presenting any kind of digital presentation, own your technology and arrive in plenty of time to be certain it will work in their space.

2. Surprise them. Everyone else who has presented to this buyers' table has led them through a boring power point deck of some kind. You need to be different!

Only use slides if you have powerful visual images to present.
Use no text on your slides--visual images only.
Insert short audio or video into your slides.
Ensure that no one on your team is watching the slides while they are being presented.

3. Rehearse. Bring your "boat" [hunt team] together to practice the sales presentation. Ensure that everyone knows this is a professional business proposal taking place in an intense business development context for your company.

Be sure that each person has his or her power tools, power points, and power questions.
Rehearse with an internal and/or external team of supporters who will role play the potential client.
Be very clear who on your team will field questions from the prospect and direct them to the appropriate person on your team. This person should not be the lead presenter.

4. Train. If you and/or your most important subject matter experts are not skilled presenters, invest in some presentation skills training. Your media/PR firm can help, or your local Toastmasters, or a training firm such as Dale Carnegie--the options are almost innumerable.
Prepare everyone to speak comfortably in a sales/new business setting.

Provide everyone with the confidence needed to present assertively.
Communicate how important their performance is to your company's growth.
Praise and reward great participation.

You will find that great presentations not only increase your close rate but also energize your team to bring the new customer on board. They will form priceless relationships with the end users on the customer side, and they will look forward to doing the new business.

Whale Hunting Practice #20: Train Your Subject Matter Experts

Saturday, December 5, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

In a complex sale to a big customer, the buyers will want to meet your delivery team. They will not be content to deal only with a salesperson or business development leader. In fact, learning how to engage key non-sales staff in the sale gives you a huge advantage over other competitors, both large and small.

But this practice cannot happen successfully unless you devote some time to preparing. The harpooner (salesperson) needs to learn how to orchestrate a team presentation. No longer doing most of the talking, the sales lead introduces team members and manages all facets of the presentation, on the fly.

Likewise, key subject matter experts [SMEs] need to learn how to participate in a client-facing presentation. They will need the confidence that comes from knowing what is expected of them, having rehearsed, and understanding the whole plan.

We recommending preparing SMEs with three sets of material:

1. Power Points. Not a slide deck but a few key statements. Each SME should know the most important points about your company, your product/service, and their role in the delivery. And the harpooner should be prepared to ensure they have the opportunity to make their key points.

2. Power Tools. These are the fear-busters, those tangible pieces of evidence that calm the buyers and make you look capable of doing business with a whale. Power Tools are documents, white papers, testimonials, charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures, processes--brief but very professional representations of your company's capabilities in areas that are likely to make the buyers afraid.

3. Power Questions. The buyers want to know what YOU need to know in order to serve them well, and they will expect your presentation team to ask intelligent and probing questions. Be certain that each SME is prepared to ask one or more critical questions of the buying team, questions that will promote a lively discussion.

Teach your SMEs to incorporate power points, tools, and questions into the presentation. Rehearse so that they understand when to speak and when to listen. Invite other employees to role play the buyers and offer constructive feedback.

You will find that SMEs write better proposals and bring a new client on board faster and with fewer glitches and that your entire company becomes more excited about sales and business development. They will have a new respect for the sales process, a better understanding of the customers, and a bigger stake in your growth.

How do you engage SMEs in your sales process? We'd love your comments, tips and suggestions.

Whale Hunting Practice #18: Ask Better Questions

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

If you are going to build your Whale Hunting sales process on the basis of answers that you need from the whale buyers at every step, then your sales team [harpooners and subject matter experts] will need to become very proficient question designers. Asking great questions is an art; those who practice it successfully have a major advantage over their competitors. I see it as a major business development strategy.

Really good questions have several characteristics:

they are open-ended, inviting a discussion, not a short answer
they are objective, requesting specific data and examples rather than speculation
they are historical, seeking to learn about past behavior as a prediction of future behavior
they are non-combative, inviting a thoughtful response rather than a defense
they are narrative, asking the listener to tell a story
they are process-oriented, focused on learning a sequence of steps in the decision-making

I recommend that you devote time with your team to practice framing questions and improving them. Start with the standard questions that you ask in your sales process. Then use the tactics above to revise them to get better answers. Here are some examples:

Original: "Who is the decision-maker in this process?"
Revised: "Can you tell me all of the people or departments who will be affected by your purchase decision?

Original: How will you make your purchase decision?
Revised: Will you help me sketch out the steps your typical buying process?

Original: Why do you want to change suppliers?
Revised: The last time you changed suppliers, what were the reasons that motivated your team to make a change?

You get the idea--frame your question in a way to get more detail, a more thoughtful response, a sense of their decision-making process and history, a story or context of what is motivating their sales discussion with your company.

We would love to have examples of your favorite questions! Your comments welcome.

Whale Hunting Practice #17: Cultivate the Polar Bear

Monday, November 16, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

In The Whale Hunters parlance, the Polar Bear is the one buyer with the authority to say "Yes" to a deal. All of the caribou (technical buyers) can influence the ultimate decision, but they are relegated to saying NO or urging the Polar Bear to say Yes.

Sometimes the Polar Bear does not appear at the Buyers' Table. One client related an instance in which they were working with a large prospect to implement a blogging strategy. The deal had gone on for months, and the Marketing VP finally signed off. But when the proposed contract went to Legal, the Polar Bear [head of legal!] said "No way are we starting a blog! Too much liability!"

The CEO or CFO may be the Polar Bear. If you are working with someone at the VP level, that person will most likely present himself or herself as the Polar Bear. But very often there is a more formal, invisible vetting process that will take place once your VP makes a decision. That's what you've got to find out ahead of time.

So in a complex sales process with a whale, here are some questions you need to ask--always behaving as if your champion is the final decision-maker, but understanding that usually it is more complicated than that:

who will be impacted by your decision?
will you introduce us to them, bring them to the table?
who are the people upline to whom you will present your decision/recommendations?
how can we help you present our solution internally? What materials, formats, or meetings do you need?
what are some reasons that this project may stall even if you are prepared to move forward?
how can we help you mitigate those potential pitfalls?

If you are lucky enough to meet the polar bear in person, be sure to put your Founder/Owner/CEO at the table. An important reason that big companies sometimes choose to hire small companies is that they know they will have control and attention. Reinforce that selling point at every opportunity.

Small companies and those small companies with designations as women-owned or minority-owned or disadvantaged businesses have huge opportunities to sell big deals to big companies that dwarf them. To gain that business, you need to become very savvy about locating the real decision-maker--the polar bear.

Are you hungry to grow your business fast? Do you have a sales process strategy designed to help you identify the polar bear every time? Do you have a polar bear story to share with our readers?

I would love to hear from you about how your small/midsize company is landing large accounts and what is your experience with the polar bear.

Whale Hunting Practice #16: Think Like the Buyers

Friday, November 13, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

The biggest lesson in whale hunting is this: it's not about YOU! When you and your team learn to think like the buyers are thinking, your success will improve exponentially and your business will grow rapidly.

YOU tend to think about your solutions, products, and services and how--in your mind--the big customers will gain amazing advantage by doing business with you. THEY tend to think about what can go wrong, how they could make a mistake, and what would be the worst consequences of choosing you.

So, you have to learn to think like a whale. And the whales are afraid of you! Imagine the many buyers who will be involved in a big-company decision. The procurement team, many of the end users, HR, Accounting/Finance, Legal, IT, Manufacturing, Shipping, Service and Support--a considerable list that varies according to your particular products and services. A big team, nonetheless. And the safest decision this team can make is to buy from another big company with a well-known reputation, a national or international brand, and a stable financial history--in other words, a company just like themselves.

YOU know that you can provide more flexibility, agility, innovation, speed, personal attention, and control--among other advantages--but they will never choose you as long as their fears linger.

To think like a whale? Figure out everything about you that could be scary in sales and delivery. Imagine what about small business or women or minority business or entrepreneurs or midsize or privately held companies that might scare them. Think about your location, reputation, brand visibility, growth history, capital access etc. -- and then figure out how to present your company and your team as a capable, professional, sophisticated player. THEN you can sell your advantages.

The sales development strategy for whale hunters is to first alleviate fears, then promote advantages, and finally close with both.

Whale Hunting Practice #14: Progressive Discovery

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

Most small and midsize company sales representatives lead with their story of benefits and advantages, even in conversations with a whale.

Contrarily, The Whale Hunters Process proposes that you build your entire sales strategy around two core concepts: what you need to discover and what you need to disclose at every step.

Today I am writing about discovery--the logical application of the "two card questions" in my last post.

Wat do you need to learn in your first meeting in order to decide it's worth your time to have a second meeting? What do you need to know from the whale before you launch a boat, commit resources, engage subject matter experts and your village leaders in a sales hunt? How much of your business development process depends on what you can learn at each step?

If you can't answer these questions or have only fuzzy answers, you have great opportunity for improvement. We know that a whale hunt is expensive and time consuming. So the sooner you can learn if you are unlikely to make a sale at this time, the better off you will be financially and in opportunity cost. Send that whale "back to Baja" and pursue another for which the timing is more appropriate.

Focusing on what you need to discover will put you in the driver's seat while also reassuring the whale that you are deeply committed to understanding their needs, their practices, and their problems.

Whale Hunting Practice #10: Research Your Whales

Sunday, November 1, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

A traditional marketing plan depends upon generating leads. Quite the opposite, whale hunting depends upon identifying the ideal customers with whom you want to do big deals. How can you turn the tables on the process? By research! It doesn't need to be as scary as it sounds.

I've posted about the target filter and how to use the target filter to get an initial list of potential whale customers. Once you have a list [Whale Chart], your scouts should go to work to learn all about them.

If this process intimidates you, just think about how it would intimidate your competitors who are not practicing the Whale Hunters Process. Like all things Whale Hunting, this feature is deliberate process, not magic.

Here's what you need:

Whale Chart
Scout
Librarian

Your Scout can be an internal marketing team person, admin person, sales support person.
or intern (including intern team). I recommend that you team up with your local college or university to create a student-generated project that accomplishes your research needs while offering the student team a real-world project. If that scenario doesn't work for you, it remains true that a university librarian or public librarian can guide your search.

Your goal is to determine key facts about the target companies so that you can double-check them against your target filter. Step One of that process is to use standard online research tools. Step Two is to use Internet search strategies, including the company's website, to flesh out the public information. Step Three is to use social media resources to research not only the company but its key executives in areas of interest to you.

BIG NOTE HERE: Do not pay for data at this point! Once you have found all of the free information that's available, you can evaluate whether there is proprietary industry information that might be worth purchasing. Sometimes there is. But NEVER start there.

Many small to midsize companies are afraid of research; therefore they shun it. If you build a serious research process into your sales process, you will be light years ahead of your competitors. When you approach a company knowing a great deal about them and knowing why they are a perfect fit for you, it will be apparent to them, and they will respect you for your research activities.

Do you have a whale hunting research story? We'd love to hear it!

Whale Hunting Practice #8: Study Your Whales

Monday, October 26, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

It's a huge differentiator and a huge advantage--a company that studies its sales targets as a routine business development practice will outperform most other companies, who don't.

As a whale hunter, your business growth depends on selling much bigger deals to much bigger customers--customers that you have identified and targeted, not customers who accidentally come through your door. The big key to that advantage is your learning about those whales and their company.

Your scouts need to prepare thorough dossiers focused on your target filter criteria. But it doesn't stop there! They need to provide you with names and titles of key executives, then Google those names to find bio information, career history, etc. For public companies, the scouts should find the SEC filings, especially the 10K Form Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) by which company leadership interprets the current status and future directions.

Scouts are also looking for "6 degrees of separation" -- links from your company to key executives at the target company. Social media--especially LinkedIn and Facebook -- are good sources as well as Google searches to find articles and mentions. Sometimes the best connection is through a professional or trade association or philanthropic service.

When the scouts do their job well, your harpooner will be fully prepared to make an initial call on the proper person at the prospective whale account.

Whale Hunters Practice #5: Manage Your Metrics

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

Whale Hunting involves your deliberate choice of big customers that you want to sell big deals to. It's about managing your sales targets in a very disciplined, systematic way. I've written about how to define the categories of traits that are important to you. The next step is to add measurable numbers, statements, or qualities that will help you separate the best whales from the rest. You should develop three columns of metrics for each category: A, B, and C. The "A" category is the ideal and the "C" category is the lowest metric that would be acceptable if other things about the company and the sale were right. The "B" category is in between those extremes.

Here are some examples of metrics:

Numbers:

company revenue: In the "A" category, revenue should exceed $100 million in annual sales; in the "C" category
deal size: In the "A" category, the potential deal size would exceed $500k; in the "C" category, deal size would be above $100k

Statements:

brand recognition: In the "A" category, the statement is high quality internationally known brand; in the "C" category, the statement is high quality brand not yet well known.
growth plan: In the "A" category, the statement is aggressive growth plan; in the "C" category, the statement is incremental growth plan.

Qualities:

fiscal soundness: In the "A" category the quality is exceptional; in the C category the quality is average.
geographic location: In the "A" category the quality is western U.S.; in the "C" category the quality is international.

Please note that all of the metrics, statements, and qualities will be different for each company and each target filter. These are YOUR criteria for finding the best sales prospects.

Once you have worked through the metrics with your sales and business development team, you need to test them with past and current customers to be sure they are realistic markers of what is ideal for you. The discussion--even argument--around metrics is healthy and will lead to new understandings.

The metrics may change over time. Make them part of your strategic planning process to ensure regular review and updating.

And above all, once you've determined metrics--manage to them! If a prospect or a prospective deal does not meet your criteria, walk away!

Whale Hunting Practice #3: Differentiate Your Rivers in the Ocean

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

Did you know there are four "rivers" in the ocean? These are equatorial currents, two flowing with the oean, only faster; and two flowing against the ocean. Sailors seek these currents to accelerate and ease their passage when crossing.

We like this analogy to explain your message to the whale market. Here's how it works:

First, find your river that flows "with the ocean."

What are the key attributes that all prospective clients would expect from a supplier in your industry? Those constitute "the ocean."
What are 2 or 3 of those attributes at which your company excels?

Next, find your river that flows "against the ocean."

What are your extraordinary differentiators?
What do you do well that your competitors can't or won't do?
How do you exceed expectations in remarkable ways?

We recommend that your team work together on this exercise, poring over your website and marketing materials and those of your key competitors. Often, you will be surprised at the capabilities you discover that you have not been promoting!

Join The Whale Hunters beta Community and download our Rivers in the Ocean article, located in the Strategy Collection of the Resource Library.

I would love to hear key distinctions that you have identified for your company that help you sell big deals to whales--post here please!

Whale Hunting Practice #2: Create a Culture for Fast Growth

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

When a company makes a deliberate move to accelerate its growth, the need is to move very fast on that path. When you go after bigger customers and bigger deals, you attract new competition that has not bothered with you before. You are at risk if you are not making rapid progress.

One way to manage that risk is to be certain that your entire organization is prepared to move fast--not just the sales team or the whale hunting boat, but all of the leadership, operations, and customer support as well. The goal is not just to sell to the whale but to service the account at a high level of excellence and according to the time frame that you promised.

A fast-growth culture has some key requirements:

everyone believes that they are responsible for business development
work habits reinforce speed of decision-making and action
- at every level people are empowered to make good decisions
- there are good tools for fast collaboration without busy work
- leaders set the example of fast-growth habits
reward and recognition foster efficient, effective collaborative behaviors
resources are allocated fairly to support new work required by new sales

Are you ready for a period of accelerated growth?

For more ideas on this topic, join The Whale Hunters online community and explore the Culture Collection of resources.

Whale Hunting Fundamentals Teleclass

Sunday, September 27, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

I am happy to introduce Loretta Love Huff, founder of Emerald Harvest Consulting, who is a founding member of the Certified Whale Hunters Trainers group. Loretta is a coach, trainer, and consultant focused on helping business leaders and teams achieve their best successes.

Loretta hosted a free teleclass introducing The Whale Hunters Process--you can listen to it here (registration required).

Loretta is also the first Whale Hunters Chapter Chair in Phoenix, AZ. Her chapter convenes on October 1, and membership places are still available.

A Whale Hunters Chapter is a new way to learn and implement the proven Whale Hunters Process for accelerated business development. Chapters are composed of 12-15 leaders from noncompeting companies--entrepreneurs, owners, executives, and sales professionals. A chapter meets ten times over the course of a year; each session includes learning and application of one phase of the nine-phase process, which the member can then implement in his/her company, receiving feedback from the peer group and support from the Chair. A unique feature is Deal Coaching--members can bring a deal question, issue, or problem to the group to receive advice, coaching, and specific assistance in a non-competitive environment.

The face-to-face meetings are supported by a new Whale Hunters Online Community, featuring access to a large collection of Whale Hunters resources and online discussions with an international community of whale hunters--business people committed to growing their business by doing bigger deals with bigger customers.

This online community is now in its beta version, and access is free (for a limited time)to anyone who is interested in business development. I invite you to join!

Whale Hunters Chapters are forming now in Phoenix and Indianapolis. Soon they will be starting up in Denver, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis. Let is know if you are interested in joining a Chapter in your area, or if you would like to explore becoming a Certified Whale Hunters Trainer who is eligible to convene chapters and earn revenue.

Transforming Sitewire Through Whale Hunting

Friday, August 28, 2009 by Barbara Weaver Smith

Today I encourage you to read Margie Traylor's story of how Whale Hunting transformed her company, Sitewire Marketspace Solutions, an interactive marketing agency located in Tempe, Arizona.

Sitewire was a ten-year old company that had hit a plateau in its growth. Sales were flat, there was a mismatch between the company's increasing capabilities and the needs of its client base, and extended efforts were not producing results. If you are experiencing any of these circumstances, you'll enjoy reading about the Sitewire transformation through The Whale Hunters methodology.