Do you have a replicable process for building new business with your current key clients?  Does everyone know who is responsible for maintaining relationships, for developing new relationships inside the client company, and for proposing new business ideas?  Are you in a relationship that is moving towards “trusted advisor” or is your company starting to look like a vendor to this customer?

I’m pleased to bring you an opportunity to learn about a valuable method for strengthening key account relationships: an Executive Sponsor Program.  In this strategic process, a non-sales executive from your team is responsible for relationship-building at the executive level with your key client.  When implemented properly, such a program has measurably powerful results.  On Wednesday, January 25 (8 am Pacific; 11 am Eastern) I’m hosting a teleconference with Karen Posey, Senior Consultant with Geehan Group and author of recent research about executive sponsor programs, and Gary Vastola, Vice President Marketing & Field Support for Xerox Managed Print Services Business Group, who is responsible for the Xerox Executive Sponsor Program, which Geehan Group helped to develop. Xerox has 100 clients who participate in the Program.

Most of you who read this blog own and/or work for companies much smaller than Xerox, so our conversation will focus on those aspects of an Executive Sponsor Program that a small to midsize company can implement successfully.  Click below for more information and to register for this free call.

Register for Explosive Growth with Key Clients

Today’s guest post comes from Bill Caskey, founder of Caskey Training in Indianapolis.  (thanks Bill!) I’ll remind you that Bill is my guest for this week’s Expert Series call–Wednesday, October 19, at 9 am Pacific time–12 noon Eastern.  You won’t want to miss this one about how to turn small inputs into big outputs–improve your sales with minimal effort.  As always, this is a free call.  Register here!

Since we’re going to be talking about SUPER LEVERAGE in our call this week, I thought I would tell you a quick story.

Recently, I was asked to go to Barbados and spent a few days with a time-share sales team. “Whoa!” I can hear you squirming.  “Why would you spend time with that group…time share? Come on. You can do better than that!”

Well, not so quick.

You must not have heard me. I said BARBADOS! It was lovely and they were great. The  interesting thing was the property owner committed to himself early-on that he was not going to SELL the way other time-shares sold. He hasn’t. And he has prospered. Greatly.

But even though he never hires other time-share sellers (he prefers to hire good communicators and good character), there still is a tendency to “back-slide” into the vulture strategy (that most time-share companies seem to teach).

What They Miss

Think about it. A potential prospect walks into a time-share sales office and what typically happens? The amateur seller pounces on them and takes them through that manipulative, secret, coercive sales process. Until finally the buyer escapes—vying never to be hooked into that again.

But They Didn’t Need To Do All Of That

It just doesn’t have to be like that. One piece of counsel I gave to my client last week was “Let them tell you why they’re there.”  Relax. Don’t pounce. Just sit back and have a human-to-human conversation about their goals, their dreams, their preferences and what brought them into the office. Use the momentum of ‘coming into the office’ to your advantage.

Let them buy.

Stop getting ‘up in their stuff trying’ to sell them. Yes, you will have to inform them of the advantages. Yes, you may have to take them through some process. And yes, you will be asking them to make a decision. But no, you do not have to manipulate and coerce.

So what’s the lesson? The asset is a customer walks into your office. How much more of an asset do you want? So don’t blow it by getting in the way. Leverage that asset by being a human being with them. Be present. Give them freedom. Don’t take it away.

In our call, we’ll talk about a host of other mistakes sales organizations make in their effort to pursue business…and some ideas on SUPER LEVERAGE ideas.

Bill Caskey

I’m looking forward to this month’s Expert Series call, when I’ll interview Bill Caskey, founder of Caskey Training, on the topic of getting more sales results with less effort.

Bill will be talking about his take on a medical concept known as “Minimal Effective Dose,” which means the best dosage for a prescription is the least amount of the drug that will get the desired result.  He’s used that as a metaphor for sales–figuring out the least amount of effort that is required to get your desired results.

Bill calls it “super leverage,” and that’s what we’ll be talking about.

I often interview people whom I’ve never met, and that is always fun and often surprising.  But in this case, I’ve known Bill Caskey for quite a few years, and I have great admiration for him, his work, and the Caskey team.  So I can add a personal endorsement for this teleconference!

Please join us October 19, 9 am Pacific, 10 am Mountain, 11 am Central, 12 noon Eastern for this free teleconference.  Register here.

We’re pleased to announce a new series of online courses dedicated to helping small companies implement The Whale Hunters practices and processes.

A lot of you have said you’d like to have some help from us, but you don’t want or need or can’t afford a full-fledged consulting engagement right now. Nevertheless, you are seeking direction and accountability, which you are not getting simply from our books and materials.

So, here we go!  We’ve got four six-week online courses underway, with the first one starting October 31st.  (Boo!):

Whale Hunting Online 101: Build Your Tools–Starts October 31
Whale Hunting Online 102: Build Your Processes–Starts January 9
Whale Hunting Online 201: The Trust Cycle–Starts March 12
Whale Hunting 201: New Business with Key Accounts–Starts May 7

These courses will take place within our premiere Pier9 learning environment, powered by the internationally recognized “Moodle” learning management platform.  The courses feature weekly webinars, audio, video and print course materials, assignments, and feedback from key presenters, plus the key component of a discussion forum led by your host (that’s me!) in which I’ll answer questions and review your work in progress.

Sooooooo, if you’re an aspiring whale hunter; if you’ve gotten started but the process stalled or you want some feedback; if you want to bring some new people up to speed; if you want to put a toe in the whale hunting water — why not register for the first of these courses?

There’s much more information online here that outlines each week’s topics, tools, and outcomes.  In this first course, you’ll build all the tools you need to refine your market message, create the metrics that will define your ideal customer, find those customers through online research, locate warm introductions, understand what the buyers are afraid of, and prepare outstanding presentations.

This is a great way to manage your 2012 sales planning!  Plus, this course is priced at only $550, with a $55 early bird discount if you register by October 17–that’s a bargain at $495.

I look forward to working with you online to become a successful whale hunting company!

Today’s post is a reminder that tomorrow–Tuesday, Sept. 27–I will interview Anthony Iannarino, author of The Sales Blog, about The Commodity Trap: How to Get Out and Stay Out.

If your products and services are not commodities, but your prospective customers are telling you that the lowest price is all that matters, Anthony thinks you are doing things wrong.  He’s the most articulate person I’ve ever heard on this topic of how to avoid becoming a commodity, full of wise, practical advice on specifically how to deal with the price issue.

For example, Anthony recently blogged about your dream client calling with the news that you are among their top three choices, and that they want you the most, but you’re priced higher than the other two.  They want you to discount your price.  Specifically, what should you do?  That’s the kind of situation we’ll be talking about tomorrow.

I hope you’ll join us!  Register here for call-in information.  There is no registration fee for this teleconference; long distance charges may apply.

We’ll be live at 9am Pacific (and Arizona); 10am Mountain; 11am Central; 12 noon Eastern.  The recording will be posted on The Whale Hunters Pier9 (Premium site) in our Expert Series archive and for a limited time will be available for Pier9 Basic members (basic membership is free–why not join today?)

Today’s guest post comes from Anthony Iannarino, President and Chief Sales Officer for SOLUTIONS Staffing, a best-in-class staffing firm, and the Director of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy. He’s also the author of The Sales Blog

Companies spend time, effort, and money working to different their offerings from their many competitors. The more special their offering, the more value it creates, the greater its chances of being chosen by their clients. This differentiation also improves the margins the company earns by selling its offering and producing results.

Enter the salesperson. The deal in front of them is hot. They are competing against other firms, and they have used their company’s differentiation strategy to pull themselves out of the pack. But when all the numbers are entered into the spreadsheets, their offering isn’t the lowest price. In fact, it’s the highest of the three finalists.

Because the buyer really wants to buy from our not-so-fictional salesperson here, he
calls and says that he will sign the contract and give them the business if they can lower their price.

And this is the point at which the decision is made to commoditize the business.

It sounds like the decision is the buyer’s. He doesn’t value the differences in results that are created by paying more to obtain them. But it isn’t the buyer’s decision  to commoditize the business; it’s the seller’s.

The Slippery Slope

The slippery slope for salespeople and sales managers is allowing the business to be
commoditized and, over time, they allow the margins to be destroyed. In most
cases, the company’s ability to differentiate itself is predicated on having the margins necessary to produce a better result. Without the margins, the company not only loses the ability to differentiate—it often loses the ability to produce results.

Only later, after the lower price has been accepted and the work begins does the
lower price start to become problematic. The results promised aren’t produced, and the client isn’t satisfied. Then, based on the evidence, he says: “See? I knew I shouldn’t have paid more. You are all the same.”

This is why we don’t commoditize.

Protecting Pricing

To protect pricing, margins, and your ability to differentiate yourself and your offering, you have to resist becoming a commodity. Instead of accepting the business at the lower price, you have to make the case for the client paying a higher price (in all likelihood, the price they need to pay to get the result they really want).

It sounds something like this: “I understand that our price is higher than our competitors. That’s by design. I didn’t do a good job explaining how your greater investment is going to allow us to provide a far greater result and, ultimately, result in a lower cost. Can we get together and let me try to do better job explaining this and showing you how our price allows us to produce the results you need at a lower cost?”

The salesperson has the power to make a difference for both her client and her company here. She has the ability to resist being commoditized, and she has the ability to translate the price into value, shifting the decision from price to cost. By preventing the commoditization, she can protect the firm’s differentiation strategy and their ability to produce the results they sell.

Please join us!  I will interview Anthony on this topic (The Commodity Trap: How to Get Out and Stay Out) for The Whale Hunters Expert Series Call on Tuesday, September 27.  It’s a free call but you need to register here.

I am hosting a guest blog theme for the rest of September–and maybe beyond–inviting guest contributors to post writings, podcasts, or videos about major sales mistakes and how they’ve learned to avoid them.  Personal stories, hard lessons learned,  sales training tales, and customer examples will all illustrate the theme.

Confirmed guest bloggers to date include Chris Conrey, Dave Cooke, Gini Dietrich, Margie Traylor, Lori Jones, Chad Root, Gary Hart, Anthony Iannarino, Jill Konrath.  You’ll get new insights from some of your favorite social media sales personalities and probably be introduced to some great talent that you don’t know yet!

I’ll start it off with one of my own occasional Fatal Failures–especially since I’m the one who should never fall victim to this one!

Suppose I’m finishing a proposal, working against deadline, or I’m putting together some information that a client or prospect has requested.  An example, a case, some kind of document.

The fatal failure to which I have been vulnerable is failing to have someone else proofread the document.  I’m a very experienced writer and a great editor of other people’s work.  But nothing is harder than finding your own typos or oversights.  I don’t mean obvious stuff that the MS Word spell and grammar checker would find–I know a lot more about grammar than Word does!  I mean stuff like forgetting to revise the header or footer (change date or topic), accidentally leaving the name of another company somewhere in the document, working on multiple versions of a document and creating the final PDF from an earlier version rather than the last–each more embarrassing than the one before.

There is only one way to permanently avoid this kind of failure:  do not send anything until someone that you trust has proofed it.  You may need a friend with whom you can reciprocate–someone who works all hours like you do.  Or–heaven forbid–leave yourself a little more time.  Have a team member dedicated to proofing all documents that leave your office no matter who created them.

It almost happened yesterday when I was enclosing an illustration within a proposal.  This was a professional piece created by a marketing firm with whom we do business, very beautifully designed and in a “final” finished PDF version suitable for sending digitally.  I’ve been using this piece for a year.  All of a sudden, as I was proofing the entire proposal, I noticed a typo that read “create you Target Filter.”  How many times have we sent that out?  How many times have we unwittingly embarrassed ourselves?  Clearly, we did not have a foolproof “proofing” system in place when this piece was written and designed.

If you absolutely positively have to send or print and deliver something without an external proofreader, at least print it out, move to a comfortable chair away from your computer, and read it slowly and carefully as if for the first time, with a pencil in your hand.  Proofing a printed document is much more likely to be successful than reading on your screen, in the same place where you were putting it together.

Believe me–this kind of error can be fatal.  It’s not always (many people are quite forgiving!) but even if it’s not I feel as if I have let down the customer and diminished The Whale Hunters brand.

I hope you will enjoy this series and visit us daily.  Better yet, subscribe to the blog feed–just click on this icon below and you’re in! Watch for the first guest post in this series early on Monday.

This month’s Expert Series guest is Anthony Iannarino, sales coach and writer of The Sales Blog.  I’ve been following Anthony on Twitter for quite awhile (@iannarino) and have always found his comments right on point.  I subscribed to the blog and was expecially intrigued by his many, many posts about “price” and “cost.”

A lot of The Whale Hunters client companies believe they are playing in a totally price-driven market.  They do not see any opportunities to compete other than on price.  When they lose a deal, they assume they lost it on price.

The problems with that zero-sum game are that there are always limits to how low the market can drive prices (before vendors abandon the market) and that every vendor is vulnerable to price-cutting by any competitor at any time.

So, when I read Anthony’s blog, I find really good insights and explanations as to how company management and sales people can take positive steps to avoid the Commodity Trap.  His insights are completely consistent with Whale Hunting philsophy–increase your confidence through research, preparation, and hard work–know your market, your customers, and your competitors–and constantly seek to add value.

I recommend you subscribe to The Sales Blog, and by all means reserve your space for the Expert Series call, Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 12 noon Eastern time (9 Pacific; 10 Mountain; 11 Central).

Marlene Chism

Today’s guest post comes to us from Marlene Chism,  a professional speaker, trainer and the author of Stop Workplace Drama, (Wiley 2011).  Marlene will be my guest for an Expert Series call this Wednesday, August 17, 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11am Central, and 12noon Eastern time.  To make your workplace more effective, please join us for this free call about how to stop the drama!  Register Here.

Strong workplace relationships among leaders and their employees are vital to a healthy organization. Gallup found that no single factor more clearly predicts the productivity of an employee than his relationship with his direct supervisor. The ability to build solid workplace relationships and effectively communicate in a positive manner is the core of good management. Here are seven bad-boss behaviors that managers, owners and bosses might have that negatively impact workplace relationships. I’ll also discuss ways that leaders can improve upon these behaviors to strengthen their relationships with employees.

1. Multi-tasking
2. Interrupting
3. Eye-Rolling
4. Yelling
5. Justifying mistakes
6. Judging
7. Ignoring

Multi-tasking.  When it comes to leading, one of the most challenging behavioral changes is to be present to the person in front of you. If you are shuffling papers or on your Blackberry when an employee is talking to you, you inadvertently give the message that he or she is not important. In addition, chances are you’ll drop a ball or miss something important because of being pre-occupied. Scientists now have proven that you can’t really multi-task anyway. What you are really doing is shifting attention back and forth which actually hurts your productivity. Focus on what is in front of you especially if what is in front of you is a person.

Interrupting Silence is difficult. In this fast paced world, especially if you happen to be a fast talker, waiting for someone to finish a sentence can feel quite painful. When you interrupt you are giving a message that you are impatient. If you don’t have the time, say so, and re-schedule with the person who can’t spit it out fast enough. Taking the time to listen to your employees with your complete attention makes them feel valued and appreciated and will go a long way toward strengthening workplace relationships.

Eye-Rolling This is a complete no-no when it comes to managing and leading others. Eye-rolling is a form of disrespect. The message you give is that you don’t respect the other person and you come off as superior or snobbish.

Yelling Managers who resort to raising their voices are showing their employees that they have low levels of self-control. It’s true some of us are more prone to being hotwired, but this is no excuse for not working on this problem. I often say that you don’t have an anger problem; you have a self-control problem, or a self-awareness problem. Hold a higher standard for yourself and lead by example by having high regard for your employees and co-workers.

Justifying Mistakes Leaders have to set the example. Any leader who blames an employee for mistakes or for bad behavior is playing the victim role on the Karpman drama triangle. Step up and take charge. If one of your employees is driving you crazy, you have some work to do, in the form of discipline or a difficult conversation. You have a higher rank so you have to play a higher game.

Judging Everyone has good reason for why they do what they do. Before you try “shame” tactics, get curious. Ask good questions and get into the mindset of the employee who made a mistake or did something wrong; then you can be the judge of the next appropriate step.

Ignoring You probably don’t mean to do it, but it’s a common habit of busy leaders: They ignore their employees. Nothing hinders workplace relationships more than when a leaders makes you feel ignored and unimportant. Yes, you are pre-occupied and have a million things on your plate. You are results-driven, but it only takes a moment to acknowledge people when you walk in the door and this new habit will keep the drama and storytelling at a minimum. These behaviors can ultimately derail even the best employee-leader workplace relationships. Fortunately, they are easy to fix and can build a more loyal and engaged workforce for any leader.

For more information visit www.marlenechism.com or the web at www.stopworkplacedrama.com

On day three of the #OverTen campaign, our topic was increasing sales.  Contributors talked about methods, about how to treat your existing customers, and about how to get noticed.

Do you want to increase your sales to over $10 million? Listen to ideas from Margie Traylor, CEO of Sitewire and The Whale Hunters (and also named by the SBA as 2010 business owner of the year for Arizona!)

Our friend Chris Conrey (author of the “Conrey is for Closers” blog and co-host of Don’t Sell Me Bro’ podcast) says:  How do you increase customers? Be good to the old ones.

My personal contribution to the campaign is about how to get noticed.

And to hear more all of the #OverTen contributors,  follow @GingerSell/overten on Twitter.

Have you checked out any of these video tips?  I’d love to hear what you think.

One of the toughest sales is a new product or service to an existing customer.  Or to sell the same product or service into a different department or division of a large customer.  That crosswalk is very difficult to navigate safely and is full of confusing signals.  Many of The Whale Hunters’ clients struggle to get more business–bigger business–from their existing large account customers.  They have a few whales, but they’re not doing whale-sized business with them.

We’ve developed a strategic methodology to help your large-account team (sales, service, account management, etc.) systematically figure out how to grow existing business.  It’s called “Searching for Ambergris.”  Ambergris is a substance produced in a whale’s gut that becomes fragrant when exposed to sunlight and air.  For centuries it was the most valuable substance on earth!

We’ve always presented this method as a private workshop within a single company.  But this week, I’ll be introducing it to a broader audience in the first of two webinars on doing bigger business with your current accounts.  You can find more information and registration details here.

The webinar is $49 if you register for this one only; however, if you choose to become a Premium member of our Pier9 online llibrary and community ($299 per year or $29.99 per month), each month’s webinar is free to you.  You can check out membership options at The Whale Hunters website.

Today’s post is brought to you by our friend, the very rad, Dave Cooke. Enjoy!

Nothing is more critical to the sustainable success of a business than its abilities to galvanize the organizational team around their accountabilities for growth.  While so many businesses place a high emphasis and dependence upon the functional responsibility of the sales teams for their growth, sustainable businesses recognize that increases in revenues are best accomplished through the retention of existing clients and the efficiency with which their team attracts and converts new clients.  Sustainable revenue growth is about focusing on developing and maintaining great relationships that add value to the firm and to the client.  That is not a sales function—it is an organizational accountability.

I have embraced the Whale Hunter culture and process because it speaks to my fundamental beliefs, values and experiences in leveraging the power and skills and commitment of an organization to build and maintain critical business relationships.  Here are the key values that make the team based selling (i.e., Whale Hunting) model of the whale hunters work best:

1. Everyone is a superstar: In Whale Hunting, the salesperson is not the superstar – they are simply a member of the team with a very clearly defined role.  The days of relying on the salesperson to find the client, educate the client, present the client the solution and receive all the credit for closing the deal are over.  Businesses are looking for organizations that are coordinated, cohesive teams capable of consistently fulfilling their commitments.  The salesperson is not the only connection or resource for landing the customer – the entire organization is involved and has clearly defined roles.  Hence, the entire organization recognizes and embraces their accountability for effective customer engagements.
2.  There are plenty of resources: I have sold in several different industries and a variety of products and services.  In each of the experiences, I was never seen as the product expert or industry guru.  I didn’t need to be.  Every company has a team of people who know their industry, their products and services, and their capabilities at a much higher level than me.  I simply strategized and communicated with them in a manner that I was able to rely on them to be the subject matter expert.  When my clients needed an expert, I had a teammate that I could rely on to establish and maintain the credibility and the experiences my clients were looking for.  In Whale Hunting, the salesperson is not the expert; the organization leverages the expertise that exists within the firm.
3. There is only one playbook: Effective sales outcomes are more dependent upon fulfillment that simply getting the order.  In Whale Hunting, the sales strategy is defined by, executed by, and fulfilled by a coordinated team.  As a result, there is a coordinated and collaborated effort around securing new client relationships.  This team approach puts everyone on the same page, working in a coordinated and focused manner to define and honor the commitments made to the customer.  As everyone recognizes and embraces their accountability for the success of this process, customers appreciate and value the coordinated effort of the team.
4. It is efficient: In Whale Hunting, organizations know which customers are the best customers.  They don’t make bad deals, they don’t chase lousy customers, and they avoid going after bad business.  Instead, they focus their efforts on business opportunities that measure up best with the unique skills, abilities, and differentiated components of the organization.  As a result, the business relationships that are delivered are ones that are in the best interests of both parties and is more capable to be sustained and valued.  Doing business with anyone who can write a check or place an order is not good business.  Good business is defined by building relationships that result in a mutually beneficial outcome.  Whale Hunters only hunt whales – they aren’t simply fishing.

I have been a team oriented selling professional for over 25 years.  My sales methodology is very strategic, I depend on expert resources to educate me while supporting my clients, I value great clients who value me, I turnover challenging clients who don’t recognize or appreciate value, and I have always engaged and required the support of my fulfillment team to help me define and acknowledge their commitments to the customer.  I became a Whale Hunter because it reflected my values and experiences as the most effective and efficient process for landing valuable clients.  I am honored to be part of this village.

Dave Cooke is CEO of Strategic Resource Group, LLC.  Dave leverages over 25 years sales and marketing experience to provide businesses with sustainable growth strategies and effective relationship building behaviors.  Dave has developed the Sustainable Revenue Formula (SuRF) which provides an organizational program for increasing and stabilizing revenues.  Dave is also part of a dynamic duo with Chris Conrey in producing the podcast series, Don’t Sell Me Bro.

Hello and good morning to our awesome community of whale hunters! Today I want to do something different. We’ve had such overwhelming feedback and responses to our June blog posts, I wanted to recap the favorites for you. We really do appreciate the growing number of comments and Twitter action. These five posts got people talking and sharing their experiences/perspectives with us! All good stuff! So, here they are! The Top 5 June (which is more or less over) blog posts (in case you missed them). Enjoy!

5. Sales Should Not Be a Dirty Word by Lindsay Bayuk

There’s a friction in the land of sales between “old school” sales and current sales thought leaders. I’ve had many conversations lately about common perceptions about sales; I figured I’d write about it. There’s this perception out there that sales is a dirty word, a dirty profession. Are you picturing a used car salesman? I thought so. Read on…

4. Whale Hunting Before I Knew What It Was by Chad Root

When I started in “sales”, I didn’t want the word sales in my title.  In 1993, I graduated from Architecture school and took a job as “Sales Engineer” for a custom returnable packaging company.  Yes – I was responsible for selling, but I never really saw myself as a salesperson.  I saw myself more as a “figure out a way to solve customer problems in a way that my company could make money” person.  This became especially true as I grew in responsibility to become a business manager and owner of my own businesses. Read on…

3. Five Proven Ways to Generate B2B Leads with Social Media by Barbara Weaver Smith

Generating high-quality leads that fit your Target Filter requires strategic efforts.  If you randomly “market” your company, you may create leads, but they typically won’t be the kind you want.  Today’s post is about Tactic #3 from my article Ten Tactics to Drive B2B Sales with Social Media:  Learn how to use social media to generate high quality leads. Read on…

2. People Buy from People They Like by Lindsay Bayuk

We believe that this old adage is for the most part true, but not quite so simple. Really, is anything ever that so simple? The more I thought about this saying, the more I realized that it fits quite nicely with what we teach to small businesses. Read more on what’s most important to establishing successful relationships.

1. Five Key Elements of an Initial Sales Call by Barbara Weaver Smith

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! Read on…

What was your favorite and why? We’d love to hear from you!

Today’s post is brought to you by our friend, the very rad, Dave Cooke. Enjoy!

There is nothing more enjoyable than being in comfortable surroundings.  In the show Cheers, I am quite certain it wasn’t the just beer that brought Norm to the bar—though it was a nice bonus.  Rather, it was the comfort and comradery that he felt at the bar.  Norm could be himself and not really give a care.  If you remember, the entire group in that bar was extremely open, frank, and much braver within the group than outside of it.

The same can be said of most of us.  When we’re surrounded by people we trust and who trust us, we’re more willing to take risks and experiment.  With any action we take or decision we make, there is always an element of risk.  However, that risk seems to be somewhat diminished some in the face of the support, advice and guidance of people with which we have mutual trust.  Nothing can replace the comfort and security of people we know, respect, and have confidence in each other’s experiences, abilities and perspectives.

The difference between being in a comfortable environment and an unknown environment is significant.  When dealing with the unknown, the first thing people look for is a safe haven—a warm smile, a pleasant “hello”, or a welcoming wave.  Until we learn who is in the room, what they are like, and how they are “wired,” we are quite likely to avoid any risk or take any chances at all.  Until we get comfortable, there is no chance we are going to really act, think, or behave in a natural manner.

Once we discover our comfort zone, the rules and the game changes.  We get more confident, more at ease, more open and we allow ourselves to explore ideas, thoughts, and conversations that we would not have even considered until we were comfortable.

There is a great sales lesson here.  People often talk about the fact that they will only do business with people they know, like, and trust.  Though I am not always sure that is the only criteria, for there are plenty of purchasing agents who make buying without ever bringing relationship value into play; there are a multitude of business decisions that are made when the people making the decisions have developed a high degree of trust and comfort in the people around them.  And, there are plenty of decisions that are never made because the comfort level in the people in the room is way too low.

Most people are naturally risk adverse.  No one wants to make a mistake or a bad decision.  Few people want to do something that turns out to be stupid or misguided.  Their confidence level goes up as the comfort level with those in the room increases.  When people you trust and respect are encouraging you to make a decision, take a chance, or try this out, your bravery is based on your comfort level with them.

Think about this in the sales arena.  While it is possible to convert a potential customer to a buying customer without having sufficiently established trust, credibility and rapport, it is likely that your sales process would be much more efficient if you discovered the power of being a trusted and respected advisor.  This is something that is earned by developing an influential relationship with them.  It is something that can be accomplished by building trust and being trustworthy.  When your prospects become comfortable with you as a valued advisor, their tolerance for risk goes down.  This occurs because they have discovered through your behaviors, conversations, and support a safe and reliable haven for information, ideas, and solutions.  They have been able, over time, to develop an understanding or how you think, what you value, and what your credibility level is.  And, through this process, the two of you have developed a comfortable, trusting relationship that mitigates the fear of failure and the willingness to explore the potential of opportunities without merely focusing on the risk.

Next time you are working on “getting a sale”, “making a deal” or “overcoming objections” to close the deal ask yourself – what have I done to create and develop a mutually beneficial, trusting relationship?  If you are working on “getting a sale”, “making a deal”, or “overcoming objections” you haven’t really earned their trust yet.  If you haven’t earned it, invest the time in doing it right and help make everybody comfortable with your trusted and valued perspectives. Then, when a prospective customer talks with you about making a business decision to work with your organization, your professionalism and trust will earn you the opportunity to do business with them.

Dave Cooke is CEO of Strategic Resource Group, LLC.  Dave leverages over 25 years sales and marketing experience to provide businesses with sustainable growth strategies and effective relationship building behaviors.  Dave has developed the Sustainable Revenue Formula (SuRF) which provides an organizational program for increasing and stabilizing revenues.  Dave is also part of a dynamic duo with Chris Conrey in producing the podcast series, Don’t Sell Me Bro.

You’re in for a treat with The Whale Hunters tomorrow (Wednesday May 18) when you join our free Expert Series call with guest expert Gary S. Hart, owner of the SalesDuJour blogsite and salesman/sales manager/sales coach par excellance!

Last month I interviewed Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling about how to get in the door to big company buyers.  We are following up that call with the next important step:  once you’re in that door, what do you need to do in order to stay there?

Gary Hart believes that “every day is National Sales Day,” and his philosophy of large account sales is a perfect fit with The Whale Hunters Process™.  We’ll talk about how to prepare for your first meeting and how to ensure that your first meeting leads to further meetings and productive next steps.  Gary’s wise, practical advice will help you and your team up the ante on your large account sales success.  He’ll talk about “unselling” and how to ask the right questions.  The primary focus is on how to create a positive experience for the buyer that moves you forward in a relationship with the prospect and his or her company.

Our teleconference is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18, at 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11am Central and 12 noon Eastern times.  There is no charge for the call, but you need to register!  More information and registration information here.

I hope you’ll join us!

It’s been just about seven months since The Whale Hunters launched our new website and Pier9, our resource library and online community focused on sales and business development for small to midsize companies.  Some days we feel like Sally Field accepting her Oscar:  “You like me!  You really like me!” And other days we feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day–nothing’s happening today, the same nothing that happened yesterday.

But in fits and starts, the membership is growing and a collection of people is tentatively and oh-so-slowly becoming a community. Momentum to join is growing–we have twice as many new members per week now than we did a couple of months ago.  So I thought I’d write today about what I’m learning through this virtual community adventure–and invite you to join us if you haven’t already.

• Who’s here?  Whether virtual or F2F, the connection is still people-to-people.  Everyone who comes, who signs up, or who posts a comment wants to know who else is here?  Is this a place I want to be?  So we have to continually encourage members to become more visible so that everyone can see who else is here.  “Visible” means complete your profile, post a comment, ask a question–participate actively in some way.
• Personal touch.  Whenever a new person joins our community, Lindsay sends a person email thanking them for joining and offering to help in any way.  We have built some phenomonal relationships through that “extra step” process.
• Membership Levels.  We are offering two levels of membership.  The Basic membership is free.  It includes a sampler of our library materials, the biweekly newsletter, and announcements of all free and for-fee events that we sponsor.  Most of our current members have opted for the Basic level.  Our Premium membership is fee-based, at $29.99 per month or $299 per year (saving $60).  Premium membership includes a lot more:  access to all of our library materials, podcasts, recorded Expert Series calls, recorded Webinar archives, special discussion forums including “Ask an Expert,” plus free access to each month’s new webinar (a $49 value).   So, based on the numbers, I’m learning that most people opt only for free information; however, others value what we have to offer enough to subscribe for a fee.  That’s good to know, and we will continue to try to add value to that Premium membership.
• Social Media Outreach.  We are a B2B company.  Nevertheless, our customers–small business owners, sales people, and their other employees–are online.  We reach them through LinkedIn, primarily, but we also interact with them on Facebook and Twitter.  Pier9 would not work at all without the connections we build through social media.  There is not enough money or time at any level to build an online community without robust social media connections.  Each day we make more friends and meet more people who are interested in us and interesting to us.
• The currency is “attention.”  You’ve heard this before.  In today’s market, sellers compete for buyers’ attention more than they compete for dollars or deals.  For that reason, we are especially grateful for every member who chooses to join the Pier9 online community.  They are giving us the gift of their attention; it is our job to make that worthwhile to them (and to you!).

So that’s what I’ve learned so far.  If you haven’t already joined Pier9, I invite you to do that today.  Sign up on our home page.

Today’s blog post is by one of our Phoenix Certified Partners, Anita Grantham. Anita is EVP of Business Development at Diversified Human Resources. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us today, Anita!

How many of you have worked for leaders that implement culture based on the last book they have read? If you are lucky, you may get to experience six different cultures during any fiscal year!

Fortunately, The Whale Hunters Process™, when implemented by a leader and his or her team can alleviate this experience for your workforce! How? In my experience, implementing The Whale Hunters Process™ has helped our team build, be clear and save time.

Team Build:  When we created our target filter, we enhanced our communication and had great debate on what characteristics our clients must have to make them a “right” fit for our services. Still today, when implementing the target filter, our group discusses the 5 W’s around the specifics on the client and how to score them in our filter.

Be Clear:  During the harvest stage of our client interaction, our team is clear on what services and products we need to deliver, based on what was promised during the sales process. This is often the toughest part of the sale, making sure the team is clear on what the expectations are of the client and of our internal service team.

Save Time:  By knowing what “whales” we are hunting, our sales team can save time not hunting targets who are not a match for our products or services. We have been able to stream line our sales process to maximize the talents of our sales professionals, helping them focus on the deals they can actually close, not the ones stuck in “hopa-hopa” land! What is “hopa-hopa”? As our Denver President, Patrick Wieland shares, “Hopa-hopa is an emotional connection to a potential sale.” As a professional you believe you can close it, without objectively looking at the facts around what that client actually needs, so we end up hoping the deal will close when realistically it most likely will not.”

Have you had a deal stuck in Hopa Hopa land? What was the result? Create your culture around process, communicate clear expectations for your team and client, and save time by avoiding Hopa Hopa land in using the great tools outlined in Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company .

It’s a fact of life that the economy has its ups and downs.  And it appears that 2011 will mark an upswing in the economic recovery of the small business sector.  But it won’t be automatic; just because the economy as a whole is strengthening, you can’t assume that your ship will rise with that very turbulent tide.  Here’s why and what you can do about it.

We’ve talked to dozens of CEOs just in the past couple of months.  Every  one is concerned about how to reposition now that the economy is improving.  Several report, “We used to be a referral business, but our referrals dried up.  We don’t know how to locate new customers.”  Others say, “I exhorted my team to bring in whatever business they could find.  Now, how do we get over that and back to finding the business we want?”  Still others point out, “Our market has changed so much.  We don’t even know who are the industry leaders any more.”  Is that you?

Historically, small businesses profit from recessions.  If they survive, it’s because they have captured the opportunity for innovation, such as new ideas, new products, new services, new customers, or new markets.  So if your company has come this far, the odds are in your favor.

But how do you re-position to get your head out of recession behavior and lead your team into new levels of revenue and profitability?

Here are the top five ways–the top five steps to take immediately in order to profit from the recession:

1. Set the bar high.  Reconsider your goals and aim for bigger targets.
2. Reconstruct your market.  Find out what your competitors are doing and how they are positioning themselves in a changing environment.
3. Define and locate ideal customers.  Take some time to figure out who are your next best customers and learn all you can about them.
4. Captivate the buyers.  Educate and coach your sales team and subject matter experts to be the best relationship builders in your market.
5. Speed up your process.  Define your key steps, measure progress against a defined system, and learn where you can improve.  Seek the level of internal cooperation that will create efficiencies.

The Whale Hunters has tools and tactics to help you implement each of these steps.  And I am hosting a webinar on this topic Thursday, March 31, at 9 am Pacific, 10 am Mountain, 11 am Central, 12 noon Eastern time.  Learn more and register here. We’ll go into deeper detail on each of the five steps, and everyone who registers will receive the recording plus a copy of my newest white paper, The Top Five Ways to Profit from the Recession.

What are your post-recession strategies?  We’d love to have your comments!

Today’s Guest Blogger is Joseph Olewitz .  Joseph has been there & done that in the area of new business development.  In addition to being CEO and Principal Consultant at 22nd Story Strategies, Inc., Joseph currently shares experiences deriving from years of pitching large professional services deals on his Intentional Growth blog.   This week on Wednesday, March 16, I will interview Joseph for our Expert Series call on the topic “Selling Big Professional Services Deals to Really Big Clients.”   I hope you will join us for this free call; more information and registration here.  Thanks for blogging today Joseph! 

As I work with clients developing an overall growth strategy, I am frequently asked what it takes to win really big deals. It’s a serious matter that requires a lot of thought and planning, and this post only addresses strategic concerns after you have decided to go for it.

1. 1.  Assess your position in the process. When driven by a large budget, every competitive search for a new professional services partner has certain required steps usually including: RFI, capabilities presentation, written proposal, “pitch” presentation, and some form of finalist process including Q&A for clarity.  If you are a passive participant in a big pitch, and you do the best you can to “respond” you will be ceding control of the process to the client and might win but only if you happen to hit the bulls-eye. Proactive winning requires placing yourself on the driver’s seat, as close to the wheel as possible, so you can not only see the path from the driver’s POV but also to influence her steering.
   
2. Frequently assess and nurture your relationships. Presumably you have identified client-side individuals who communicate openly, understand you and your offering and are involved in the final decision. In my experience it is rare to win big deals without those relationships. Over time, your allies can change pro to con and back – you ignore them day-to-day at your peril.
3. Know, respect and anticipate the competition. Assume that anything you think of may have already been included in their response.  Study their promo material for hints. Make your proposed solution stand out on merit as to quality and business impact. Never pitch against the competition or underestimate them!
4. Demonstrate your abilities with everything you do. Each action is a demonstration of your ability to deliver on a scale that you may not have addressed before. The client will react to any signs that you can’t handle the size.
5. Be Objective: This may be the toughest suggestion of all. The closer we get to the final submission/presentation the more emotionally involved we get in insuring our own survival. Don’t grasp at straws. Let the client’s needs determine what you pitch and who pitches it – don’t be led by what you’ve always done (regardless of your past success rate). Test everything with others outside the process – you may be too close to the trees to see the forest.
6. Consider the organizational impact: Realize that this effort can challenge your firm in ways it has never been challenged before. You may be asking people to do things they’ve never even thought of until now. I am convinced the best way to prepare the organization, while also creating positive change for the long run, is to involve everyone (see my recent blog post on creating a sales culture). Anyone in your organization could innocently turn out to be the weak link in this specific endeavor.
7. Be willing to be bold. Be passionate. Take a chance. Stand out. Most important: pitch only what you believe is right.
8. Anticipate questions & needs. If you’ve never dealt with big brands and big campaigns, figuratively get over on their side of the table and consider what you look like to the client. You must be prepared to answer this type question:
   • You’ve never had such a big account before, will you be able to handle it?  Will you drown in expectations and demands? Will you understand the need for detail and reporting?
   •  Will you be able to scale as the client’s needs grow? Can you rapidly add and/or assign new people as required for quantity or specific skill sets?
   • Will you be a support or a hindrance when bumping up against the internal politics?
   • Can you finance the relationship from carrying the receivables to backing up any fixed-price delivery promises
   • Will the client have to wait while you get up to speed on their business & industry segment? For example, are there legal requirements and/or complex technical subjects requiring an SME as frequently seen in Pharmaceuticals?
9. Most important, focus on serving the client: Do not tell them just what they want to hear. Be willing to lose over giving the type of advice that they will be paying you big money for. If they want an errand team, decline the opportunity at the earliest possible opportunity and walk away with your head high.

Reminder:  This week on Wednesday, March 16, I will interview Joseph for our Expert Series call on the topic “Selling Big Professional Services Deals to Really Big Clients.”  Please join us for this free call; more information and registration here.

What’s Behind Door #2? A Free Virtual Tour of Pier9 Premium, Thursday, March 3

Are you trying to implement Whale Hunting in your company?  Does your sales team need access to up-to-the minute ideas and strategies for complex business-to-business sales?  Does your small company want to grow bigger, faster?  Would you like 24/7/365 access to specific, pertinent resources to help everyone in your company discover, learn, and hone their specific role in new business development?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, join us for a behind-the-scenes look at Pier9 Premium.  It’s all about small to midsize companies growing—faster, based upon the proven methodology The Whale Hunters Process.™  Articles, podcasts, interviews, webinars, white papers plus discussion forums, expert advice, and peer to peer deal coaching–all at your fingertips.  Collections of materials and training on these and other topics are included: selling to large accounts, building a fast-growth, managing a sales team, engaging Subject Matter Experts in the sale, preparing RFP responses that win,  and many more.  This tour will show you how to access, use, and contribute to the Pier9 Community of whale hunters.  If you’re already a Premium member, the tour will help you get your money’s worth.  If you’re a Basic member, you’ll learn what’s so much better about Premium.  And if you haven’t joined Pier9 yet, this is your invitation!  

We’ll take your questions and comments throughout this interactive tour.  NO CHARGE, but you do need to register.  And P.S.  “Basic” membership is free.  You can check it out and join ahead of time at http://thewhalehunters.com

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/452537905

Title: What’s Behind Door #2? A Free Tour of Pier9 Premium
Date:Thursday, March 3, 2011
Time:  9 am Pacific; 10 am Mountain, 11 am Central, 12 noon Eastern
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Today I’m reprising a blog post from a couple years ago because it’s a great example of a sales team being flabbergasted by the response they are getting from very large prospects.

The team I wrote about is the Asia/Pacific team of a mid-size global company, with whom  I worked during the recession.  The company provides “spend management” services, including consulting, software solutions, and group buying opportunities.  Reducing expenses by reducing the cost of goods and services purchased ought to be a recession-proof proposition.  And indeed, my client could save THEIR clients huge amounts of money.  They did their homework, assessed the situation, and came back with proposals documenting the cost-savings that their customers could expect.

BUT . . . their proposals were deemed “too good to be true!”  As my client found, if your best proposals fail, maybe it’s because the “whales” are afraid of you.  Read more here.

Our February 24 webinar (tomorrow!) is all about how you scare big companies . . . and what to do about it.  50% discount for readers of the blog with Discount Code FEAR24.  Register here.

Big company buyers are afraid of small companies.

They know you offer many advantages–speed, agility, personal attention, and innovation, to name just a few.

But their fears get in the way.  They have four primary fears:

• Fear of change
• Fear of extra work
• Fear of internal conflict

and the biggest fear of all

• Fear of making a mistake

When you approach a bigger company for a whale-sized deal,  you often go in ready to tout your company’s solutions, services, products, superior advantages, reputation, etc.  Many salespeople are also very good at uncovering the buyer’s “pain” in a conversation.  But you may be thinking about pain in a far too narrow way.  [Read my article Where Does It Hurt?]  Buyers have pain related to specific problems and how to resolve them, and they have pain about specific opportunities and how to accelerate progress to achieve them.  Beyond their problems and opportunities, however, they have more generic pain about the difficulty of change, the need for more work, dealing with internal strife, and making a mistake for which others will hold them accountable.  If they make a more conventional choice–to do business with another big company with a known brand–they incur far less risk.

So your challenge as a smaller company is how to overcome that big-company preference.  And unless you directly address their generalized fears, they won’t be able to concentrate on your specific advantages.

We have a webinar coming up on February 24 devoted to understanding the specific ways that your company scares whales and most important, what can you do to overcome those fears in your sales process.  You might want to convene your team in the conference room and watch this webinar together.  For blog readers, we are offering a 50% discount; just enter discount code NOFEAR24.  Learn more and register here.

We’re now accepting registrations for The Whale Hunters next Expert Series Call,  coming up on Wednesday, February 16.  I will be interviewing Brooke Green,  “The Ultimate Sales Chick” , who is a  principal with Caskey sales training and leadership company in Indianapolis.  We’ll be talking about the Caskey team’s newest book Rewire the Sales Mind–”It’s not what comes out of your mouth, it’s what’s in your head.” 

Brooke is funny, genuine, and articulate.  She has a wealth of sales experience and will share some of her stories with you.  We hope you’ll join us!

For this call, we are moving to a webinar format instead of our previous telephone-only versions.  If you can’t be online, you can still dial in.  There is no charge for the all but you need to register.  February 16, 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11am Central and 12noon Eastern.  See you then!  Learn more and register here.

Last day to register!  Sign up now for The Whale Hunters Expert Series call featuring  Dan Waldschmidt, Founder of IntroMojo and Sales Expert
Wednesday, February 2, 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11am Central, 12noon Eastern.

Dan Waldschmidt is a sought-after sales strategist on creating edgy conversations in the marketplace, a former technology CEO, one of the founders of IntroMojo, and a popular inspirational speaker.  The Wall Street Journal called his blog one of the Top 7 sales blogs anywhere on the internet and hundreds of his articles on unconventional sales tactics have been published.  He has helped companies in Africa, the Middle East – literally all over the world – blow away the competition and become the high performers in their industry.  He’s extreme.  He’ll help you get extreme results.

PURPOSE: Turn passion into profits. Learn how hungry entrepreneurs and small business owners can act bolder, do better, and win bigger in the new year.

• How did Dan grow a legal technology firm 800% in 18 months, going from entry-level sales guy to CEO in that same time?
• How do you use edgy conversations to land whale-sized clients?
• What are 5 key questions you would ask a large prospect?
• How can an entire company cultivate an explosive selling mindset and maintain it through an entire whale hunt?
• Change doesn’t happen over night, what advice does Dan have for you to start explosively growing your company?
• Dan has a new micro-book free for you, too! You can check it out here!

There is no fee to participate in this call, but you must register here.