Learn Whale Hunting Online!

Whale Hunting Online 101: Build Your Tools

Have you read the book?  Have you tried to implement whale hunting practices in your company?  Do you need some help?  The Whale Hunters announces a new online training program for founders, CEOs, COOs, sales managers, and sales representatives who want their companies to become whale hunters–companies that grow by selling bigger deals to bigger customers.

Hi!  I’m Barbara Weaver Smith, Founder and President of The Whale Hunters.  Since 2004, my company has worked with hundreds of clients to grow their businesses by selling bigger deals to bigger customers.  We’ve supported you in several different ways:

• By providing “how to” materials to help you implement our process
• By including you in a Whale Hunters “chapter” with peer leaders
• By working with your team directly in a consulting engagement

But many of you are telling us that you want some other options for support.  You want more than books and articles.  You would like to have a disciplined structure to help you implement the process and some feedback on whether you are doing it correctly.  But you don’t need or can’t afford a full-fledged, onsite consulting engagement.  Or you’re just not ready to decide.

So here’s what we’re doing.

Beginning on Monday, October 31, 2011, I’m conducting the first of a series of six-week courses on Whale Hunting, so that you can Do It Yourself (with help).  This first course focuses on the Whale Hunting tools that you need to build for scouting and hunting large accounts.  (We’ll be following it with a six-week course on processes starting in January).

This six-week course is priced at only $550!  Register Here!

The agenda looks like this:

Whale Hunting Online 101: BUILD YOUR Tools

• We start with the Brand Promise Audit.  This is a deep dive into your message to your market and a serious look at how you differentiate from your key competitors.
• Next I’ll help you define and refine your Target Filter—the key characteristics and metrics that will help you find and recognize your perfect whales.
• Based on the Target Filter, I’ll teach you how to use those criteria in business databases to find the specific companies that you want to target, and you’ll learn how to Scout those companies and build Dossiers about them.
• Before you start a hunt, you’ll brainstorm a host of Fears—specific ways that you might make a target company afraid of you.  Next we’ll develop a list of Fear Busters—tangible sales and marketing materials that will alleviate those fears so that your target companies can appreciate your advantages.
• In week 5, you’ll be ready to “ride the whale.”  We’ll look at how to find warm introductions to get in the door, and we’ll identify members of the Buyers’ Table and how you can locate them.
• The final session of BUILD YOUR TOOLS is focused on your face-to-face time with the prospect.  You’ll create great questions to ask during your meetings and scope out the nature of your Big Show presentations, at their facility or yours.

What outcomes can you expect?  Go through this course with me and complete the weekly assignments, and by mid-December you will have:

• A differentiated message to your large account market
• A list of appropriate target companies for your 2012 sales hunt
• A set of dossiers about those companies
• An understanding of what they fear about doing business with you
• A set of tangible materials to alleviate their fears
• A detailed process for finding warm introductions to your new prospects
• Great questions to ask in the sales process
• Reliable strategies for preparing and delivering your presentations

Here’s how it works.  We’ll start out with a live teleconference call on Monday, October 31, to introduce the entire process and answer your questions.  You’ll be working in an online learning environment organized by six weekly topics.  Beginning on October 31, we’ll post a new course topic, a 60-minute how-to webinar, and supporting materials for your week’s work each week for 6 weeks.  Through the virtual course environment I will provide weekly assignments for you and your team, and I will review your progress and answer questions on interactive the discussion forum.  You will have online access to all of the course materials for six months.  Register Here

If you miss the first live presentation, no worries!  Everything will be recorded and posted for your review, and each topic also includes articles, podcasts, and recorded interviews with sales experts.

 This course is based on my book Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales Transform Your Company (Wiley; 2009), co-author. If you don’t have this book yet, click on the image and order it from amazon.com before you start the course.

Interested?  Here’s more detail about the six sessions:

 

Week One:  Refine Your Message to Market
Week of October 31

Before you can sell effectively to bigger customers, you need to carefully position your “promise”—the value proposition that you offer.  In this session you’ll learn:

• Why your Brand Promise is not just a marketing tool
• Why your cross-functional team should be involved in a Brand Audit
• How to assess the claims made by your competitors
• The three kinds of brand promises
• How to find your best ways to differentiate
• The four characteristics of a compelling brand promise for big customers
• How to create compelling materials to back up your brand promise

Business Development Outcomes:

• Superior understanding of your competitors’ claims
• Superior statement of your uniquely differentiating characteristics
• Ability to create compelling brand statements and illustrations

Week Two:  Create Your Target Filter
Week of November 7

In this session, you’ll build the criteria to determine your best prospects for the next six months to one year.  You’ll learn:

• How to decide how much of your sales should be “whale hunting” sales
• Why your cross-functional team should be involved in creating the Target Filter
• The four characteristics of an excellent Target Filter
• How to determine the most important categories for your filter
• How to add metrics to your Target Filter
• Why you may need more than one Target Filter
• The three ways to dramatically increase your close rate
• How to successfully implement your Target Filter(s)  into your sales process

Business Development Outcomes

• Clarity of characteristics of an ideal customer for you
• Metrics to search business databases for ideal customers
• Clear guidelines for your team on what to hunt and what to ignore
• A basis for higher closing rates and lower cost of sales

Week Three:  Scout Your Targeted Companies
Week of November 14

This session shows you how to get from your Target Filter to a list of specific companies that you would like to do business with.  Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How to create your Whale Chart based on your Target Filter(s)
• How to identify and select your scout(s)
• How to manage an easy and inexpensive scouting process
• The four best sources of information about companies on your Whale Chart
• What should a dossier include
• How to define and use “whale signs” [signs of readiness to buy]
• How scouts and harpooners [salespeople] should communicate for maximum advantage
• How to use social media in the Scouting process
• The three key reasons to “launch a boat” [decide to pursue a particular prospect]

Business Development Outcomes:

• A powerful system for lead generation
• Superior knowledge among your sales team giving you a unique advantage in approaching larger companies
• Unprecedented knowledge about marketplace changes

Week Four:  Identify the Fears and Build Fear Busters
Week of November 21

Significant research demonstrates that the buyers’ fear drives 98% of all buying decisions in larger companies.  What does this mean for you?  Here’s what you’ll learn:

• The four fears that buyers have
• How to analyze the specific fears they will have about you
• What methods you need to overcome the fears
• How to engage your team in this process
• How to develop your “fear-buster” tools
• How to prioritize what you need soonest
• How to use the “fear busters” in your sales process

Business Development Outcomes:

• How to avoid deals if you cannot allay the fears
• Greatly improved marketing and sales collateral
• Positioning to come in first, not second

Week Five:  Get in the Door and Locate the Buyers
Week of November 28

When you’re selling a larger deal, many more people are involved in the process of selecting a solution and a provider.  You need to be especially good at identifying those people and including them in your process.  In this webinar, you will learn:

• How to understand the Buyers’ Table in any deal
• What kind of preparation makes for a successful first contact
• Using social media to create introductions
• How to get the attention of a whale buyer
• The three red flags that put buyers off
• How to do business in a different department, division, or location
• How to deal with price

Business Development Outcomes:

• A replicable method to speed up your sales process
• Higher close rates
• Better knowledge of when to cease pursuit of a deal that you cannot win

Week Six:  Presenting Your Case
Week of December 5

The final session of “Build Your Tools” is focused on your face-to-face time with the prospect.  Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How to use your knowledge of fears and fear busters in the sales process
• Why a team sales effort will yield greater results
• The three kinds of “power” that subject matter experts need
• How to teach and coach the SMEs prior to the pitch
• How to rehearse to ensure a seamless presentation
• How to orchestrate and lead the meeting
• What unanticipated benefits you will get from this

Business Development Outcomes:

• A powerful team-based sales and presentation model
• Better design of solutions and proposals
• Superior ability to close complex sales
• Smooth hand-offs from sales to operations

If you’ve already implemented your Whale Hunting process, this course is a great review and a way to introduce The Whale Hunters concepts and practices to new members of your team.  Or, if you’re still persuading your team to give it a try, here’s a low-cost, easy way to take some steps forward and improve your sales planning for 2012.  AND PRICED AT ONLY $550!

Recap:  Here’s what you’ll get:

• An initial 60-minute live webinar to introduce the program, set the stage for success,  and answer your questions
• 6 one-hour webinars, posted online, once a week for six weeks on six topics
• Articles, podcasts, interviews, worksheets and other materials on each of the six topics
• Weekly homework assignments to keep you accountable plus my review and commentary on your work via email
• Q&A with me and others in the course through a dedicated online discussion forum
• 6-months access to all course materials online

Early bird discount!  Register by October 17th and receive a $55 discount, for a total price of only $495.  Register here.