Zebra Jeff turns into Grandpa Jeff (Getting through the noise)

How do you get through all of the noise?

Yesterday the most wonderful thing happened, my son, Chad and his wife, Jill had their first child, and I became a Grandpa, for the first time. Tucker Jeffrey Koser was born at 6:02 a.m., weighed 7'13", and is 20 inches long. All of these statistics are average, but big for a Koser!

Mom and Tucker are healthy!

Mom, Dad, Grandpa and the entire family are all very proud.

As mentioned, statistically Tucker is (well perhaps a little bigger than) average. But you should see his large hands and feet. The nurse showed me that Tucker's footprint filled the little footprint identification sheet. Hands like Brett Favre, and flippers like Michael Phelps! Do you feel that? This information is compelling to me because it's very personal.

You know it is personally important to me, because I told you so.

Tucker definitely got through all of the noise in my world and got my attention.

Okay, so this might be a bit of a stretch in transition, but I am going to make it anyway. In sales you have to find out what is personally important to a person in a position of Power (Power is the person who will own the promises it takes to get your sale approved) if you are to make it through all of the noise in their world.

Executives tell you what is personally important to them just like I told you what was personally important to me. Read the chairman's letter in their annual report. The chairman's letter will give you two, three, or even a handful of nuggets that can be used to create a lead, and help you penetrate an account at an executive level.

Use the exact words you find in the chairman's letter. There isn't any reason to get cleaver or creative. Repeat the words exactly as they are printed, because this way they will know exactly what you are saying. I have personally used this technique over the phone and in face-to-face meetings. On numerous occasions I have been asked where I got such "on target" inside information.

I told you earlier what was important to me today - TUCKER! Power makes it just as easy for you to know what is important to them.

Sorting through the noise: Get the upper hand on account penetration!

While enjoying my morning coffee I was reading through the Summer 2008 edition of Whitewater magazine, which is the quarterly publication of my Alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. On page 11 I came across a striking photo of an electric lime green book cover featuring an image of a dairy cow listening to an iPod in the center. The book is called "Acting Out Culture - Reading and Writing," written by UW-Whitewater Associate Professor James S. Miller. Being a newly published author myself, the eye-catching cover in the photo compelled me to read the article, which was also written by Miller.

Miller wrote "Acting Out Culture" as a teaching tool for his Freshman English class to better reach his students and help them see the 'important connections between English class and their own day-to-day lives.' At the beginning of each semester, Miller poses the question to his students, 'How many different messages do you have to make your way through on a daily basis?'

Miller's question really got me thinking about the clutter and noise in the business sales world today, particularly as it pertains to the busy daily routines of executives. Executives today experience greater demand for their time than ever before; more than they can possibly get to in any given business day. To really kick off my blog in the same spirit of Associate Professor Miller's thought-prompting semester kick-off question, I ask you to think about the following:

1. How do we as sales people effectively penetrate new prospect accounts at the executive-level given all the other noise executives must sort through?

2. What can we do to make our own attempts at communication compelling enough to rise above all the clutter?

3. How do we help executives to see the important connection between the solutions we are selling and the critical issues they need to address in their businesses?

More to come...

Preparation for a new baby...

I am excited to announce soon to become a proud new Dad! Our first son, to be named Tucker Jeffrey Koser, is due to be born tomorrow, August 20th. Whether or not he will show up exactly when he is "supposed to" will remain to be seen, but inevitably his arrival has been on my mind pretty much constantly in recent days. Given that I also focus on my work as a sales consultant on a daily basis, today I started to ponder similarities between the two topics.

Successful preparation for fatherhood has a variety of parallels to a successful sales cycle (I like to call it a "buying cycle," but more on that another day). A few of them are:

1. Pursuit of something very meaningful and important in the end (success)
2. Identifying and addressing critical needs ahead of time
3. Maintaining focus on those aspects that are truly important
4. The ability to nurture development and progress
5. Enjoyment of benefits by both parties as part of a healthy relationship

One final thought: Birth will be occurring at the end of my preparation for fatherhood just like a deal is closed at the end of a sales cycle, but in both cases reality is that it is only just the beginning.

This comparison really brings a smile to my face, and I hope it does the same for you!

Welcome to Selling to Zebras blog!

We're glad you're here. In the coming months we'll cover sales techniques, lead generation, and strategic selling.

Software 2008

Archived News/Events

http://www.software2008.com/

View the documented results of using the Zebra value based selling method, as presented by Pat Williams - SVP Sales, StarCite Inc., Pat reveals the success that StarCite has experienced by creating their Zebra and executing the Zebra Buying Cycle.

See How StarCite:

• Increased their pipeline win rate


• Increased the average sales price


• Reduced the sales cycle (Zebra Buying Cycle)

Jeff Koser’s presentation will walk you through the steps necessary to create your Zebra (a prospect that is a perfect fit for your company) and understand the value of utilizing the Zebra Buying Cycle.

Click here to download Jeff’s presentation
Software 2008 Presentation