Removing small stones and taking care of your minutes... my reflections

Time to share my reflections on the last blog entry, and how they pertain to our sales methodology. Incidentally, this all ties in perfectly to my blog from Friday, August 22 about conducting a successful 'buying cycle' that I still wanted to get back to! Must be something about Fridays...

Remove the small stones while SIMULTANEOUSLY taking care of your minutes!

After reflection, I found both of the two metaphors in my previous blog to be quite interrelated in a sales context. In order to be most effective, we must practice techniques that remove the small stones while simultaneously practicing the discipline required to make the most efficient use of our most scarce resource... time.

One of biggest mountains sales people face is conducting a successful buying cycle, and it all begins at the base with lead generation. Three key small stones to successful lead generation:

1. Identify the profile of your perfect prospect and the critical issues your solution addresses (Zebra), so that you can...

2. Get to Power on the telephone, and make your message compelling enough to stand out by... (see Zebra Jeff's definition of Power near the end of his September 11 blog entry)

3. Helping Power connect the solutions you are selling to the critical issues they need to address in their businesses.

These three small stones account for the main aspects of lead generation, and practicing a disciplined, methodical approach to removing these stones will go a long way towards climbing the summit towards a successful buying cycle. We have thoroughly defined what a Zebra is and detailed how to identify one on our website, and you can even find a free template to create your own by signing up for Zebra U. Further, Jeff has already identified several ways to help make your message to Power compelling in his blog entry on August 27. So... what about actually getting to Power on the telephone?

First, some fun-facts:

1. It usually takes aobut seven phone calls to talk with an executive at a Global 2000 company.

2. You will be relegated and delegated to the management level that matches the image you project on the telephone when calling upon a prospect.

Indeed, the hardest part of getting a meeting with Power may be just getting him/her on the phone and willing to talk to you. There are books on the market that offer some helpful dos and don'ts, but today, Power is often guarded by an almost impenetrable voice-mail system. Some companies even make you fill out an online vender profile that is fowarded to the purchasing department for screening before they will connect you beyond the switchboard. Suddenly, you're stuck in purgatory many levels below Power before you're even out of the gate.

Here are a few steps from the proven approach detailed in our book Selling to Zebras. These techniques were specifically designed to work in today's highly competitive pursuit for Power's share of mind:

1. Uncover the names of executives who might be Power (at least three executives to pursue).

2. Send e-mail to at least three potential Power-level contacts to pave the way.

3. In all communications, mention the other two executives your are pursuing.

4. Conduct a voice-mail campaign, leaving something of value with each message.

5. Prepare an executive brief that you can send if necessary.

In the next blog we'll address the third stone: Helping Power connect the solutions you are selling to the critical issues they need to address in their businesses... aka, 'what to say to make an impact' once you get to Power.