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.