Where is your business NEXT YEAR coming from?

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Most salespeople (and organizations) are very focused on this month’s business. Now I’m not saying this isn’t important, I am saying we need to expand our view.

Today let’s look at a few of the fish in our sea (to all the fishermen reading this – yes I know that some of the fish listed don’t swim in the sea… but lakes, rivers, etc and to my husband… I know whales aren’t fish get over it).

The Whales

These are the big deals, the huge opportunities. The scary thing is that the bigger they are the longer the sales cycle tends to be.

PLUS – even when we have an accurate close date that is way… way… way… out there, it is difficult to keep motivated to work today for money we will not see for months (maybe even years).

TIP – outline what you believe it will take to earn that whale of a deal; include monthly action steps for multiple contacts to become a valuable resource for the project. Even more important – do them consistently!

Don’t let yourself go hungry while you’re hunting that whale, keep reading.

The Tuna

Good news here is that Tuna swim in schools, if you cast out enough hooks you are bound to catch more than one!

The important thing to remember is that the ocean is a big place and we have to target the best fishing grounds to find Tuna to fish for. It may take you some time to find them by actively be searching.

Once found these are the deals that close one right after another. Don’t fool yourself into believing they don’t take any effort – to real in these heavy fish is quite a chore.

TIP – make sure your brain is thinking about finding Tuna – if you still have your whale radar on, you might miss these schools and go hungry.

The Pike

This is one of the most fun fish to catch. The pike is quite wily and will put up a huge fight; we get a great sense of accomplishment when we bring this deal in.

You need to have all your sales skills in the tackle box; where the best prospects are, what you do for your existing customers that hooked them, patience to let the line out and not yank the hook out.

It isn’t easy to catch pike, but they sure do taste great and keep our sales bellies full!

The Minnow

There are a few different ways to look at the minnow.

#1 – easy catch: once you see them swimming around you scoop them into your net before they can realize what’s happened.

#2 – less competition: other salespeople aren’t going after the minnow, so they aren’t use to attention. It makes them much easier to attract and catch.

#3 – bait: when you’re prospecting it is much easier to earn the trust of a whale, tuna, or pike if you concentrate on the minnow in the account (perhaps that could be one of your action items as you work on that whale of a deal).

Now it is time for you to figure out what type of fish you want to catch – along with the strategy, tactics, and skills that you’ll need to find…. hook…. and reel them in!

Where is your business NEXT YEAR coming from?

This Post Has 0 Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply