Chasing….I hate chasing. Wouldn’t you rather have a fast “no” than an excruciatingly slow “maybe?”

Do you know what the difference is between begging and professional follow-up?

Three unreturned contacts to your buyer.

After three, you have to be honest with yourself—she’s just not that into you.

I call this endless follow up process the “Maybe Whirlpool.”

You know that you are in the “maybe whirlpool” when one or more of the following conditions happen:

• Slow response cycles. Any response cycle outside of 48 hours from your point of contact. When these are repeated with your key buyer or contact, then you either have a very weak contact, or you are very low on the list of issues they are solving.
• Long consideration windows, like when you receive a message that says that they will be considering their options over a period greater than 3 weeks. You may need to modify the period if there are engineering requirements, IT configuration issues or other technical compliance issues. However, there is a cycle that you need to define and then honor if you are going to stay out of the whirlpool.
• Vague political maneuvering comments. “There are a few things going on here that I can’t discuss. I need to line some things up and then I will get back to you.” Again, you have a weak contact who will not be making a decision in the near future.
• Two delays. When a fixed decision date has been moved twice.

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Referrals, references, connections, networking, social media: they’re all about access and leverage. You get access to the people who make things happen and are able to leverage these relationships.

I want to focus on the second part: Leverage. How do you get the most leverage during the sales process from your past successful client relationships? If you have read my materials, you know that your prospects have to overcome their fears and concerns in buying from a small company before they buy from you and not from a better-known, bigger company. References can be a tremendous asset in getting a buyer to overcome that fear, or they can be perceived as worthless commentary delivered by your buddies. So, how do you get the most out of your best client relationships?

A couple of techniques for high-impact leveraging of your references:
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I recently sent this email to the head of sales for a company with whom we did our Accelerator 1.0 program. He is a new “Shaman,” (a little whale hunting speak from my book “Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company” with Barbara Weaver Smith), and he has decided to change the roles of one of his people to that of a “scout.” A scout gathers information and is the first contact lead qualification and interest generation.

Here’s what I sent:

“As you get started in your first Shaman role over your scout, consider the following:

1. Keep him on a short leash. He needs you to set daily goals on information (dossiers), and eventually people and calls. This isn’t over-management, it is just holding onto the bike while the kid gets used to riding without training wheels.
2. Feed him. You need to be in the media information flow around your key markets. Do a quick Google search every day, and send him an article or a new key word to add. Do something that keeps you connected to leading him in the work he is doing in the market.
3. Take the first hits. If he is going to make his first calls to prospects, make them with him on a conference call. Let him listen to you. He needs to get confidence in this new space.
4. Keep your foot on the gas. At this point, you need to change planning into action, so keep the intensity up of your expectations.
5. Read and react, Manning style. Look at the information you are getting from the process and make the recalibrations to what the market is telling you. Reset the dossier, the script, the benefit language and so on, but wait until after the first quarter to do it. You can’t run one series of plays and think you have it all figured out and blow up the gameplan. Get the data, then recalibrate.

Finally, I’m on your team. All of this is new or newer. Let’s stay connected, especially on the ‘what ifs?’ that invariably come up when implementing new approaches.”

I often see the sales process get stalled out in the scouting process. We build a fantastic sales process, great market message and approach but then no one makes contacts into the market. It’s like leaving a Ferrari in the garage and wondering why you are not enjoying it. (I have a couple of clients who are probably reading this right now and cringing. And yes, I am talking to you. Out of consideration, I won’t name names, but the states are Ohio, DC and California). The easy fall-guy for this situation is the sales person, but the real accountability goes back to leadership and management one-layer up. It is our responsibility to drive the planning into action.

“We’re getting commitments, but we’re not getting orders…”

“Some of the biggest companies out there are our customers, we just aren’t getting the volume…”

“The decision-maker is saying we’re going to get the business, but then her people order from their old suppliers…”

One of the most common problems I hear from clients is the problem of traction. They can get into the big companies, but they can’t get that “yes” to turn into dollars. I have touched upon this in the past in “Unsticking Stuck Deals (parts one & two) and “The Executive Sponsorship Agreement.”

I believe that sales people are pathologically optimistic, and it’s a good thing that they are. If they weren’t, how could they get out and face the rejection and frustration that accompanies the sales process? But that optimism carries with it some inherent dangers for their companies.

False positives, missed signals and ‘hope’ acting like ‘commitment’

Sales people are given a variety of “yes” answers over the course of a sales process that create the sense that a deal has occurred. In reality, though, there is at least one unseen step in the decision spectrum where the ‘maybe’ masquerades as ‘yes.’ You can probably spot it.
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“If we get Microsoft, (replace Microsoft with your favorite iconic brand name), then it is going to be a lot easier to get other big guys. So what if you take a little bit of a haircut on that deal? It’s what we are going to have to do to get our name out there.”

When I work with small and mid-size companies, I often hear the siren song of the logo deal.

This is not a discussion I hear on occasion. In one flavor or another I hear this conversation in almost every company I meet. The promise of affiliated greatness for your brand because of someone else’s strong brand is very hard to pass-up, I know.

I’ve written and spoken against this practice at length. For the sake of context, I’ll just give a quick summary of why this is a dangerous temptation. Then I will outline the Trigger-Map Strategy we teach for companies that want to boost their brand through key brand affiliation.
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For years, I have used a technique of securing an “Executive Sponsor” early in a sales process as a way to gauge true interest as well as to set expectations for a buyer in a large and complex sale. There have been occasions in which I have asked more than one person in a prospect company to serve this role.

Even though I asked for Executive Sponsorship in these sales processes, it wasn’t until the past few years that I have had clients write down what it means in a 1-page document and give it the candidate in a meeting. The previous approach had been effective but the use of the 1-page has been amazing.

Here is what it looks like, on your letterhead with the title at the top “Executive Sponsorship”.

“We know that moving forward with a partner requires the work of a number of people. We also know that without senior executive sponsorship, the work of the day and competing priorities keep organizations from moving initiatives like this along.

We are not asking you to agree to doing business with us at this point. It’s too early. We are asking for you to be our executive sponsor through the process.

For us this simply means:

• Access. Your assistance on connecting to the right people is very important.
• Priority. Setting the appropriate level of attention for your organization so that the process is supported.
• Interest. We will be communicating with you throughout the process what is happening. Let’s stay connected back and forth on the progress.
• Logjams. If the process bogs down, we need to be able to come to you and be able to count on your assistance.
• Clarity. There are times when we will need to better understand your company and its unique culture. If we are confused, we ask you to provide clarity.

That’s it. In being our Executive Sponsor you are only ensuring that the process of determining our best fit with your company is fully executed.”

When to use it. Once you have identified the key decision-maker in the process and have secured his or her interest, then you ask for Executive Sponsorship. It is absolutely paramount that the person understands you are not asking them to agree to doing business with you. You are ensuring that he or she is engaged in the process, will provide you the resources necessary to do a good job for them in the process and that this isn’t some lukewarm interest.

What if they say ‘no’? That is great! It tells you that you either do not have enough interest generated for them to provide the basic professional courtesies outlined in your agreement, or they were just looking for free consulting. Go back and generate more interest, or leave happily knowing that you were not going to get the deal anyway.

Does it have to be in writing? – Yes. Tepid attempts to secure a verbal commitment without clearly stated expectations do not give you real traction. I know because that was the way I started out doing this. Then I tried it with the 1-page document and the results were much, much better. I challenge you to try the Executive Sponsor document in your next big sale process. Let me know what happens.

Full disclosure: I have 6 clients using this approach right now with fantastic success so I know not only that it can work, but that it is working right now.

I posted this blog some time ago, but in the past several weeks I have directed so many people to it that I thought it would be good to bring it back for a re-post. Enjoy!

I’ve been on the road the last two weeks with a number of clients and I have to tell you that the swagger factor in the marketplace is low. That’s right: SWAGGER. That quality of confidence that provides patience in the face of stupidity, no-blink nerve when looking into the eyes of challenge and the slight strut of knowing you’re the best.  In talking to best-in-class sales leaders in a variety of industries who work with top-shelf branded clients, I discovered that they are still committing the following party fouls when approaching new prospects:

• Running test-proof cycles for the most basic products and services;
• Waiving engineering, design, drawing, setup and installation fees for first-time buyers on small orders;
• Fulfilling tiny initial orders so that “you can prove yourself”;
• Agreeing to long “try, wait and see” cycles.

Brando Don’t Audition. At some point in your company’s history of performance, serving demanding clients and developing your reputation, your company became good enough to answer this question from a prospect: Are you qualified to do business with me?

“Qualified” means competent and market competitive—in pricing, features and benefits—which further means that you should have the right to move past the first round (walking in the door).  Prospects ask for samples, references, test-runs and little orders as a credentializing step in the process of doing business with you. After you have credentialized yourself, THEN you get to the real issues of a potential business relationship, which means relevance and value at a scale past credentialization. That’s why I say, “Brando Don’t Audition.”

Marlon Brando’s has a level of expertise and notoriety that makes it ridiculous and insulting to ask him to audition.  His body of work of work speaks for itself.  Your company’s body of work should do the same.

When prospects ask you to credentialize yourself, you have to get them to see you as competent and competitive straight away so that you can get down to the nitty-gritty: the value and relevance of using your firm. One of the best ways to do this is to take the prospect back to your company’s body of work.

You say:

“Look, we work with X, Y and Z companies, solving problems like P, D and Q and with the scale of A, B and C. This tells you that we are capable of doing this type of work, consistently and at a market competitive rate. Otherwise these companies, with their rigorous qualification process and purchasing approach would never have hired us. If you agree that we can probably handle your work, let’s spend our time focusing on the specifics of this relationship so that I know whether or not we can be relevant and valuable on this particular program.”

People put you through the hoops of auditioning because:

• They feel they have to. Some part of their process requires it.
• They want to put you in your place. Like keeping you in the lobby 15 minutes extra before meeting you.  It’s a power play.
• They don’t know you’re Brando. This is the place you have the greatest amount of control. Through your initial conversation and presentation, the prospect needs to understand that putting you through the hoops is a waste of their time and yours. You are the Marlon Brando of your industry!

The competitive market place has caused companies to stop swaggering. You have to get the swagger back or you’ll risk grinding out your confidence by going through the audition door.  And really, you should be going through the finalist door at the first knock.

First, let me apologize for the big gap in my blogging. I have been all over the country in the last 6 weeks with the Inc. Magazine presentation tour. We made stops in New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It was a fantastic experience and I met some remarkable new entrepreneurs (those “newpreneurs” I’ve been talking about). Between those travels and my client work I have not had a moment to write to you. But, I’M BACK!

Follow this link below to a video of a the presentation I gave in Seattle. I covered the 5 Best Practices of Explosive Growth Companies.

Scroll down the landing page and click on the video box at the bottom.

The presentations went very well and we had a great exchange of ideas. The Q & A is worth watching as well because I respond to some of the questions typically asked by people who want to hunt big, but are not yet sure how.

It’s good to be back. Enjoy the video.

I liked your “Sales Challenge” answers so much that I am going to make “Sales Challenge” a regular part of this blog in the future. Great ideas from everyone!

Here’s the rest of the story…

The team improvised. The second-in-command eel exhibited classic “I don’t want to be here” body-language: he was slouching, his arms were crossed. He didn’t even bother to cinch up his tie when he came to the meeting. He could not have tried harder to project the “I’m here because I have to be, not because I want to be. Make it fast” attitude.

The first thing the sales team tried to do was break the ice and ask some questions about what the eel wanted. Nothing doing. He simply said, “Just make the presentation like you would if John Doe was here.”

Without much to go on, the team tried to change the expectations. Team: “John Doe’s not here, so the objective of the meeting is different. In fact, it’s wide open now and the presentation may not even be valuable. Let’s talk for a moment about the area we are looking at, what goals you have in that area and what you consider to be some of the pain points.” They got a little bit more out of him here, but not much. The eel was still closed off and defensive.

Third, the team tried to befriend the eel. Team: “Considering the time the team has been in place and what your group is trying to accomplish, our analysis is favorable. Some of these results are probably in line with things you are already addressing.” Even as the team presented high-level results, we’re got nowhere. The problem was that we were now all-in. We opened up the dialogue about the presentation, so we had to make the presentation. Calculated risk. I would like to say it paid off, but it didn’t.

We pitched the presentation, left copies of it and promised to follow-up. The team’s email to the eel’s boss (our AWOL first-in-command) to set up a conference call to review the results was brushed aside with a perfunctory email response: “Thanks so much for the report. It is very thorough. I don’t think a call is necessary at this time. I’ll review your recommendations and get back to you.”
Dead stuck.

Mistakes in our approach? A bunch. I’ll give the short-list:

1. We didn’t make a same-day appointment confirmation call with the most important person in the pitch to make certain he would be there.
2. We didn’t call the meeting off when we found out that the sponsoring executive was not going to be there.
3. We pitched the one guy who had the most to lose and then let him pitch the one person who had the most to gain without us.
4. We had not involved the eel early enough in the sales process to have gotten some level of buy-in or fear-reduction before we started the entire sales process that culminated in this presentation of results and opportunity to propose our solution.

There are more, but I think these are at the top of the list.

You have all been very helpful with what should have been done differently.

I now have a different challenge for you. What should the hunt team do next?

I recently went on a pitch with a client’s hunt team. We were supposed to be pitching to the first in command, but he was pulled away to a funeral at the last minute. He left a message for us while we were on the plane, so we didn’t listen to it until much too late.

We arrived at the prospect’s offices to present the results of a preliminary analysis of their operations and to detail my client’s company plan to help them. We were told that since the first in command was out, we would be meeting with the second in command.

Sales Challenge: The second in command is the eel in the deal.

We sat down in the board room and prepped for the meeting. What would you do?

Some options:

• Pitch
• Leave
• Improvise
• Other

What would you do in this situation? I want to hear your thoughts because I think that this type of scenario happens more often than we would like. Let me know what you think!