“He passes the eye candy test. He’s got the looks; he’s great at playing the part”
Sales Take away: That huge WHALE of a prospect is a time waster!
The eighth largest bank in the country was my whale last year and it ended up being a huge time waster. Yea, this pre-Madonna would look pretty sweet in the stat column (customer list), fun to bring up in sales meetings (just like an expensive superstar can sell jerseys and tickets) but prevented me from making the playoffs or chance to play for championship.
- TOO EXPENSIVE TO SIGN: these prospects cost too much to chase. They show up with a list of unreasonable and ever changing demands before they’ll even take the field.
- Constantly being approached by other GM’s (sales people) to buy their latest and greatest.
- Getting on base: by focusing on organizations that need help now and sized right for taking action (getting on base) today. We’ll score more runs and ultimately win more games (quotas) by recruiting these types of prospects rather than trying to sign the PNC’s (Giambi | Damons) of our verticals.
“We’ve got to think differently”
Sales Take Away: Creativity will be rewarded by a full pipeline
Like the Oakland As, your startup is also working under constraints. Sometimes even big and unfair constraints. You are attempting to change the way customers have been doing business well… since they’ve been in business. Hundreds of companies much bigger and better funded than you are fighting for the same sliver of executive’s attention you are targeting. So chances are, we won’t do it by playing “their game”. Example IDEAS on “being different” or changing the rules of the game:
Sales/Marketing:
- Brainstorm ways to be more creative and think out of the box to better ENGUAGE our prospects and stand out
- Do the things the other sales pros at other orgs don’t… be MORE PERSISTENT, qualify relentlessly, use referrals/partnerships, and focus on the right targets always.
- Finding additional COMPANY REVENUE while BEING DIFFERENT:
Richard Brandon Redding 