Two Ways to Land the Big Fish - Short Attention Span Sales Tip

A question arrived by email. Eli asks:

“How I get large accounts? I don’t even know where to start.”

If you want to get to the upper echelons of sales you are going to need to land a big account or two. Unfortunately, there is not a Pez dispenser of Big Fish that kicks out these game changers to good girls and boys. You need to identify, research, and attack.

That’s all. No big deal.

The process of identifying the big prospect is probably the easiest of the three. Everyone knows where they are and who they are. The trick is to find an opening. I have two ideas for you:

1. Do your research and find out what their business needs are. This, in turn, will dictate your sales call as you will know which of your print solutions will solve that particular problem;
2. Network until you find someone who knows someone who knows someone who works there.

In other words, you can use the front door you can use a side door. The front door is when you make a standard sales call after doing standard research and applying a standard process. The side door is something more complicated...

Whenever someone tells me that they landed a big account, I asked two questions:

• First, how long did it take you?
• Second, how did you make it in the door?

The answer to the first question is always, always, always 18 months or more. The answer to the second question always, always, always goes like this: “Actually, Bill, that’s a funny story ...”

You see, people don’t land big accounts by going in the front door, they get lucky or fate smiles upon them or they know someone who knows someone who works there.

Kelly Mallozzi and I have some more thoughts on the subject ... You can find the video version of this Short Attention Span Sales Tip here.

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Want more? Need sales? Check out the new SalesPro Fundamentals course at www.idealliance.org/salespro-fundamentals/

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Bill Farquharson can be reached at (781) 934-7036 or bfarquharson@idealliance.org