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The Perfect Bait

In the last post we talked about how to learn about your big fish and how to prepare for the first contact that you’ll make with them. This first contact is essential to your success. You need to instill confidence in your prospective clients immediately, and they need to know that you can fulfill exactly what you are offering on time, at a good price, and at the level of quality that you promise.

So today we’ll actually go through the big approach and look at how you can make that perfect first impression. Before you put together your approach plan, you need to choose which big fish you’ll be going after. Take a look at your notes and the research that you’ve done about your prospective fish. Then decide which one will be the easiest to approach and plan to start with that one.

There’s a series of things to go through in choosing which fish you’ll start with, and those steps are to:

• Position Your Business
• Compile Your Hit List
• Select the Best Target

Positioning Your Business

You need to position your business to make the first move.  You need to know what your company is and what you can deliver. So make a list of your various products and services.  Research your potential customers to discover how they might use your products and services.  Strategically plan how you can position your company and your products and services to be the answer to the big fish’s needs. By doing this, you will be able to position your company in alignment with the big fish and thereby increase your likelihood of success.

Compiling Your Hit List

Start with a list of all the companies that you’ve been considering. Then narrow your list down to the ones who you know could use your products or services. And don’t overlook the obvious choices, whether they are big or small. Even small companies could be big fish in the future.

Select the Best Target

Once you’ve got your list narrowed down, you need to decide which one is the best fish to start with. You need to consider a number of questions:

• Which companies have the most purchasing resources to spend?
• Does a company’s vision complement yours?
• What are their employee incentive programs as they relate to your products/services?
• What is the company’s real need for you?
• Will the partnership lead you off course?

Once you have a target in mind, it’s time to plan your approach and execute that plan.

Here’s the step-by-step plan to help you make a good first impression:

1. Build and analyze your database. Divide your leads into three different categories:

•  Hot leads
•  Great fits
• Secondary leads.

2. Send out introductory mailings to your target to introduce yourself, your company, your services, your products, and your vision. These mailings need to be short, clean, and concise.
3. Follow up with your first phone call 2-3 days after your prospects will have received your mailings. During the phone call, find out whom you need to be speaking with in the future and try to set up a meeting with the right person.
4. Follow up your phone call with another mailing that thanks them for taking the time to speak with you, and offer them more details about your products/services. Use this letter as an opportunity to set up a meeting to do a presentation.
5. Follow up the letter with another phone call a couple of days after the prospects have received your previous letter. This phone call is to help you further develop your relationship with the prospective client. You should also be able to set up a presentation meeting with the company’s decision makers.
6. Call again a week later if they haven’t agreed to a meeting or presentation. Ask if they received your creative letter (the second one) and if they have a minute when you can stop by and introduce yourself in person.

Now, don’t be upset if you don’t seal the deal right away. Some people simply take a little longer to woo. This entire sales process can be a little intimidating at first, but when you know you are offering a quality product/service, you can’t go wrong.

Once you’ve gone through this process and make your first contact (and hopefully a good first impression), it’s time to put your best face forward, which means sending the right salesperson to seal the deal.

If you need help putting together your approach or mastering the science of making a good first impression, try our FREE test drive or contact us to work with a coach and to have access to a wealth of great resources and tools.

And remember, business coaching is always less expensive than business failure.

Untangle the Red Tape

In the last post we talked about how to bring the big-company mindset into your business and to your team. Doing this will help you overcome many of the emotional obstacles that might keep you from being successful.

So now that you’ve learned how to overcome those barriers, we’re going to talk about who your fish are. It’s important to know about the fish you are looking for before you put a plan together. We’re also going to take a moment to talk about the potential “red tape” that you may encounter along the way.

The most important thing to know about your fish is their purchasing habits and procedures. In order to be successful, you need to know these four factors about every potential client:

1. Responsibilities: You need to know who has influence over purchasing, who does the actual buying, and who can kill a deal if they want.
2. Get on Their List: You need to know how to get on their list of companies from which they buy. Your name needs not only to be on the list, but to be at the top of it and in as many categories as possible for more interaction. To get on these lists, ask about a procurement program and what you need to do to go through the application process.
3. Lingo: You need to learn the company’s unique language and communications methods. These could include report names, buzzwords, and even the nicknames that they have for their employees.
4. Fiscal Calendars: It’s essential you know the fish’s fiscal calendar, so you know exactly when they are planning their expenses for the year.

Now that we’ve talked a little about what you need to know about your fish, let’s take a quick look at the “red tape”.

Bureaucracy might as well be a four-letter word with the emotions it stirs in all of us. “Red tape” is a necessary evil, but one from which you can learn. There are two ways to learn from a company’s system:

1. Analyze their activity.
2. Review their correspondence.

Being an outsider looking in can have its advantages, too. If you hate dealing with the “red tape”, imagine how their employees feel dealing with it. If they need to crunch some numbers, offer to do it for them. If they need more info, make sure you are giving it to them in a user-friendly way.

The things we talked about in this lesson will help you prepare for the big approach. If you need help with any of this, try our FREE test drive to find the right tools to get the job done.

And remember, business coaching is always less expensive than business failure.

Be One with the Fish

In the last post we started our series on catching big clients, or “fish”, which will sustain your business over the long run. Today we’re going to take that a step further by talking about how to understand and think like a big fish company and how that can help you plan your approach and find success.

Before you can start the process of landing big clients, you have to be sure that your entire team is on board with your approach and your vision. Here are six keys to finding big client success.
They are:
First Impression: You must remember you have one shot to land a big client. If you make a mistake, the potential client won’t consider you again. Never give anyone a reason to doubt your abilities.

First Priority: Your fish must always feel like they are your first priority. Return calls and emails immediately and find solutions to their problems or questions as quickly as possible.

Flexibility: You need to be flexible in your negotiations. If they need a special service or need you to customize a product, say yes for the benefit of the long term. A little hassle now will be a big payoff later.

The Long Term: This goes along with the last one a bit. As you are approaching and negotiating with the big fish, you need to think about the long-term benefits for your business. If you go for a one-time big score, you will lose their interest.

Have Fun: Work should be fun, even when trying to land big clients. In fact, this should be the most enjoyable part of the job. You are sharing your vision with new people and including them in your future success. People simply work better in a fun, happy environment. Your passion will also be contagious and pull the fish into your vision even more.

Help Them: If you take just a little bit of time and offer your clients ways to save money or time by introducing them to potential business partners, this will show you really are invested and interested in their business. Strive to find balance between your business needs and your client’s needs.

There are also a few tactics you can use to bring in a big-company vision to the people on your team. You can:

• Post these six keys for all to see.
• Put together a performance-based incentive program.
• Conduct frequent team meetings.
• Use a “right now” policy that dictates calls from your “Big Fish” be answered immediately.
• Offer awards/recognition for big-company ideas and executions.
• Put together a training and certification program based on the six keys above.

These six keys and tips will help you instill a big-company mindset throughout your company, and this will help you be more prepared and more likely to land your big fish. Once your team is thinking this way, you’ll be unstoppable.
If you need help putting together an incentive program or other ways to push your team toward the big-company mindset, try our FREE test drive to work with one of our coaches or to check out our resources and tools.
And remember, business coaching is always less expensive than business failure.

Are You On The Right Path?

As you prepare yourself and your company to approach the largest clients
that you’ll ever work with, you’ll greatly increase your likelihood of success
by being thorough in your preparation.

Today we’re going to start with a brief look at the three paths that every business faces, and we’ll show you which one is the path to lasting success. Then we’ll talk about the mindset that a company needs to attract the big fish.

There are three major paths
a business can take:

• Snail Speed
• Shooting Star
• Catch the Big Fish

Snail Speed

Most business owners have ended up working themselves into the ground without much reward or success. This is what happens when you fool yourself into thinking you will find quick success. The result is often that business owners work long hours, but their businesses actually grow at that snail’s pace. You may also find yourself following this path when you are afraid of change.

Shooting Star

This describes a business that shoots to the top so fast that the owners are overwhelmed and don’t have the right resources in place to adapt to their success. This can also be the result of being overwhelmed by small clients and not taking the time to find large clients who will sustain your business after the sales to your small clients slow.

Catch the Big Fish

This is the path that allows you to build at a steady pace that you can manage by not allowing your customers to outpace you. You can do this by putting these tips to work:

• Attract, keep, and lock in big clients.
• Integrate “big business” culture into your company and your employees.
• Acquire the expertise that you need to grow.
• Have the courage to make changes as you grow.

See the big picture. If you’re trying to grow your company,
don’t spend hours sweeping the floor.

Now we are going to transition a bit and talk about the “big fish” mindset. It may sound easy to just find and catch that big fish, but if you are stuck in the small business mindset, you may find it harder than you think.

Landing a big fish doesn’t necessarily take any more time, effort, or resources than landing a minnow does, and the greater rewards of working with a big fish are obvious. So think of all the benefits of aiming at bigger clients:

• Low Expenses
• Highly Profitability
• Longevity
• Security

In order to catch the big fish, you need to believe that your company can make a positive difference to their company. It’s easy to get into the negative thinking that a large company doesn’t need anything from a small business like yours, but this is entirely wrong! You might be surprised to see how many small businesses are important partners of the world’s biggest businesses.

Once you take a look at how big companies operate, it’s important to know which ones have the best fit with your company. One of the best ways to get in the door is to know someone on the inside who can put in a good word for you.  We can teach you easy ways to find that person, ways that are not time consuming.

If you feel a little intimidated about going after the big fish, and if you’re not sure where to start, try our  FREE test drive to get help from our amazing business coaches.

And remember, business coaching is always less expensive than business failure.

Are You In The 1%

The Rule of 1% is simply defined as adding to and improving your customer service by one percent at a time.  But, before you can make this improvement, you must have your consistency perfected or your system will never work. This one percent may seem small, but if you approach the vision for your company with baby steps, you will find a huge increase over a solid chunk of time. This process is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Marathon runners build up gradually and consistently to running 26.2 miles, and you can use the same approach to improve your customer service.