Jill Konrath | Selling to Big Companies

Sales Tip #1 from the Political Spin Meisters

While I detest the political spin meisters who fill the television airwaves these days, they do offer salespeople some valuable lessons.

Tip #1 - Clearly define your target market.

It's figuratively possible that anyone in the U.S. could vote for either Kerry or Bush, but the truth of the matter is that they each appeal to certain demographics. The campaigns know who's likely to vote for their candidate. They're investing significant time, energy and resources to ensure their base gets out to vote. Kerry invests no time with the right wing Christian Coalition. Bush avoids African Americans. The only common group they're pursuing as the campaign comes to a close is the undecided voter - of which there are few.

How does this apply to salespeople? It's imperative to know who is most likely to buy from you. Way too many sellers erroneously believe that "everyone" can benefit from their services. While that may be true, their offering is much more likely to be valued by a small subset of the whole. By clearly defining and pursuing this demographic, they'll be light years ahead.

Quick example: I know sales and could help just about everyone improve their selling skills. But I only work in the business-to-business sales arena where it's a complex sale involving multiple decision makers. And I really prefer working with professional services and technology-driving firms. By being so clear on my "fit", I significantly increase my sales success. And I spend no money or time on peripheral areas such as retail sales, consumer goods, insurance, etc.

Yes, we can learn from the political spin meisters.

Chapter 1. What's Up With Charlie? (Part 1)

"How am I ever going to get my numbers back up this year?" thought Elizabeth Will in frustration. "Where in the world is my business going to come from?"

For the entire 4-hour drive to the regional sales meeting, Elizabeth could think of nothing else. In fact, it was all that was on her mind these days. Her boss was starting to put pressure on, but the pressure she put on herself was far worse.

Six months into the year and Elizabeth was a long way from where she needed to be to meet her quota, much less exceed it. During her fourteen years with Castleway, she’d been a consistent performer. But this year was different. Actually most of her team was struggling, which was a small comfort. She suspected this was the reason her boss, Jack Vintage, had called the meeting.

The Sales Wiz - An Introduction

Several years ago, I started writing "The Sales Wiz". Or rather, I should say, it started writing me. I woke up bright and early one morning with the idea for this unorthodox sales novel bursting from my head. Rather than following the traditional publishing model, I've decided to publish it on my blog - in installments. I'll hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. And no, it's not done quite yet. But I figure that if I start posting it online, it will force me to finish writing it. Enjoy, Jill
_____

The Selling Challenge

This is a story about the challenges facing the sales organization of Castleway, Inc. This company, like many others today, is dealing with numerous changes in their marketplace and their sales reps are struggling to adapt to the new world order.

Castleway designs, manufactures and sells creativity systems. These systems were first introduced nearly twenty years ago during a time when there were few competitors in the market. Castleway’s systems were state-of-the-art for many years, enabling the company to take a compelling lead over the competition. Less than five years ago, they dominated the market with a whopping 78% market share. But over time, the company became complacent with its success and rested on its laurels. Today its market share has dwindled to only 37%, although they’re still number one in their industry