Selling to Zebras

Our blog has a new location!

2009-03-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

Come and visit the new location of our blog at:

http://sellingtozebrasblog.com/

Please save the above link for future reference, as all new content posted to our blog will only be available at that location. We look forward to seeing you over at our new home on the web!

-Zebra Chad

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste...”

2009-02-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

The above is a quote from President elect Obama’s chief-of-staff-designate, Rahm Emanuel (pictured left), while speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO conference.

These words also apply to your sales department. What do Rahm’s words have to do with sales and selling more? Everything!

Your sales and sales management departments are competing for business in a market driven by fear and noise from the current record breaking financial crisis. Competition will come from like companies, and from every other alternative use of your prospects available discretionary capital. Don’t waste this sales crisis—retool your sales department now!

These five tips will help your company survive, stay focused, and find a position to achieve long-term growth.

1. Focus where you create verifiable value: Executives don’t want to know what you can do, they want to know what you have done—over and over again. Executives buy based on value and comfort. Expertise helps create comfort. Stay where your expertise is so strong that you have answers to questions that they don’t even know to ask! That is our definition of expertise.

2. Quantify your value: Utilizing industry statistics based value claims about your solution is weak. Specific knowledge of the business issues your solution solves, and the subsequent value generated when you solve them are paramount in this environment. Buyers want to know that your advertized results are repeatable for them.

3. Partner to verify your value: The number one reasons executives do not purchase cost justified solutions is because they don’t believe their own people “can do it”. Partner with the process and solution owners your executive decision maker trusts, to gain an understanding of the organizations readiness and ability to implement your solution. Leverage this understanding and build a proposal that has everything you know will be needed to be successful.

4. Present the EVA of your solution: In these tough economic times your greatest competition will be apathy (non-decision). Your project will compete with ever other use of the available capital dollars. To overcome apathy and fear, present the classic ROI and payback period, but also learn to present the economic value add (EVA) of your solution. EVA is the most prolific form of value claim because it demonstrates the value your solution provides over-and-above the best project return your prospect is considering.

5. Build a “force success” proposal: What amount of education will your prospect need to be successful? Include it. Are independent partners providing part of the solution? Then you will need partner management. Include it! Include a change management component in your solution. To ensuring your customer is successful and that you help “Force that Success” your proposal needs to include all of product, education, consulting, executive management, change management, partner management, and overall customer service and support needed to all but guarantee your prospect will achieve the expected value.

Grumpy Old [sales]Men

2009-01-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

The title of this blog post is stolen from one of my favorite movies of all time - Grumpy Old Men. If you haven't seen it, it's a entertainingly sensational dramatization of what goes on when old men take to the ice.

Indeed I AM coming to you live from my ice fishing shack on beautiful Lake Poygan! ...and yes folks, it actually is the beat up old jalopy in the picture. Ahh, the wonders of a mobile office; I've got my cell phone, my laptop, and a high speed wireless internet connection courtesy of Alltel Wireless (it'd be an even better courtesy if I didn't have to pay the monthly fee for it). Not to mention the requisite modern day fishing technology; the shack may look humble, but it is equipped with a 10,000 BTU propane heater, various electronic fish locators/sonar, and even an underwater camera.

Well, you never know where inspiration will strike you, and today it struck me while I was sitting here fishing. When the fishing gets tough, just like it is right now, a good fisherman analyzes every aspect of his (or her) approach to find a way to catch fish. It's easy enough to succumb to the insanity of doing the same thing day in and day out while expecting diferent results, but that's not the approach I chose to take while investing my valueable (and limited) free time in my beloved hobby. Whether it's moving to a new location to find the fish, trying a new lure, or changing to a new tactic, this is what it takes to continue to be successful and catch fish even when others are not.

The same philosophy applies to a good salesperson. Even when times are tough, such as they definitely are with the current economic climate, a good sales person still finds a way to capitalize on the opportunity that can be found amidst the chaos. It's easy enough to revert back to old techniques just because they have worked for you in the past, but this does nothing to position you for succes in the present. On the ice, we call this fishing a memory. In sales, we call it being a has-been.

Right now is the perfect time to evaluate some of the biggest aspects of your sales process to figure out what you can do to make yourself more successful. Are you...

1. Pursuing the right prospects? (identify and target your Zebra!)

2. Targeting those prospects at the Power-level?

3. Prepared with a Power-level, value-based approach when you get there?

If the answer to any of the above questions is "No," then these are some ideas to get your sales methodolgy on track for the new year. If you need some inspiration to help you along the way, try signing up for your free subscription to Zebra University, where you will find all the sales tools and documents that we use with our customers in our consulting business.

One more caution... any new approach takes lasting dedication and discipline to make it work. It's easy when things get tough to revert back to your old ways, but try not to let this pitfall sabotage your efforts. Being succesful in today's business climate takes a different approach than it did even yesterday... Don't be a "grumpy old man" and allow yourself to revert back to your old ways of trying to land the big one. On that note, it's time for me to go try to find the fish!

Five suggested steps to reaching your sales-related New Year's resolution

2008-12-29T08:56:00.001-08:00

1. Create your Zebra profile (if you have not already done so)
2. Practice the discipline to only pursue Zebras in 2009 and beyond
3. Learn to penetrate at the Power (decision-making) level, and stay there
4. More than double your pipeline close ratio (by only pursuing Zebras and staying at Power)
5. Earn a bigger bonus for 2009 as the result of the above! (every sales persons' goal)

Wishing a very Merry Christmas from my Zebras to yours!

2008-12-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

A little housecleaning...

2008-12-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I was digging through my list of "to-do's," and I realized I had promised to link to the edition of The Sales Roundup Podcast that featured an interview with Zebra Jeff and I once it became available... well, it's available, and you can listen to it HERE! The interview was a lot of fun, and features a lot of great content, including but not limited to how to "sweep" the junk out of your sales pipeline for the new year!

Speaking of rounding up a cleanup, what to do about the US Automotive Industry? Here are a few points for sales people to create some leverage in this troubled industry:

1. You can't do business the same as yesterday and expect a different result.
2. Long-term is obviously critical, but also figure out how to survive now!
3. Get “lean” in the sales department. Stop wasting sales, customers service, presales, marketing, support engineering and all of executive resources pursuing prospects who 85% of the time are not going to buy
4. Competition is not going to come just from the usual sources.... Apathy – I.e. doing nothing will be the biggest competitor. You MUST demonstrate why the next dollar spent should be with you among all the other alternatives, not just your classic competitors.
5. There is still opportunity in chaos, but you have to change to capture it.

Obviously these ideas apply beyond just the automotive industry, especially in this tough economy. No topic is more relevant right now, and I'll "drive" you towards some other ideas to reinvent your wheel in this time of crisis next time... The old car will still run, it just needs a tune up in order to make sure your competition stays in your rearview mirror for miles to come.

It's not the hours we put in, but what we put into the hours...

2008-12-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

In the August 25/September 1, 2008 Business Week, Jim Collins (Good to Great author) article Good to Great Expectations – Jim Collins on getting to the next level referring to CEOs states: “There are only 24 hours in a day, so what difference does it really make if you work 10 hours or 14, given that there are a thousand potential hours of work”.

Nothing could be more-true for sales people. Who has more potential work to do than a sales person?

Did you know that the most competitive companies only close about 15 PERCENT of the deals in their sales pipeline? That means that salespeople, (like you), spend time with prospects who, 85 percent of the time, AREN’T GOING TO BUY!

Unless I am throwing the ball for my chocolate Lab Winnie, I hate wasting time (actually I feel that this is anything but wasting time – but you get the idea).

There is a better way. Figure out what not to do. Put prospects that don’t belong on your forecast on you “Do not do list”. Figuring out what not to do is more important than figuring out what to do. From experience I personally know that following this approach will help you land 90 percent of the business you pursue.

Also, think about your answers to these questions:

1. Why are you successful?
2. How do you know when you are going to win?
3. Are you objectively analyzing your sales strategy to make sure your actions are as focused as possible??

Finally, here are links to two great blogs from Sales 2.0, one old and one new, that address the topic of this blog:

"Choose your Hot Prospects Carefully"

&

"Are You Losing Them at Hello?" by Jill Konrath

"First Thing Monday," and asking yourself the tough questions.

2008-11-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

My goal today is to briefly share two separate thoughts.

First, I would like to draw attention to a blog I have been reading for a few weeks now... www.FirstThingMonday.net is authored by Bruce Richardson, Chief Research Officer for AMR Research. Incidentally, Bruce was also kind enough to feature an interview with Zebra Jeff on November 18 entitled, "10 Questions with Sales Expert Jeffrey Koser."

Item #2: When evaluating the strength of your current sales pipeline, are you asking yourself the truly tough questions of the prospects you are entering into it? The three most important questions to ask yourself of each prospect before you enter it into your pipeline are:

1. Will this prospect buy anything?
2. Will this prospect buy from me?
3. Will this prospect buy now?

If you can't answer these three questions to the affirmative, then what you thought was a prospect to enter into your pipeline, may not be a prospect at all!

Ten Step Sales Process to Help Sell Above the Financial Noise

2008-11-19T10:55:00.001-08:00

According to Zebra Jeff, "It's especially important, when times are tough, for sales managers and sale people to sell value - so that prospects clearly know what they can expect before they allow you through their door."

To address this issue we offer a ten step sales process to sales managers to ensure their sales people stay focused and productive despite the economic uncertainty... The process is detailed in a recent press release authored by our very own Zebra Jeff featured here: "Ten Step Sales Process to Help Sell Above the Financial Noise."

The press release features a lot of information to digest in one sitting, but if you break it down step by step, this is a very effective approach towards achieving sales success when the odds seem to be stacked against you.

The SalesRoundup Podcast

2008-11-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon Zebra Jeff and I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Joe, from The SalesRoundup Podcast. If you're in sales and you haven't heard of this before, you really owe it to yourself to check it out! Joe is a fantastically dynamic host with a TON of real world sales experience. In a nutshell, Jeff and I had an absolute blast doing this interview, and we are proud to now be associated with this fantastic program designed specifically for salespeople.

We're not sure yet of the exact date when our interview will be airing, but we'll make sure to post that information here as soon as it's available. In the meantime, click here to check out all of the great content available at The SalesRound website.

Don't "work like a dog"...

2008-11-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

...instead, PURSUE EVERYTHING WITH THE ENTHUSIASM OF A LABRADOR!

Have you ever noticed how dogs, Labradors and other retrievers in particular, always do everything to 100% of their ability, with every ounce of passion and enthusiasm in their being? They give it their all until they have nothing left, and then it's time to rest.

This is a metaphor I try to use every day in my own life, be it in business/sales, family activities, yard work, play, etc. In particular, here are a few of the advantages to pursuing sales with Labrador-like enthusiasm:

1. You always know your target, aka Zebra... When that tennis ball gets thrown, Labradors have a singular focus on fetching and retrieving it. They don't let distractions get in the way. Pursue your Zebra relentlessly, and don't stop to chase other targets. Your resources are limited, so make sure you're using them as efficiently as possible to accomplish your goal.

2. Balance. Labradors play/work, eat, sleep, and repeat. It's good to have a routine, and make sure it includes time to balance other activities in your life that are important to you (family, friends, hobbies), and leave your work at work. Take time to rest. If you form a balanced routine for yourself, you will find that you become more effective and efficient in every aspect in your life, your sales career included.

3. Most importantly, find a way to love what you do. It's the only way to ever be truly successful. That's where that "enthusiasm" part is critical. You can work as hard as you want to, "like a dog," but if you're not enjoying your self, there's no real enthusiasm driving your efforts. If you can't find a way to love the type of sales that you're in, find a new niche or pursue a different career path altogether.

Thank you to my Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Winnie Connie Wonder (pictured above), for teaching me these important lessons, and inspiring this blog post.

These aren't my words, I'm just a messenger...

2008-11-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

Just as the real power of the President comes from the people that vote him into office, the real power of your value messaging comes from the customers you have already helped to achieve that value.

One of the main concepts that we teach sales people in communicating their message of value to a prospect, is to utilize the success stories of their existing customers in their sales presentation. The advantage of this concept is that you become a messenger of your customers' ideas and achieved value rather than a messenger and proponent of your own ideas and interpretations.

Can you feel the power in being able to confidently make the following statement to your prospect?
"Based on the value we've created by solving specific business issues for customers of similar size, in similar industries, we predict we will also be able to create this value for you."

Of course the real power in that statement comes from being able to back it up with real data. The process for developing the data and tools you'll need to make this statement to Power and support it is straightforward:

1. Conduct audits of the customer base to uncover the quantifiable value your solution has produced by solving the executive-level pain points.

2. Gather specific data about your prospect (if you haven't already).

3. Use your research and knowledge of the value your solution has created in the past to predict the value you can created for the prospect.

Losing in overtime...

2008-11-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well, election day has finally arrived, so one would expect that I'd probably seek to tie in my blog to the most current event of the day: McCain vs. Obama

However, for some reason this Tuesday, I'm still dwelling on the agony that resulted from the overtime loss in a different match up this past weekend: my Green Bay Packers vs. the still undefeated Tennessee Titans

Yes indeed, losing hurts... but nothing hurts more than a loss in overtime. My losing Green Bay Packers put forth the same amount of effort as did the victorious Tennessee Titans, but in the end they came away with no reward. The Packers must now put that loss behind them and turn their focus towards their division rival Minnesota Vikings this coming Sunday, but unfortunately, the Packers did not have a choice as to who they got to play this past Sunday, so they couldn't simply make the determination that they wanted to invest their time, energy, and resources to winning elsewhere. The good news for you, is that in sales you DO have the freedom to make that choice! (There's the tie in to election day - freedom to chose... I knew it was in me somewhere!)

Nothing hurts in sales more than finishing in second place, especially in "overtime." At this point you have invested all of the same scarce resources available to you as your competition does in trying to win the deal, but if you finish in second, there is no reward for you at the end of the game.

The sales moral of the story: Learn and practice the discipline to pursue only prospects that are Zebras. If at any point you find that a prospect that you are pursuing is not your Zebra, make the tough decision to walk away and find a prospect that IS a Zebra. This discipline will serve you well in avoiding the even tougher agony and cost of defeat in overtime.

What are the elements of a good sales plan?

2008-10-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Of course the questions that are seemingly the most simple always have the most complex of answers. Here are the most basic elements that Zebra Jeff and I strongly feel are most critical to a good sales plan, stated as briefly as we possibly could.

1. Start with perfect prospects – Zebras where you have provided unique quantifiable value in the past. Be sure, as part of the Zebra creation process that you speak with Power in your existing customers to find out the Power-level issues your solutions solves for them and the resulting value created
2. Research each prospect to find evidence they have the same business issues
3. Contact Power and confirm they have the issues you solve and a desire to solve them
4. Schedule your first appointment with Power. Position the value you would create by solving these same issues. Value claims must be backed by actual customer success that is repeatable.
5. Ask Power to partner with you. Partnering involves identification of process owners they would trust to verify your value claim.
6. Verify your value claim with Power’s people and co-author a presentation back to Power.
7. Present back to Power including a proposal that includes EVERYTHING needed to virtually guarantee you they will achieve the desired results. This proposal should be robust so you can look Power in the eye and know you have everything you need to insure they will be successful.
8. Close the business and immediately schedule a “force success” meeting.
9. Conduct a “force success” meeting every ninety days to ensure the project is on target to fulfill the promises Power made that got the project approved.

Closing business in these uncertain economic times...

2008-10-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

As this is certainly a hot topic on the mind of every sales person out there today, I thought the best way to address this topic was to post a copy of the letter that Selling to Zebras, LLC is currently sending to CEO's at prospect companies that we are targeting. Zebra Jeff and I wrote the letter together quite recently, and I think it this letter shares several important strategies for success when times are tough.

An important preface to this letter; the definition of Economic Value Added, aka EVA:

EVA is the dollar amount of benefit after removing all costs including the cost of their personnel to run your solution and the cost of capital used to purchase your solution. Most importantly, EVA allows a prospect to assess the value your project creates over and above the value created by any other way that they might choose to spend those same dollars.

And without further ado, here is our current prospect targeting letter:

Dear CEO,

These are tough economic times. Our book might help. Please enjoy the enclosed copy of Selling to Zebras, HOW to CLOSE 90% of the BUSINESS YOU PURSUE FASTER, MORE EASILY, and MORE PROFITABLY.

Account targeting isn’t unique, but our approach is. It’s simple so people will use it. We start with a Zebra – the perfect prospect, and then evaluate all prospects against perfection.

Your sales team is competing for business in a market driven by fear and noise from the current financial crisis. Competition will come from like companies, and from every other alternative use of your prospects available capital. One possible way for your sales team to get past the fear and the difficult economic environment is to create a business case driven by the Economic Value Add (EVA) your solutions create. EVA is probably the most prolific value claim any company can present.

Zebras and EVA create a powerful combination. Would you like to know more? Please read out book and visit our website at www.sellingtozebras.com and our sales blog at http://sellingtozebras.blogspot.com/.

Respectfully,

Jeffrey A. Koser

Founder and CEO

Selling to Zebras, LLC

My name is Power, and I approve this message...

2008-10-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

According to a little background research I did on the phrase at Wikipedia, "I approve this message" is spoken by candidates for federal office in order to comply with the so-called "Stand by Your Ad" provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) enacted in 2002.'

By now you may be asking, "Where is this all going, and how does it apply to sales?" Well, 'tis the season for election after all, but no, I'm not going to get into politics here on the blog (or in any other public place for that matter). I'm also not going to try to further link sales to politics, because as sales people we often have a hard enough time trying to get people to like us as it is.

The sales tie-ins to the politically influenced title of this blog are two-fold:
1. When you get to Power, you must have a message to communicate that is directly meaningful to that individual. A message "Approved" by Power.
2. It is critical that you find a way to establish credibility and some form of sponsorship at the Power level before committing further resources dedicated to engaging that prospect at the operational level (working under Power).

Since we already covered the topic of authoring a message that is meaningful to Power in our blog on September 22, today I want to focus briefly on the later of these two worthy sales-topic candidates.

If Power agrees that you have a compelling value message, but delegates a person or team working under him/her to continue working with you, this is good because it indicates the deal has Power-level sponsorship, but it is also critical to make sure you keep Power involved in the process for the following reasons:

1. This is the only real way to make absolutely sure you are in a good position to win the prospect's business
2. Failing to stay involved with Power leaves you vulnerable to being outflanked by a competitor
3. Avoid the biggest competitor at all: APATHY... the deal moving into non-decision mode.
4. It assures that your resources are only committed to working a buying cycle on a deal where you actually have a shot at winning.

How to make it happen
In the first meeting with Power, you position that the end result of your partnering process will be to present the "co-authored" results back to Power. These results are "co-authored," because your team has partnered with Power's team to verify the value that your solution would create. At the end of the buying cycle, the results gathered by partnering with those that Power trusts are coauthored and presented back to Power. As such, we've closed the loop on the buying cycle by starting with Power, and we ended at Power... the only place where a deal can actually be won.

Your sales target's name is Power... and they will DEFINITELY approve this message!

A perfect storm is rolling in...

2008-10-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

With the dramatic increase in the financial volatility in the past couple of weeks, it appears that the culmination of the Cloud Summit last week could not have been scheduled at a more appropriate time. A good summary of the details, as well as a good quote from Zebra Jeff accompanied by particularly "Presidential" photo of Zebra Jeff (also at left), can be found here at the Collaboration 2.0 blog, authored by Oliver Marks.

On a related note, here are the results from our Cloud Computing survey:

1. Cloud computing will impact your sales model.
-Vast 12.5% -Significant 50% -Moderate 12.5% -Slight 0.0% -Zero 25%

2. Cloud computing necessitates that you articulate a predictive value proposition as a major component of your sales methodology.
-Agree 75% -Disagree 25%

3. In your opinion what are the compelling business reasons for companies to move to cloud-based solutions? (check all that apply)
-Costs less than comparable traditional or SaaS (software as a service) solutions 50% -Noninvasive implementation 75% -Reliability - works the first time, every time 37.5% -Allows you to sell your main product as well as your already proven expertise/methodology for selling those products 37.5%

Barnes & Nobel Events

2008-10-10T09:19:00.000-07:00

Barnes & Noble - Tuesday, 10/22/08 - 7:00 PM

Jeff and Chad gave a 20 minute talk, Q&A, and signing.

Recent Book Signing Events

We want to thank Jennifer DeNicola, CRM, at Barnes and Noble
Brookfield Square for hosting a spectacular event with Jeff and
Chad on the evening of October 22nd.

There was a great group of people that stopped by to listen to
the authors and asked some very poignant questions. A good
time was had by all!

Thank you for stopping in and supporting Zebras.

We also want to thank Barnes and Noble – Bayshore Towne Center in Glendale, WI and West Towne Mall in Madison, WI for 2 memorable and successful events.

Special thanks to Community Relations Manager – Barb Johnson and Danielle from Bayshore Towne Center and Community Relations Manager – Jeanne Huie – West Towne Mall. Each respective CRM and staff were accommodating and welcoming. We had fun, met some great people and signed some books. Thanks for supporting Zebras!

You can purchase Selling to Zebras HOW TO CLOSE 90 % of the BUSINESS YOU PURSUE FASTER, MORE EASILY and MORE PROFITABLY at your favorite Barnes and Noble Bookstore.

Get your head INTO the clouds!

2008-10-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read correctly! We interrupt this regularly scheduled blogging to bring you an important update regarding one of the latest trends in high-tech solution sales... Cloud computing! (click link to learn more)

Selling to Zebras, LLC has been invited to participate in this year's Cloud Summit Executive... Specifically, Zebra Jeff (aka Jeff Koser) is going to be a featured speaker!

As such, we are currently conducting a brief survey to gather some data from salespeople just like yourself, regarding your opinions on the impact that cloud computing will have on selling and sales methodologies.

Click here to take our brief 4-question survey, "Selling in the Cloud..."

It is my full intention to share the results of this survey, as well as highlights and helpful strategies from the Cloud Summit Executive here on the blog, so your participation will not only be appreciated, but also rewarded!

We look forward to exploring this latest critical direction in high-tech sales, explporing ways to adapt to and leverage the changes Cloud computring brings. We now return to your regularly scheduled blogging (next time)...

WORLD PEACE? Stop Selling What You Have. Start Selling What They Need! Start selling to ZEBRAS!

2008-10-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

What is a Zebra? A Zebra is the perfect prospect. The prospect who needs what you sell, who could get measurable value, the prospect who has business problems that you solve!

I am very idealistic. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if sales people, all sales people, stopped doing activity for activity’s sake? After all, I am a sales person, and even I don’t like it when a sales person calls me and has no regard for my need, or lack thereof. When this happens don't we all find sales people to be annoying?

The statistics bear this out. Only 15% of the deals in most companies sales pipeline forecast turn into revenue as predicted. That means that 85% of the time, a sales person is wasting a prospects time. No wonder we find sales people to be annoying!

Figure out your Zebra! Waste less of your, and all your prospect’s time. You’re prospects will be happier; your sales manager will be happier because you’ll be more productive; your spouse will be happier because you’ll do it in less time and get home at night, and THE WORLD WILL BE A BETTER PLACE.

Idealistic YES! We are just doing our small part to promote WORLD PEACE!

Come join me at the Cloud Computing Summit in Mountain View, CA on October 14, 2008 and we will promote WORLD PEACE—oops I mean Zebra Selling!

Evolving to pick the hard to reach fruit...

2008-09-25T14:58:00.001-07:00

When times are good and business seems to be rolling in so easily that it's like fruit windfalling from a tree right into your lap, anyone can be successful as a sales person. But when times get tougher from a variety of factors, be it from increasing competition in your space, commoditization, or a tougher economic climate such as we are facing right now, it takes greater tact, strategy, and discipline to continue to acheive success.

Yesterday afternoon I attended part of Brian Carroll's web clinic. I would have liked to attend the entire thing, but my web connection would not upload for the streaming content, and Tucker duty cut my attendance on the telephone portion short. At the beginning of the call Brian polled his audience comprised of sales and marketing professionals, and the attendees reported the following:

1. 48% are having trouble generating enough leads in the current economy

2. 17% are having trouble identifying/qualifying leads

3. 17% are having trouble nuturing leads

So this is evidence that the remaining fruit is closer to the top of the tree at the present time.

To make matters even worse, Brian also pointed out the following:

1. In this economy, many companies are not finding it cost effective to spend money on lead generation and marketing.

2. Most companies do not have an established standardized process for quantifying/qualifying leads.

3. There is no agreement on what a lead or sales-ready lead is organization wide.

So the remaing fruit on the tree seems even more out of reach... But there is hope! By evolving your sales approach to get to, and more importantly harvest that hard to reach fruit, you can acheive sales success in just about any environment! Here is a brief overview of a few key core principles that I will cover in greater detail in the next few blogs to come:

1. Establish the Zebra Philosophy

Creation of your Zebra, the profile of your perfect prospect, is the first step. Real success happens as you implement the processes that drive the Zebra philosophy.

2. Establish a Culture of Selling Value

Selling based on value is more than just basic return on investment (ROI). Sales people must go beyond ROI to succeed in today’s sales environment.

3. Establish a Culture of Force Success

Force Success means including everything needed for your customer to fulfill the promised project goals, ensuring you deliver effective and consistent results for your customers. Establishing a culture of Force Success enables you to create a reputation for consistently meeting customer expectations.

More to come!

"Hello, this is Power..."

2008-09-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

So, you've identified Power at your prospect account, and now you've got him/her live on the other end of the wire. If you're not prepared, this would be a perfect time to PANIC!

But let's suppose that you've done your homework and identified ahead of time that Power has several pain point business issues that you can heal for them with your solution. You KNOW you already have what they want and need, now it's time to communicate it.

First let's put things in perspective to set the mood... You've just sat down to eat dinner with your family, and the door bell rings. Some how your vicious guard dog (read: lovable pet that would lick an intruder to death) was sleeping on the job, and you open the door to find yourself face-to-face with a sales person. Never mind that they might be selling the greatest product in the world that could make you richer, healthier, happier, and better looking. Inevitably you find yourself thinking, 'How can I get rid of this person as quickly as possible so that I can back to utilizing my valuable time the way I had intended to this evening?'

Now that you're in the mindset many if not most Power-level contacts will have when you get them on the phone for the first time, unless you're supernaturally lucky, or you're going to need a dynamite approach to successfully secure an appointment.

GETTING A MEETING THE ZEBRA WAY

1. Inform Power of your research and communicate the pain points you uncovered. Confirm the existence of these pain points.

2. Confirm that Power cares about these paint point business issues and wants to address them now or soon.

3. Link the paint points to what you've done for other customers just like this prospect.

4. Present the prediction of value. (Use those great financials the value model can produce for you -- there's more info about building a value model in Selling to Zebras, and you can find a free template to build your own value model at Zebra U).

5. Verify that the amount of incremental value you can create is enough to be worth it to Power to spend twenty minutes discussing it with you. If it isn't, get a referral to someone in the organization, perhaps in a different department or at a different level, who would be interested. (If you know that this prospect does suffer from the pain point business issues you solve, there IS another person that will be Power AND will have responsibility for those issues.)

6. Close for a twenty-minute appointment.

Upcoming Event - Barnes & Noble - West Towne Mall

2008-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Barnes & Noble - West Towne Mall
Wednesday, 10/8/08 - 7:00 PM
Stop in and meet Jeff and Chad for a 20 minute talk, Q&A, and signing.

Barnes & Noble West Towne Mall
7433 Mineral Point Rd.
Madison, WI 53717
608-827-0809
B&N West Towne Mall
Contact: Community Relations Manager - Jeannie Huie for more information

Removing small stones and taking care of your minutes... my reflections

2008-09-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

Time to share my reflections on the last blog entry, and how they pertain to our sales methodology. Incidentally, this all ties in perfectly to my blog from Friday, August 22 about conducting a successful 'buying cycle' that I still wanted to get back to! Must be something about Fridays...

Remove the small stones while SIMULTANEOUSLY taking care of your minutes!

After reflection, I found both of the two metaphors in my previous blog to be quite interrelated in a sales context. In order to be most effective, we must practice techniques that remove the small stones while simultaneously practicing the discipline required to make the most efficient use of our most scarce resource... time.

One of biggest mountains sales people face is conducting a successful buying cycle, and it all begins at the base with lead generation. Three key small stones to successful lead generation:

1. Identify the profile of your perfect prospect and the critical issues your solution addresses (Zebra), so that you can...

2. Get to Power on the telephone, and make your message compelling enough to stand out by... (see Zebra Jeff's definition of Power near the end of his September 11 blog entry)

3. Helping Power connect the solutions you are selling to the critical issues they need to address in their businesses.

These three small stones account for the main aspects of lead generation, and practicing a disciplined, methodical approach to removing these stones will go a long way towards climbing the summit towards a successful buying cycle. We have thoroughly defined what a Zebra is and detailed how to identify one on our website, and you can even find a free template to create your own by signing up for Zebra U. Further, Jeff has already identified several ways to help make your message to Power compelling in his blog entry on August 27. So... what about actually getting to Power on the telephone?

First, some fun-facts:

1. It usually takes aobut seven phone calls to talk with an executive at a Global 2000 company.

2. You will be relegated and delegated to the management level that matches the image you project on the telephone when calling upon a prospect.

Indeed, the hardest part of getting a meeting with Power may be just getting him/her on the phone and willing to talk to you. There are books on the market that offer some helpful dos and don'ts, but today, Power is often guarded by an almost impenetrable voice-mail system. Some companies even make you fill out an online vender profile that is fowarded to the purchasing department for screening before they will connect you beyond the switchboard. Suddenly, you're stuck in purgatory many levels below Power before you're even out of the gate.

Here are a few steps from the proven approach detailed in our book Selling to Zebras. These techniques were specifically designed to work in today's highly competitive pursuit for Power's share of mind:

1. Uncover the names of executives who might be Power (at least three executives to pursue).

2. Send e-mail to at least three potential Power-level contacts to pave the way.

3. In all communications, mention the other two executives your are pursuing.

4. Conduct a voice-mail campaign, leaving something of value with each message.

5. Prepare an executive brief that you can send if necessary.

In the next blog we'll address the third stone: Helping Power connect the solutions you are selling to the critical issues they need to address in their businesses... aka, 'what to say to make an impact' once you get to Power.

Two "GREAT" questions...

2008-09-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

This morning I discovered a new (to me) blog with a short yet brilliant post that I really enjoyed. The blog is called "Make It Great!," and it is written by Phil Gerbyshak, who is the author of the book "10 Ways to Make It Great!"

The post that I read this morning is actually from Phil's Tuesday blog, and I want to repost it here as I think the questions it poses are actually fantastic thoughts for sales people to ponder as they pertain to their daily routines...

Two Quotes:

"The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." - Chinese proverb
"I recommend to you to take care of the minutes; for hours will take care of themselves." - Philip Dormer Stanhope

Two Questions:

What are the small stones you can remove to get you closer to your goals?

Are you taking care of your minutes?

I'm going to ponder these two quotes/questions as they pertain to sales, and post my thoughts in my next blog. Pertaining to the first quote, my very wise wife has always referred to this method as her 'swiss cheese approach,' in that you start with a big piece of cheese, and cut holes in it until it's gone. I"m going to be sharing the slightly more profound mountain/stone analogy with her over dinner tonight, so I can reflect upon her thoughts on the topic as well.

Until next time, here's another picture of my favorite photo subject as of late... Tucker! My wife is the one holding him in the picture, but I deemed it unwise to post her picture on her without first obtaining her permission.

Upcoming Event - Cloud Summit

2008-09-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Cloud Summit Executive
October 14, 2008
Computer History Museum
Silicon Valley, CA

Jeff Koser will be a featured speaker at this must see event.

Cloud Summit Executive is the definitive thought leadership conference focused on the impact of the cloud ecosystem and the web as a platform. Join us and be part of the discussion as we explore and debate the business and technology surrounding the cloud. Register today for Cloud Summit Executive, October 14, 2008.

Click here to take our brief 4-question survey,"Selling in the Cloud..."

My son found his Zebra...

2008-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick and fun blog with illustration to proudly 'brag' as a new dad that my now two-and-a-half week old son Tucker already knows how to find his Zebra (note the zebra on the nook, aka pacifier)! The funny thing is, this nook really is his favorite out of an assortment. Just one of the many surprises fatherhood has brought so far; it has all been a LOT of fun. Tucker is changing so quickly right before our eyes already, that I'm already looking forward to sharing conversations about sales around the dinner table just like I used to with my Dad when I was a kid. Who knows, Tucker could just be Selling to Zebras' key to staying in touch with the sales generations of the future. No pressure though... especially given that he was born with hands relative to the size of Brett Favre's and whopping Michael Phelps-like flipper feet. Again though, no pressure (yes, I'm a VERY proud Dad indeed). A more down-to-business blog next time, but this post is the culmination of what my focus has been on for almost three weeks straight.
Life is great!

Sales–The Three Most Powerful Questions Regarding Any Prospect

2008-09-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

In life, on many different topics, we often ask and answer questions like: "when is this going to happen for me?" When we are young we might ask it about a love interest. For that matter we might ask that question at any age! When we are in college we might ask: "will I graduate?", "when?", "will I get that job?" After college and that first, second or perhaps on our third job we might ask: "when will I get that house?" And throughout life this goes on-and-on...

For those of us in sales there are three magic sales questions we are always looking to answer:

Will this prospect buy anything?
Will they buy from me?
Will they buy now?

Just like with the above questions in life, many sales people work very hard to answer these questions. And some of the hardest working sales people, actually work very hard, because they haven't found a good way to answer these three questions, on a consistent basis.

The key is to sell to Power. Who is Power? Well on a sale that requires multiple steps to close, Power is the person who owns the promises that will be made to get the project approved. Find Power, know the promises that are usually made to get a decision approved, and you will begin to unlock the key to knowing how to consistently answer our three magic questions. Now life's questions...well those are a little harder :).

2008-09-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

Vormittag Associates, Inc.

A Leader in Enterprise Management Software

http://www.vai.net

Jeff Koser was recently featured as one of the keynote speakers at VAI Dealer Conference at the Venetian in Las Vegas on September 23, 2008.

Thank you to all the attendees for making this conference a success! And special thanks to VAI Inc.'s Bob Vormittag, Kevin Beasley, Lisa Visconti and others for insuring Selling to Zebras was so well received.

View the presentation Jeff delivered at the VAI Dealer Conference.

Digital Software Magazine

2008-09-06T02:37:00.000-07:00

Digital Software Magazine

July/August Issue

See our ad in Digital Software Magazine July/August Issue! You won't have to go far, just open the cover page! Download Digital Software Magazine July/August Issue or you can become a subscriber - click below:

http://www.softwaremag.com/

Vistage - Review of Selling to Zebras

2008-09-06T02:32:00.000-07:00

Read the review written by: Emerald Chien, Vistage Corporate Communications Intern

Emerald’s review of Selling to Zebras supports our position as the "THINKING MANS SALES GUIDES"

Click here to download the review: Emerald Chien Vistage – Book Review

Sales is no longer a numbers game

2008-09-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the latest podcast from Salesopedia featuring Jill Konrath. It was almost like listening to a female me. Not a mini-me, a female-me. The school of hard knocks often teaches the same lessons simultaneously. Kind of like the same invention happening oversees at the same time as in the U.S. with no apparent connection between the two. Perhaps the ethers connect us all...but that is a different topic. Speaking of knocks...knocking on every prospects door with equal vigor and enthusiasm proved vastly ineffective, not to mention expensive, for us. We discovered, like Jill, that the market has changed. What worked just a few short years ago no longer works. Sales is no longer a numbers game. Making 100 phone calls in an attempt to schedule 25 appoints, to do 12.5 surveys in the hopes of turning those into…well you get the idea. This activity management approach used to produce one sale. Today, this level of activity can result in a big fat 0.

How do you improve the odds? Focus is the key. How do you know you're properly focused? When you know so much about your prospects, and their business issues, that they begin to say things like, "you have answers to questions we didn't even know to ask". When you hear that— you're focused! Zebra.Jeffhttp://www.sellingtozebras.com/

Zebra Jeff turns into Grandpa Jeff (Getting through the noise)

2008-08-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

How do you get through all of the noise?

Yesterday the most wonderful thing happened, my son, Chad and his wife, Jill had their first child, and I became a Grandpa, for the first time. Tucker Jeffrey Koser was born at 6:02 a.m., weighed 7'13", and is 20 inches long. All of these statistics are average, but big for a Koser!

Mom and Tucker are healthy!

Mom, Dad, Grandpa and the entire family are all very proud.

As mentioned, statistically Tucker is (well perhaps a little bigger than) average. But you should see his large hands and feet. The nurse showed me that Tucker's footprint filled the little footprint identification sheet. Hands like Brett Favre, and flippers like Michael Phelps! Do you feel that? This information is compelling to me because it's very personal.

You know it is personally important to me, because I told you so.

Tucker definitely got through all of the noise in my world and got my attention.

Okay, so this might be a bit of a stretch in transition, but I am going to make it anyway. In sales you have to find out what is personally important to a person in a position of Power (Power is the person who will own the promises it takes to get your sale approved) if you are to make it through all of the noise in their world.

Executives tell you what is personally important to them just like I told you what was personally important to me. Read the chairman's letter in their annual report. The chairman's letter will give you two, three, or even a handful of nuggets that can be used to create a lead, and help you penetrate an account at an executive level.

Use the exact words you find in the chairman's letter. There isn't any reason to get cleaver or creative. Repeat the words exactly as they are printed, because this way they will know exactly what you are saying. I have personally used this technique over the phone and in face-to-face meetings. On numerous occasions I have been asked where I got such "on target" inside information.

I told you earlier what was important to me today - TUCKER! Power makes it just as easy for you to know what is important to them.

Sorting through the noise: Get the upper hand on account penetration!

2008-08-22T07:51:00.001-07:00

While enjoying my morning coffee I was reading through the Summer 2008 edition of Whitewater magazine, which is the quarterly publication of my Alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. On page 11 I came across a striking photo of an electric lime green book cover featuring an image of a dairy cow listening to an iPod in the center. The book is called "Acting Out Culture - Reading and Writing," written by UW-Whitewater Associate Professor James S. Miller. Being a newly published author myself, the eye-catching cover in the photo compelled me to read the article, which was also written by Miller.

Miller wrote "Acting Out Culture" as a teaching tool for his Freshman English class to better reach his students and help them see the 'important connections between English class and their own day-to-day lives.' At the beginning of each semester, Miller poses the question to his students, 'How many different messages do you have to make your way through on a daily basis?'

Miller's question really got me thinking about the clutter and noise in the business sales world today, particularly as it pertains to the busy daily routines of executives. Executives today experience greater demand for their time than ever before; more than they can possibly get to in any given business day. To really kick off my blog in the same spirit of Associate Professor Miller's thought-prompting semester kick-off question, I ask you to think about the following:

1. How do we as sales people effectively penetrate new prospect accounts at the executive-level given all the other noise executives must sort through?

2. What can we do to make our own attempts at communication compelling enough to rise above all the clutter?

3. How do we help executives to see the important connection between the solutions we are selling and the critical issues they need to address in their businesses?

More to come...

Preparation for a new baby...

2008-08-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce soon to become a proud new Dad! Our first son, to be named Tucker Jeffrey Koser, is due to be born tomorrow, August 20th. Whether or not he will show up exactly when he is "supposed to" will remain to be seen, but inevitably his arrival has been on my mind pretty much constantly in recent days. Given that I also focus on my work as a sales consultant on a daily basis, today I started to ponder similarities between the two topics.

Successful preparation for fatherhood has a variety of parallels to a successful sales cycle (I like to call it a "buying cycle," but more on that another day). A few of them are:

1. Pursuit of something very meaningful and important in the end (success)
2. Identifying and addressing critical needs ahead of time
3. Maintaining focus on those aspects that are truly important
4. The ability to nurture development and progress
5. Enjoyment of benefits by both parties as part of a healthy relationship

One final thought: Birth will be occurring at the end of my preparation for fatherhood just like a deal is closed at the end of a sales cycle, but in both cases reality is that it is only just the beginning.

This comparison really brings a smile to my face, and I hope it does the same for you!

Welcome to Selling to Zebras blog!

2008-08-18T05:44:00.002-07:00

We're glad you're here. In the coming months we'll cover sales techniques, lead generation, and strategic selling.

Software 2008

2008-08-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Archived News/Events

http://www.software2008.com/

View the documented results of using the Zebra value based selling method, as presented by Pat Williams - SVP Sales, StarCite Inc., Pat reveals the success that StarCite has experienced by creating their Zebra and executing the Zebra Buying Cycle.

See How StarCite:

Increased their pipeline win rate

Increased the average sales price

Reduced the sales cycle (Zebra Buying Cycle)

Jeff Koser’s presentation will walk you through the steps necessary to create your Zebra (a prospect that is a perfect fit for your company) and understand the value of utilizing the Zebra Buying Cycle.

Click here to download Jeff’s presentation
Software 2008 Presentation

Cape Horn Strategies

2008-06-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Archived News/Events

http://www.capehornstrategies.com/

Jeff Koser presented at two CEO Roundtable events via a web conference on June 9th & 10th. Brian Turchin, Founder of the Long Island & Manhattan CEO Roundtables attended software2008 in Las Vegas and viewed Jeff's presentation. He was so impressed by the Zebra philosophy he wanted to share it with his colleagues.

Click here to download Jeff’s presentation
Cape Horn Strategies Presentation