New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development

by Mike Weinberg

Sales Driver. Said another way, if we are not closing new deals, the

problem can be identified either as: Poor target selection or lack of focus on selected targets Lame sales weapons or lack of proficiency deploying weapons Inadequate planning or lack of execution of the

The business has a clear strategy, a defined place in the market, and there is demand for its offering. The sales compensation plan is not working against the desired sales effort. The sales talent would at least qualify as “average.”

“Where is the business going to come from?” and “Who should I be pursuing?”

prospecting and new business development sales attack,

the proactive new business hunter requires a strategically selected list of

appropriate target accounts in order to launch the attack.

are our best customers? What are their common characteristics? What do their businesses “look, smell, and feel” like? Where are they

located? Are they a particular size (e.g., in terms of revenue) or in certain vertical markets or niches where we have a higher rate of success? Where can we find potential customers with similar profiles?

How much of our time should be allocated to account penetration, to prospecting, to working referral sources? Are there certain competitor’s

finite target list is essential for a successful new sales attack. Salespeople who succeed in acquiring new business lock in on a finite number of strategic targets.

committed to this defined list and are therefore able to penetrate targets with their sales weapons.

greatest success seem to result from a laser-focused sales effort.

Repeated calling on the same type of company allows us to become “experts” as we learn the language, nuances, and business issues facing similar prospects.

know which questions to ask and when. We build a reputation along with an ...

point to their finite, focused, written list at any moment.

truly believe the very act of writing or printing out and posting a target list creates increased new business activity and improved results.

opinion on the right number of accounts for a salesperson to work. There are as many “right” answers to that question as there are types of businesses. It completely depends on the type of sale, sales role, and sales cycle. On one extreme, I have friends who sell enterprise-level IT solutions and are charged with selling to only a dozen or so accounts.

All accounts are not created equal.

allocate our attention to accounts with the greatest potential to produce results?

existing customers into four categories: 1. Largest—in terms of dollars spent (not size of the organization) 2. Most Growable—best opportunity for incremental revenue 3. Most At-Risk—highest probability of losing their business (some or all of it)

—accounts that do not qualify for any of the previous three categories

I’m going to overserve and overinvest in my Most Growable, Largest, and Most At-Risk accounts.

challenging

of identifying and choosing potential clients is left to the salesperson. And that can be pretty daunting, particularly for a new

Who are our best customers (by industry, size, business model, location,

Why did they initially become customers? Why do they still buy from us? Who do we compete against in the marketplace? Why and when do they beat us? And why do prospects choose us over them? Who used to be our customers (said differently, who used to buy from us)?

Why did we lose the business? Who almost became a customer but didn’t (deals where we came close but lost)? Who has referred business to us in the past? Who should be referring business to us?

want to pursue prospects that look, feel, and smell like our very best clients. We know we bring value to the equation. We have instant credibility.

referral sources and decision influencers are more important targets than the actual

salesperson builds a strategic, finite, focused, written, and workable list of target referral sources.

TheSalesBlog.com.

key is to set aside a small percentage of time every week or two to advance the ball downfield with each dream target account.

Because the pursuit of dream clients is a high-risk affair with low probability of success, it’s essential that we continue to fervently work the normal targets on our list.

notion of landing a dream client and ending up a prisoner of hope instead of working our sales process

are very interested in solving business problems and improving results in the areas under their control.

get an executive’s attention, that is what we must be talking about, and it’s why having a sharp, customer-focused sales story is essential.

Every salesperson must be armed with the necessary weapons and then become

Sales Story. The story is foundational to everything we do in sales, and we use bits and pieces of it in all of

By “story” I’m referring to the language or talking points we use when asked what we do or when we tell someone about our business.

critical to our success that the next two chapters are dedicated to helping you create and implement a succinct, powerful, diff...

This is the age-old practice of building relationships and connecting with people who can

The opportunity to research and connect with potential customers has exponentially increased with the social media revolution.

mail has become the primary weapon of choice for many sales hunters when making an initial contact with prospects. It is less disruptive to the

Proactive Telephone Call. Much to the dismay of many Sales 2.0 pontificators and scared sales reps, I remain a huge fan of our old friend, the telephone.

Traditional Printed Marketing Materials. Sell sheets, brochures, catalogs, and introductory letters to prospects sent via snail mail. These weapons have been around for ages and, when

Digital Marketing Tools: Blogs, Podcasts, Online Videos (YouTube), and Webinars. These powerful and interactive tools put a modern twist on traditional sales materials. This relatively new genre of weapons is attractive for a variety of reasons, not the

White Papers and Industry Experts. Third-party, unbiased, or academic information

Initial Face-to-Face Sales Call. The first face-to-face meeting with a prospect is the pinnacle of what we do in sales.

Probing Questions. I’m convinced that more and better