Why Sell To Large Corporations?

Are you a sales representative for a small business that sells in the B2B environment, but doesn’t have the luxury of a strong brand, huge marketing budgets or a 100+ year history of success to label your company a “least-risk” vendor? If you are, you’re not alone, but I have good news for you.

Perhaps you even said something like “XYZ Company, one of the largest organizations we compete with, has locked that enormous account up so it’s not worth my time to chase it.” I know I have – but I was all wrong and let me tell you why it’s definitely worth going after large accounts within your target markets (as well as government entities, if appropriate):

• Larger, longer-term contracts make your cash flow and revenue more predictable.
• Fewer, but more valuable, contracts enable you to construct a stable business built on true core competencies.
• Your overhead is often lower when you are strategic about the accounts you pursue. A new contract will benefit from the systems and personnel dedicated to an existing agreement. Depending on your margin structure, supporting a large account may cost as much as supporting a smaller one.
• Enterprise-wide growth can be tremendous. A piece of business with one unit or division of a large company can lead to opportunities in other areas of the organization you may not even target initially.
• There’s huge potential for referral-based business. A recommendation from an executive at a giant corporation is worth its weight in gold!

Now, based on these 5 points, I urge you to take a careful look at your 2010 sales strategy and commit yourself and your sales team to developing a plan to open at least one large account for every seven smaller ones. Find out how you can win those larger accounts by reading my latest book, Playing Bigger Than You Are; it outlines strategies you can use to sell to corporate giants. To learn more and find out where you can order your book, visit: www.PlayingBiggerThanYouAre.com.

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by Will Brooks Filed under: Professional Selling 1 Comment

Can You Spot the Major Selling Lesson in This Image? – Part 2

Thank you to the people who responded to the question above. All great insights. Congratulations to the winner, Rick Thomas! We will be sending you a copy of “How To Sell At Margins Higher Than Your Competitors,” by Bill Brooks & Larry Steinmetz.

The image above is a very simple representation of the timeless sales truth that buyers – when they are able to see the true value of a product or service to themselves or their organization – will pay full price or fee (within reason, of course). And if they don’t have the budget, it’s been my experience that they will work as hard as they need to in order to find the money.

As simple as the image above is, I think it serves as a fun reminder that the more value sales professionals create in the mind of their prospects or customers, the less the chance of price becoming an issue will be.

One of the comments below by CL Meyer comes directly from a concept we teach in our High IMPACT Selling® Sales Training courses: The Value Formula.

The Value Formula simply states:

Value is created when the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived price or emotional cost of committing to your product or service.

The key for you and your sales team is always to remember this: the value we believe our products or services bring is meaningless within the sales interaction. Until we can uncover the needs (and more importantly the wants) of the buyer, we simply cannot build the value that is so essential to avoiding price objections. Always remember this: in the absence of value, all sales interactions will degenerate into an issue of price. Good selling!

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by Will Brooks Filed under: Professional Selling No Comments

Can You Spot the Major Selling Lesson in This Image?

What sales strategy do you see?

Post comments explaining how this image represents value. (Use "Leave a Reply" box to post a comment.)

The person with the best comment by Thursday, August 20th wins a copy of the popular book “How To Sell At Margins Higher Than Your Competitors,” by Bill Brooks & Larry Steinmetz.

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by Will Brooks Filed under: Professional Selling 4 Comments

Flip-flops, Shorts and the Weekend…When are You Really on Vacation?

The answer is – unfortunately – never!

Selling in today’s marketplace can be a 7-days-a-week endeavor involving travel, late planes and/or long drives covering a territory. All of this translates into plain and simple hard work. So, when we get a little time off – whether it’s taking a few well-deserved days of vacation or simply enjoying a weekend – we’re “off the clock” (is there such a thing in sales today?) and we can totally relax, right?

Nope! Wrong!

And that’s what this post is about: a very simple – yet often forgotten – concept.

Here it is: regardless of whether you’re out of town on vacation or you’re simply buzzing around town on the weekend running errands with your family, it’s absolutely critical that you conduct yourself as professionally out in public as you would if you were face-to-face with one of your biggest clients.

Here’s why: you never know who you may run into in your off-work activities. It’s far too easy to slip into “relaxation mode” away from the office and out of the suit, and frankly, become oblivious about what your professional image needs to be.

This isn’t to say that we all don’t behave in an absolutely stellar fashion when we’re away from work. I would submit to you, though, that it’s easy to slip into a less formal mode when we’re in our comfort zone. Make sure you stay vigilant; I ran into one of my key clients in Lowe’s just the other day!

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by Will Brooks Filed under: Professional Selling No Comments