Finding a Hole in the Wall

How to open up your next account…

Here is the deal… There are two ways of opening up an account:

1. Prospect on managers “we can help you with your business initiatives”, or
2. Prospect on technical managers “we can help make you go from zero to hero”

Prospecting on managers is the textbook answer, always seek power. But if your offering really addresses a transitional pain or even an operational pain, chances are high that you will get little or no success with that approach. Management just won’t meet you. So if that door is closed and the door marked “procurement” seems less interesting you have to knock on the doors of the people who are supposed to fulfill the great plans of management.

This week I spoke with some cleaver salesmen who invented the “Index” approach to prospecting. The sales message is “I know that you (Mr. Customer) have invested a great deal in moving from A to B, and our company has also recognized that many XX managers have run into some severe difficulties when they have done the initial investment in the new technology and want to take the first version to the next level (example). Problems we see are: X, Y, Z, we have invented a Quick Index that can help in the process of finding gaps and decide relevant actions. Can we have a meeting so I can show you?”

I love this approach, if it is used with a bit of “eagle talent”. Index itself can attract the “Mr. Tell-me-more”, so qualification of power is very important.

The index is then reported back in a workshop, where you can invite important people and use them as a prospect-base.

Written by and posted with the permission of:
Jens Edgren, Lindgren Partners Solution Selling
+ 46 8 651 25 00
www.lindgren-partners.se