New Sales. Simplified. summary

You have completed the questionnaire, you’ve worked on your shortcomings, you’re ready to go. Where do you start? You could start with a new business development framework – the one that Mike Weinberg uses and that has been refined over a decade. 

The interesting thing about this framework is that it was born out of failure. Several years ago, Weinberg joined a learning management company. He had big dreams! He would deliver so much new business, riding the tech wave, and eventually becoming rich and famous. But things didn’t work out that way. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

Let’s start with the first point in your plan: the targets. Imagine you’re planning a new business-development sales campaign. Now there are two questions you need to ask: Where are you going to get the business from? And who should you be pursuing?

Select your targets strategically so that you can invest your time effectively. Ask yourself big-picture questions. Who are your best customers? What are they like? Can you find other customers similar to them?

You’re a fighter pilot. Your mission is to exceed your sales goal. And to do that, you need to secure new accounts. You’re already locked in to your finite, focused, written, and workable list of targets. Now, it’s time to load up your fighter plane to execute your mission. So what’s in your armory? 

One weapon you do have at your disposal is networking – building your relationships, using social media to research and connect with targets, email, telephone calls, voice mail, marketing materials, white papers, face-to-face sales calls, case studies, samples and demos, trade shows, entertainment, presentations, proposals, and references.

You’re at home, wanting to relax. But you can’t, because the phone is ringing. You pick up the phone. It’s a telemarketer. You imagine the headset-wearing caller sitting at a desk and reading from a script. You can hear they’re a salesperson just from the tone of their voice. And then it hits you: that’s me. That’s how I sound when I’m cold calling – or, as the author prefers to call it, making a proactive sales call.

So, when you’re making a call to a target, get rid of your sales voice. Talk casually with a normal tone. And when it comes to a script, it’s better to have an outline for your call with some key phrases, rather than reading from a script.

Let’s talk about how you should structure your client visit. In Mike Weinberg’s framework, there are seven phases. If you are talking to an existing customer, you have an additional phase, making it eight in total.

Think about the last time you went to a store where you were approached by an eager salesperson. Did you feel comfortable? Chances are you weren’t. Probably your hackles were up – and that’s a perfectly normal reflex. 

You shouldn’t think that it’s your fault when your prospect shows resistance. But it is your problem to solve. How do you do that? Here are four steps.

Showdown! You’ve selected your targets, your weapons are in place. Now it’s time to attack. You arrive at the office and you realize: you have your existing accounts to deal with. And then there’s the sales meeting you have to attend. A meeting with the manager. Product and project managers interrupt you needing details. Meanwhile, the kids are ill, your parents need your help, your heating has broken down, you need to read the news . . .

This is kind of how most new business salespeople find their day. There’s no “spare half hour” where you can pick up your prospect list easily. So what’s to be done?