Episode 119, What Filters do you use?

Simplify Your Sales meetings. Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  Lisa coaches leaders on simplifying sales and business meetings with fun and interesting 3-word  topics to get your sales team motivated and inspired.  She has over 34 years of marketing, sales, and leadership experience.

 

Episode 119, We discuss creating filters to help you focus your time and energy on the accounts with spending potential!

 

I have a question for you. Do you or your sales team spend their time chasing rabbits or elephants? I know, I hear you. Has Lisa lost it talking about Rabbits and Elephants versus Sales and Marketing?  

 

By the end of the podcast, you will have answered the question for yourself moving forward.

 

Let's see if this scenario sounds familiar, especially if you're in sales. You prospected an account and met with them to share how you could help them. Your thinking, I have the perfect recommendation for them based on their pain points and needs. Your thinking to yourself, this may be the easiest sale yet. And they share they have $4,000 to invest in your program. UGH.

 

So what do you? Go down the Rabbit Hole with the client. You want to make a sale! You give it your best effort to help them solve an issue that done right would cost $25,000. You know how the story ends. They don't get the results they need and either cancel or don't renew your program.

 

The topic of chasing Rabbits vs. Elephants was discussed with one of my account executives during our coaching session.

 

We were reviewing her target accounts she was looking at converting to customers. I always ask the question, Why are you targeting this particular account. Reasons tend to vary. So I asked her to look at her targets a little differently.  

 

I asked her, What Filters are you using when deciding who to call? She hesitated, well I think they are an excellent fit for our products. I said, tell me more. At that moment, I knew she might be spending time chasing Rabbits down holes versus looking for Elephants.  

 

This is a friendly reminder to revisit your sales filters. Discussing what filters you should use to determine your best customers is a great discussion in your next sales meeting or one-on-one coaching sessions if you are a manager.

 

What are your filters? I am not talking about Coffee filters. The filters you put in place that determines which accounts you should focus on getting a meeting!

 

The top three filters I recommend:

1. You want to review your or your companies most successful clients. Do they have the dollar potential and resources? How much do they spend to get results? It will help you understand the time of investment it takes to have a successful program. 
2. Access to the decision-makers.  You don't want to spend your valuable time sharing all your great ideas with the person that doesn't have the authority to say yes.   
3. Are they a fit for your product or service?   Are you stretching some of your clients to fit, or have you discovered specific categories that tend to excel when working with you?

 

Here are a few other filters you may want to consider when determining where to focus your time and energy.

 

Quality versus Quantity. You know the 80-20 Rule. 80% of your billing and income tend to come from 20% of your accounts. Success leaves clues. You want to focus your time on those accounts that make up your income and find more of them.

 

Schedule time on your calendar to focus on developing new accounts.  Spend focused time researching companies that you know you can help. It takes focused time to research and find the decision-maker to start a conversation about supporting and solving their needs.

 

Find the Elephants.  Think Big! It is a mindset. What you focus on, you tend to get. Identify the larger spending potential accounts. Yes, it may take more time, but we are looking for long-term, successful partnerships.

 

Happy Customers! If you missed Episode 115, I share how to get 10-12 referrals from one Happy Customer! Ask your best clients who are spending the most with you for referrals.

 

Market yourself!  Use social channels like Linkedin to position yourself as a resource. Share articles, write a blog, do a video on ideas to help companies grow. 

 

So I will leave you with this. What are you willing to do for your business? The year is ending, and a new one is right around the corner.

 

What will you do in the next 24 hours to create momentum and work smarter?

What filters can you put in place in the next seven days? 30 days? 60 days? 90 Days?

 

One piece of advice, stop chasing Rabbits and Keep focused on Elephants!

 

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Learn more about how to Simply Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com .