In their book, “Selling to Zebras,” authors Jeff and Chad Koser serve up specific tools including sales models, charts and spreadsheets to help close more sales. It is a fresh departure from the typical sales book packed with bullet points that really just regurgitate another sales training workshop.
For the record, zebras are symbolic of prospects that are perfect fits for certain companies and are easily spotted amid other prospects.
The book’s message originates from business-to-business sales of capital equipment.
If you don’t represent something close to such sales, you may find getting the juice out of this book isn’t worth the squeeze. If you do, here are a few tips.
• Develop a zebra profile. Your best source for building a profile of prospects is to examine your current customers more closely. What factors most draw your current customers to do business with you? What characteristics do they have that also match well with your company’s strengths? Targeting prospects that share many of these same demands and expectations for value improves the likelihood of expanded success.
• Identify value drivers. Ask: What difference do you make to your customer’s operation? Then explore the specific components of those drivers that comprise the value, and determine how each of those elements affects the bottom line.
• Create a survey to help you identify your company’s value drivers and poll decision makers (past customers) and their goals. Focus your survey on aspects like the savings your solution actually achieved. Much of this data or proof of value will be quantifiable, but don’t overlook indirect aspects such as productivity that can help you close more business, too.
• Graph or illustrate your solution’s payback. The authors advocate visual sales tools that help differentiate the value of your solution compared to competitor solutions. The book provides several good examples you might adapt.
• Don’t expect buyers to be experts. Buyers need to be educated on the value of your products/services and how to make good decisions on your solutions.
• Nab meetings with power players. Identify at least three people who might have power in a company, and build your network.
• Develop a powerful value proposition. This should be developed in part from your survey of past customers, focusing on the value components those customers achieved and linking those elements with your prospect’s potential pain points.
• Research prospects thoroughly. Use Web sites, industry trade publications or third-party information providers. Buyers will find this effort appealing.
• Confirm the driving issues for each prospect. Even after researching the prospect, you will want to conduct your sales due diligence by identifying each company’s particular needs.
• Measure sales effectiveness. Management should be measuring aspects such as closing rates, revenues, broken down by salesperson or division, and average age of sales pipeline.
Bottom lineIf you’re in capital goods sales, or something close, you won’t have to work too hard to get value. Otherwise, much of the worth from this book won’t be as easily realized.
Springfield-based consultant Mark Holmes speaks nationally on increasing employee and customer retention and improving employee performance. He is the author of “Wooing Customers Back” and “The People Keeper,” and writes a blog at www.managemyemployees.com. He can be reached at mholmes@managemyemployees.com.
