Learn What a Whale Is in Sales

Learn What a Whale Is in SalesLearn What a Whale Is in SalesIn sales terminology, a whale is pretty much just what it sounds like its a prospect thats at least 10 times larger than your average sale. With B2B sales geschftsleben to business a whale prospect is often a company thats far larger than your own. In B2C or business to consumer sales, it might be a prospect who buys your priciest product option and does so regularly. Finding and Hunting Whales The whales are out there, but youll probably have to cross a lot of open water to get to the pod. Meanwhile, youll be sailing right above a lot of viable customers and clients along the way. Dont ignore them in favor of the big fish, particularly when youre just starting out in sales. Those small fish are your initial bread and butter, so drop your line and reel them in. Its OK to keep your eye on the pod on the horizon, but take advantage of the easy pickings along the way. Now you have to get the attention of one of those whal es in the pod, and how you do this depends to some extent on the nature of your business. If youre selling luxury cars, head out to places that luxury car owners are likely to frequent, like the finest restaurants in your area. Sticking your business card under the wipers of that Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet in valet parking is a little pedestrian, but head inside and take a seat at the bar. Invest an hour. Talk up prospects. After youve guided the conversation to automobiles,thenyou can hand over your card and youve hopefully made a great impression in the meantime. Of course, the approach can be much different in B2B transactions, but the concept remains Dont rush in blind. Preparation is key. Identify your whale and approach with finesse. And remember, your prospect is probably being courted by a dozen of your competitors. Youll have to be extremely impressive to outdo everyone else and bring the whale in as a customer. Closing the Deal Closing deals with whales often take s far more time and effort than a typical sale, but these deals are so much larger a single whale can be the equivalent of a dozen others. This makes them very worthwhile to pursue despite the extra trouble while youre still trolling for other, smaller fish. You might even turn the whale into a repeat customer so hes even more valuable. Follow the same sales process that you use for standard prospects, but bring it up a notch. If you usually research a prospect well enough to ask three customized questions during the presentation, youll want to come up with 10 customized questions for your whale. Anticipate that he will be a harder sell. Dont skimp on personal touches like thank you notes or even small gifts that reflect the prospects interests. After the Sale If you do succeed, pay extra attention to your new large-size customer. Touch base frequently to be koranvers that hes satisfied and hopefully will continue to buy from you.