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Mass. Senate Race Alternate Ending Compares with Major Account Selling

  
  
  

Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.

By know you must know about the recent special Massachusetts senate race between Democrat Martha Coakley and relative unknown Republican Scott Brown, the eventual winner.  Well guess what!  If this hard fought campaign had taken place at the same time 49 other states were holding their senate elections, Martha Coakley would have crushed Scott Brown.  But, since it was only such election being held, attention, and far more importantly, campaign contributions, endorsements, support and actual campaigning came from all over the nation.  All of that extra attention and support got him elected.  It was a full-court press!  Of course it helped that Martha did not run her campaign very well. 

Relate this to a major account sales initiative. What if you had the ability to do what Scot Brown did, each and every time you had a major account opportunity?  What if those major accounts could be leveraged in the same way as Scott Brown's senate seat?  What if you could amass the focus and attention to that opportunity?  What would your full-court press look like?

Elections and Major Account Sales Opportunities are essentially the same thing. Convince more people to vote for you than your competitor.  

Hint: It wouldn't be about price...so what would it be about and how would you run your campaign? What normally untapped resources are at your disposal? Especially if you are the underdog, the lesser known, the small company, or the niche player, how would you win your prospect's vote?  Comment here and let's see how creative you can be!

(c) Copyright 2010 Dave Kurlan




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Posted by Dave Kurlan on Wed, Jan 27, 2010 @ 12:03 PM

COMMENTS

I always try to assault the Basic instincts- show your audience or your customers how to avoid pain or gain pleasure.

posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 12:56 PM by david littlefield


Of course, Dave. You would ask hard, insightful business questions exposing the real business problem, who cares about it and why, and how much the problem is costing or how much impact it has. You would then prove your solution meets and exceeds the requirements of those buyers who care.  
 
 
 
All that said, I disagree that Martha Coakley would have crushed Scott Brown on another day and time. Remember all the resources ($$) and people that arrived and supported her. I think the President has more pull than Guiliani.  
 
 
 
It's more about working hard (harder than your opponents/competition) and staying on message based on what you learned from the voters (buyers)!

posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 1:21 PM by Duncan Law


@David - your basic instincts approach is good, but what about the full court press? What do you bring in addition to that?

posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 2:41 PM by Dave Kurlan


@Duncan - I am publicly neutral on politics. I'm saying that Brown's campaign would have gone unnoticed and he wouldn't have had the funding to get the attention that led to his election. I agree, that if he did attract the same attention, he would have won in a traditional November election too.

posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 2:44 PM by Dave Kurlan


The number one reason Scott Brown won is that he exposed a unrealized need and pain point in the electorate, which at the end of the day is focus on being relevant to your customers. (voters)

posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 4:17 PM by Jim G


Scott understood the buying motivations of his constituents and focused his message around their issues. He mobilized those outside of MA to help him by understanding their motvations and playing to those as well. Understanding and focusing on his "prospects" is what got him the attention and ultimately the election. Its easy to get help. Just show others how helping you gets them what they want! 
 

posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 4:24 PM by Dan Caramanico


Comments have been closed for this article.