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Never Take a Knife to a Gunfight 1

The scene in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is an
all-time classic. Cornered by a master-swordsman wielding a scimitar, and with a bull-whip in his hand, it looks like Indiana Jones is done-until he pulls out his gun and shoots the swordsman. Simple lesson-the sharpest blade and quickest hand are no match for a gun in a fight.

Sales people are the wrong weapons for a discussion with purchasing and procurement people. So much of the conversation is based upon the financial review and accounting. The issue is not the capability of the salespeople, but the credibility of the controller or CFO in the conversation. Speaking the same language, evaluating the proposal through similar filters and working through sticking points . . . gunfight-take a gunfighter.

There is the sales process and the negotiation. These are kissing cousins, but they are not the same thing. We need our finance people in the sales process as well as the negotiation.

Using these financially-minded people in the sales process gives your company leverage
  • Peer-to Peer - It is our belief that the best way to make whales confident is to have peers work together.

  • Dispassion - Having a cooler head in the sales process gives your company a more reasonable person to consider various possibilities such as walking away from deals earlier-when either the chance to win is low or the chance to lose money is high.

  • Internal understanding of market context for initiatives - Finance people who do not participate in key account selling processes work in a vacuum and lose perspective. Having them in these discussions gives them valuable education about the market and how accounts consider their purchases.

  • Better positioning for negotiation - If your finance people have been in some of the conversations in the sales process, they will better know the people, key issues and thinking processes of their counterparts.

How to manage using your finance leadership in whale hunts:
  • Frame the objectives of the meeting - Each meeting in a sales process has an objective. Early on, you are seeking clarity, understanding and agreement on the general issues. As you move through the sales process, you are working on accuracy, implementation and contract terms. Financial people bring very specific skills to their jobs, such as financial analysis, risk review and business experience. However, if you bring the finance people too early into the process, they muddy the waters with precision, when what is needed is consensus. Set your objectives clearly with your finance people before each meeting and define for them the role that you want them to play.

  • Use the agenda to drive your issues - Because you have defined the role of your finance person, you can set out in the agenda when he or she will participate. In doing this, you also have the opportunity to request the purchasing/procurement people to be in the meeting for that portion. This gives you more control in the process.

  • Prep your finance person on personalities, discussion issues, and sales history etc. - We have met a lot of very savvy finance people who are comfortable and effective in almost any group of people. However, because finance people are often not in the role of participating in the sales process, it is important to prepare any finance person to understand who will be in the room from the whale and how to best interact with each of those people. Without history and perspective, by their analytical nature they may back-up over issues that have been discussed and resolved or drive other key people in the whale a little crazy.

If you leave your finance people off the boat until the negotiation, you lose a lot of your strength on the boat and risk getting outplayed early by taking a knife to a gunfight.


— Tom Searcy





Tom Searcy, The Whale Hunters Company, Large Account Sales, Business Growth, Sales Process Development, Fast Growth Strategies, RFPs, Key Account Management, Current Account Growth, Sales Management, Breaking Business Growth Plateau's, Prospecting System, Business Acceptance Process, Sales Management Development, Big Sales, Big Deals, Deal Coaching, Transform your company, Explosive Growth, Whale Hunting

FOOTNOTE: 1 COPYRIGHT 2006-2008, THE WHALE HUNTERS, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.