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So, I took the private plane to the east coast for one of my client's big pitches to one of their big clients. It sounds a little chi-chi, I know- but honestly, it didn't suck.

Here’s the set up: we’re going to ask their client to buy something that they’ve never bought before and something that my client has only performed in a very limited way in the past. This agreement will more than double the size of their relationship almost immediately. Let's check the Sales Difficulty Scale:


  • The prospect is actually a current client = good

  • The prospect has not done this before = bad

  • My client has limited experience (in this particular situation)

  • There’s big money involved


The security threat level is moving from Orlando Orange to Crusty Rust. I give it a 7 on the 1-10 difficulty scale.

I think this is familiar territory for big sales hunters. It’s through the successful navigation of scenarios just like this that companies grow their offerings, increase the size of current clients and stay ahead of the market. However, handled incorrectly, you’re driving a grease truck on an icy highway—disaster is yours at every slight turn. What are some of the keys to being successful when introducing new offerings to current customers? How did we move this top 10 client to agree to this proposal? A couple of keys...

  • The prospect has a real problem. In fact, this problem caused a lost opportunity. It was quantifiable and understandable.

  • Stay in the family. We didn't move from widgets to oil drills. Although this was a newer solution for my client to provide, it was clearly a line-of-sight distance from what services my client currently does provide.

  • Go slow. The steps involved in this solution—from the first one to full-blown outsourcing—have been laid out, and involve early feedback from the prospect if things are not progressing well.

  • Conversation, not pitch. The real key to success here is crafting a solution together—whiteboard style, rather than in a formal presentation. To move to this level I have had a lot more success building a solution rather than presenting one. The questions that kept the meeting moving were:


    • "How would we know early that this was successful, from your perspective?"

    • "What performance threshold do we need to achieve for both of us to even consider this?"

    • "You've been doing this in-house for a long time—what has happened in the last six months, or might happen in the next six months, that makes this the right time to outsource?"


  • Storyboard. I’ve been using this term instead of "Timeline" because it creates a dialogue about the people involved, what things happen in parallel and what potential drama might occur.


The strategy was solid, the conversation was strong, and the buyer was open. My client won this deal and will be opening a beachhead in the marketplace for a lot more work with other clients based upon this success. It was a big win on several levels. In our preparation, the most important work we did—no surprise to regular readers of my stuff—was the creation and refinement of the questions for the conversation.

— Tom Searcy


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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