WinByLosingSalesModel
I learned a new technique of selling last week— a how-to-win-by-losing, guerrilla marketing (GM) strategy.
A client of mine likes to sell using the six degrees of separation. The kinds of products and services they sell require a personal approach to selling. Nothing works better than face to face sales calls for them.
They are moving up market as well—targeting larger clients along the way. The key question for them is, if no one in their network of contacts knows someone in the target company, how do they develop a relationship with them?
Well, we devised a GM solution to this problem—they established a Large Contracts Group (LCG) that would go after big tenders within their industry.
Their strategy was two fold—a. if they won the tender, great … more sales, b. if they didn’t, they now had all the contacts they needed within the target company. They had been through the interview process and they were on a first name basis with key managers including the Vice President of Purchasing.
So when they lost (as is often the case in these things—incumbents have a huge advantage and companies are often using the RFP process to either get better prices out of their existing suppliers or else at least make sure they are not getting fleeced), they thanked the company for the opportunity. Later, they went back and said something like: “Well, we have a suggestion for you. Why don’t you try something like … and give us a smaller order to try us out.”
It is a win-by-losing strategy as mapped out in the flowchart below.
Dr. Bruce M. Firestone,
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/GuerrillaMarketingAndFinance/GuerrillaMarketing.htm
