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Why Your Sales Approach Should Aim Small, Miss Small

Written by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Article Overview: How would you define your sales approach? More importantly, how effective is it? Are you missing a lot of sales targets or just a few?

Why Your Sales Approach Should Aim Small, Miss Small

In the movie The Patriot, Mel Gibson asked his two young sons "What did I told you about shooting a rifle?" Their united response was "Aim Small Miss Small."

Is your sales approach one where you aim small and miss small or one where you aim big and miss big?

When you focus your marketing and consequently selling efforts on a small very targeted potential customer base, you have reduced missing a lot of potential customers (a.k.a. prospects). Unfortunately, from my experience as a business and sales coach very few small businesses embrace this sales approach. The reasons or what I prefer to call excuses because that is what they are can be traced back to this one accepted business tool – a strategic action plan.

To be able to aim small you need to know what you are aiming at. This requires some time to research the potential customers, the local to global industries, the marketplace and whatever else is necessary to have enough knowledge to be considered an expert.

Salespersons who aim large miss large are actively engaged in what I call spraying and praying. These folks are for the most part clueless about who their potential target markets are. During a discussion with a potential customer, I asked who was her ideal customer? She quickly responded "Any healthcare professional with a database." My next question was "So a mortician would be acceptable?"

This businesswoman immediately replied "Of course not!" and her body language indicated she was quite upset with my question. I told her according to her demographic my response was appropriate given her criteria of being a healthcare professional and having a database. The problem, I continued, with your response is it is way too broad. You need to be far more specific or what sales gurus identify as a niche market. One of my mentors, Michael Sleppin, stated you need a "Sherwood Forest large enough to hunt in and small enough to defend." He most definitely practiced a sales approach of aim small, miss small.

Maybe it is the sign of the times or the result of the last 30 years of the U.S. educational system, but being specific and focused are not common behaviors for the majority (over 50%) business professionals. What happens is these folks work a whole heck of a lot harder than they need to and create a lot more unneeded stress for themselves.

If you wish to increase sales and have fun doing so, then review your sales approach. Learn to aim small miss small and you should hit more sales targets.

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Article Tags: aim, body language, business tool, businesswoman, clueless, customer base, global industries, gurus, healthcare professional, marketplace, mel gibson, mentors, mortician, niche market, prospects, sales approach, salespersons, sherwood forest, small businesses, target markets



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