The Saturday Summary: A Simple Framework for Developing New Business

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“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

- Harry S. Truman

I enjoy reading.

At one stage, I was reading 100+ books a year.

I taught myself to speed read to consume more information in less time.

In addition to books, I listen to 20+ hours of podcasts a week. I also take courses to develop my knowledge of sales, business, and productivity.

But until I started taking notes, I remembered little of what I read, listened to, or learned.

Now, I have a simple system for capturing and refining my notes. I can condense years of someone else’s experience into a few pages of actionable takeaways.

I’m sharing these in The Saturday Summary edition of The Growth Lab: strategies, tools, and tactics from sales and business leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and productivity champions.

This is the first edition.

Let’s dive in.

In today’s email:

The Book
New Business Framework
Key Takeaways

👇🏾 Listen: Don’t underestimate the power of a Google Doc

The Book

New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development by Mike Weinberg

The lifeblood of your business is a constant flow of new accounts. . .no matter how much repeat business you get from loyal customers.

In New Sales. Simplified, you will learn how to:

Identify a strategic list of genuine prospects
Draft a compelling, customer-focused “sales story”
Perfect the proactive telephone call to get face-to-face with more prospects
Use email, voicemail, and social media to your advantage
Prepare for and structure a winning sales call
Make time in your calendar for business development activities

New Sales. Simplified, it is about overcoming and even preventing buyers’ anti-salesperson reflex by establishing trust.

This book will help you choose the right targets and build a winning plan to pursue them.

A Simple Framework for Developing New Business

Select targets
Create sales assets
Take action

If you're not closing new deals, the problem is either:

Poor target selection or lack of focus on selected targets
Lame sales assets or lack of proficiency deploying sales assets
Inadequate planning or lack of execution of the plan

1. Selecting Targets

Ask yourself:

Who are our best customers?
What are their common characteristics?
What do their businesses "look, smell, and feel" like?
Where are they located?
Are they a particular size (e.g., revenue) or in a particular niche where you have a higher rate of success?
Where can we find potential customers with similar profiles?
Does your best chance for new business come from existing customers?
Are there certain competitor accounts that make sense to attack?

The key to maximising new business effectiveness is having a Target List that’s:

Finite: Focus on a finite number of strategic targets. Work and rework this finite list of accounts
Focused: Focusing on a vertical market or certain type of account yields many benefits. You become an "expert" as you learn the language, nuances, and business issues facing similar prospects.
Workable: Work from a concise one-page list. The appropriate number of targets should be determined for a defined period of time.

Use "who" and "why" questions to identify strategic targets when creating a list:

Who are our best customers (by industry, size, business model, location, etc.)?
Why did they initially become customers? Why do they still buy from you?
Who do you compete against in the marketplace?
Why and when do they beat you? And why do prospects choose you over them?
Who used to be your customers?
Why did you lose the business?
Who almost became a customer but didn't?
Who has referred business to you in the past?
Who should be referring business to you?

Allocate your attention to accounts with the greatest potential to produce results:

Largest in terms of dollars spent (not size of the organization)
Most Growable-best opportunity for incremental revenue
Most At-Risk—highest probability of losing their business (some or all of it)

2. Create Sales Assets

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“Prospects are not interested in what you do; they are only interested in what you can do for them.”

A compelling, differentiating, client-focused sales story is your most important sales asset.

Your sales story is incorporated into every other sales asset.

Three critical sections to a compelling sales story:

Addressing prospect’s issues - what pains do you remove, what problems do you solve, and what results can you help them achieve
Offerings - What product or service do you sell
Differentiators - why are you the best choice to address the prospect’s issues?

The Power Statement

Enter the Power Statement - a one-page encapsulation of your sales story. Here’s the framework:

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Headline

Transitional Phrase

Client Issues/ Pains Removed / Problems Solved / Results Achieved

Offerings

Differentiators

Go here to access the first Power Statement I wrote for The Growth Lab.

Other Sales Assets at your disposal include:

Networking
Social Media
E-Mail
The Proactive Cold Call
Voice Mail
Traditional Marketing (brochures, catalogs, and direct mail)
Digital Marketing (blogs, podcasts, YouTube and webinars)
White Papers and Industry Insights
Case Studies
Demos and Presentations
Trade Shows and Exhibitions
Entertainment

3. Take Action

The Proactive Cold Call

The most effective sales asset is the proactive cold call.

Your cold call should be structured in 3 phases

Introduction

Say the prospect's first name, my name (first and last), and usually add my company name.

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“Hi, Fred. It's Mike Weinberg with The New Sales Coach.”

Mini Power Statement

Take two "client issues" bullets from your Power Statement.

Pick one that’s unique and another that’s broad and applicable to any prospect on your list.

Select one differentiator

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“Fred, I head up our client service team for the downtown corridor. Right now a lot of property managers are looking to Allsafe because they're faced with excessive liability exposure and growing life/safety fears for corporate tenants and guests. We're also helping a good number of management companies like yours [mention Steve's company by name] who are concerned their current security solution may no longer be adequate.”

Ask for the meeting

After delivering the mini power statement, ask the contact for the meeting. Be ready to ask at least three times.

Use three words:

Visit. "Visit" is a positive word. “Appointment" sounds so clinical.
Fit. "Fit" demonstrates confidence and disarms the prospect. It's nonthreatening and shows you're not desperate.
Value.

Voicemail

More often than not, you will get your prospect’s voicemail.

Five thoughts on how you can win with voice mail:

Adopt a positive perspective. See voicemail as an opportunity to "touch" the prospect.
Expect and prepare for it. You’ll get voice mail three-quarters of the time, so be prepared to leave a well-crafted message.
Use a snippet of your sales story. Pick one or two main client issues. Make it a productive message.
Don't ramble. Leave prospects intrigued to hear more.
Take the long view; see voicemail as part of your outbound campaign. Accept that it will take multiple messages to get a call back.

Key Takeaways

1. Target Selection is Critical

Create a finite, focused, and workable target list
Identify best customers and their common characteristics
Prioritize accounts based on revenue potential and growth opportunities

2. Develop Strong Sales Assets

Create a compelling Power Statement with a clear headline, client issues, offerings, and differentiators
Focus on solving client problems rather than just describing your services
Utilize various sales tools from networking to digital marketing

3. Master Proactive Outreach

Structure cold calls in three phases: Introduction, Mini Power Statement, and Meeting Request
Use strategic words like "visit," "fit," and "value" when scheduling meetings
Leverage voicemail effectively as part of your overall outreach strategy