Option #2: Selling using the Zebra methodolgy enables a refreshingly “bare-naked” level of honesty between sales person and prospect.

Option #3: Don’t let these mohawk-clad horses fool you… Real Zebras always have stripes, so don’t waste your time or theirs by trying to convince yourself otherwise.

No matter which option you chose, they’re all equally relevant. Feel free to comment with any clever captions you may come up with!

Finally, I want to mention that this week Zebra Jeff and I had the privilige of once again being guests on Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate Radio program. This was our third appearance on Jim’s show, and we had a fantastic time talking sales shop within him once again. Check out the audio from that interview here: The impact of social media on selling in the future? You can also check out our past appearances on Jim’s show by clicking here: Selling to Zebras on The Small Business Advocate.

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Well, the only cure is to inject a healthy dose of Zebra Vaccine! This weeks entry was inspired by a recent post at a great new blog I’ve been following called Salesopedia…   “Recession Proof Your Sales — 10 Timely Tips for Unlocking a Great Sales Year,” written by Nancy Bleeke, offers some great advice and strategy for selling in a tough economy.  Much of Nancy’s advice in her article is well-aligned with much of what we’ve discussed here in the past about Zebra strategy. Combine the aspects of it all that make sense for you into your current sales methodology, and you’ve got a powerful serum for success, aka Zebra Vaccine, to inject into your sales pipeline to immunize it against the current recession. Be well, sell well!

-ZC

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Being a father/son team that not only run a business together, but one that has also authored and published a book together, Jeff and I frequently get asked what it’s like to work together.  There are a lot of positives to working together, and there have been many aspects that both of us have enjoyed. Truthfully, there are also a lot of challenges that need to be addressed and solved in order to maintain positive progress.

In that light, I recently found an interesting list of 20 challenges faced by family owned businesses that I thought was quite complete and well-thought.  Together, Jeff and I have faced some of these challenges, and some of them have not been relevant to us.  Either way, I felt this was a unique change of pace for this week’s blog topic — one that will be of interest anyone else involved with, working within, or simply curious about the dynamic of a family business.

Without further ado, here’s the link to a very well-written article on the topic:
20 Challenges Faced by a Family Owned Business

I think this list of challenges would be well-served by adapting it for use as a checklist/scorecard for determining the present status quo within a family business, and then as a guiding roadmap (or GPS to use more modern terms)  for continuously evaluating progress at various intervals, much in the same way that we use our own Zebra to help guide our sales clients through evaluating their prospects at various stages of the Zebra Buying Cycle (also see Zebra U for further reference on these concepts and tools).

Finally, here are two more interesting links for additional reading on the topic of family owned business as it relates to the current economic downturn:

1. “Family businesses have traits to survive,” by Jane Hilburt-Davis and Judy Green, as featured by Providence Business News.

2. “U.S. Family Business in Strong Position to Survive Downturn,” by Barclays Wealth, as featured by Marketwire.

Until next week,
Zebra Chad

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1. What defines the types of companies that are my best customers?

2. What do these companies look like operationally?

3. Who is the person in a position of power that makes the promises when my deals/projects get approved?

4. What funding was required to get those projects approved?

5. What level and type of return-on-investment did I prove when I won a deal?

6. What role did technology play?

7. What were the service requirements where I won in the past?

Your best prospects will match the attributes defined by analyzing your best customers to answer the previous seven questions!

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The Zebra concept itself is simple. Create the profile of your perfect prospect and measure all other prospects against perfection. Zebra score every prospect, decide your tipping point and don’t go over it. This is the hard part. Saying no for sales people is very hard. Yes is in their vernacular. No isn’t even in their DNA. So when we tell you that part of the success of this process is to say ‘no,’ you’ll understand this process will take some inspection to ensure it succeeds. Someone once said you can’t expect what you don’t inspect. Inspection is necessary for the Zebra way to succeed. You can drag a Zebra to water… you get the idea.

Follow this link to download the entire manifesto:  http://www.changethis.com/56.05.CatchingZebras

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Are you a busy executive? Do you have 15 minutes? Listen to an interview with Lisa Ferrari, SellingPower Live and Jeff Koser.  Everything you need to know about us is captured in this interview.

Jeff describes the Zebra methodology by addressing the key components that will help companies close up to 90% of the business they pursue by determining and predicting the value they drive for their customers.  Creating and executing your Zebra will put you in a position to achieve long term growth—even in these tough economic times.

Click here to listen:  Lisa Ferrari of SellingPower Live interviews Zebra Jeff

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Zebra Jeff is an alum at UW-Oshkosh… I won’t post his graduation date, or how many years it’s been since he last held status as an “enrolled student” there, but I do want to share a few points that we emphasized to the younger aspiring sales people in the audience.

1. Interviewing for a sales job, or any job for that matter, should be treated as a sales opportunity in which you are selling yourself. This was the example that we used to tie in our sales methodology to something we thought most students would be able to relate to either currently, or in the very near future.

2. Given that this should be treated as a sales situation, we say that you should focus on your “Zebra” (OBVIOUSLY!)… Not only should you be a fit for your prospective employer, but that employer should also be a fit for you in terms of:
i. company culture (do you fit them and vice-versa in terms of lifestyle, philosophy, etc.)
ii. identify with and have sincere respect for the manager you will be directly reporting to
iii. have not only the skills to do your chosen job well, but also make sure you have the love for it, which is the only factor that can truly lead to real success

3. Before you talk too much about yourself and who you are, have a good idea of the unique and quantifiable value you can provide to your prospective employer:
i. research the company’s strategic direction and current business issues found in the CEO’s letter in the annual report
ii. find a way to penetrate that company beyond going through the usual channels (i.e. gatekeepers in HR)
iii. identify what makes you unique in pursuing these critical issues above and beyond your peer competitors

So, to all the young lions out there, make sure you have identified your Zebra (i.e. easy prey) and formulated and effective strategy of pursuit before making the decision to commit your valuable resources to the task. The reward will be a prosperous career step for you, and a fruitful new hire for your employer.

Zebras in any sales game are Fast Food that take dedication and discipline to catch, but are worthy of pursuit!

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