Tackling the Impossible Sales Challenge

How do you get a targeted account if all your previous attempts have failed? If you want to catch a big fish, perhaps the sports fishermen of New Zealand can give you some ideas. After all, they face a very difficult, if not insurmountable, challenge that would stop most fisherman entirely.

The coastline off the Ninety Mile beach is teaming with red snappers and other delectable salt water species. It's a gorgeous pristine area with huge sand dunes, no hotels and no piers.

To complicate matters even more, the sandy beach often goes out for hundreds of yards, making it difficult to fish from shore. And, the waves are so powerful that if you wade out too far, you risk being swept away. Of course, you could rent or buy a big ocean-ready boat, but that costs a lot of money.

Clearly fresh fishing strategies were needed to address this impossible challenge.

The solution? Kite fishing. All the "Average Joes" need are a kite, a special airborne rig, the right bait and a beachside seat. When the kite starts bobbing, they jump up and fight like crazy to haul their catch into shore.

I'll tell you, seeing those kite fishermen is truly a site to behold.

As sellers, if we're going to be successful landing the big ones, we need to expand our thinking about what's possible.

Instead of giving up, we need to consider all the variables we can impact. For example, we could:

• Use some new bait. If your message isn't enticing to the big fish, they'll swim right by it.
• Change where we're fishing. Perhaps you need to target different decision makers. Or, maybe you need to go to events that they attend.
• Cast a wider net(work). Maybe someone you know can make a connection. Go to LinkedIn. Check out your 2nd level connections.

The point is, if your current prospecting methods haven't yielded results yet, then you need to try something new. Experiment. Change things up. Get creative. That's what it takes today to land the big ones!

Question: What are some creative prospecting methods have you tried? Enter your comments now!

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Jill Konrath is the author of four bestselling sales books: More Sales, Less Time, Agile Selling, Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling. She's a frequent speaker at sales meetings and conferences. Check out the tons of free sales resources on her website: www.jillkonrath.com/sales-resources.