Week 10: YOUR TOP 40 Orientation VSB participants, only two weeks to go! Are you seeing the beautiful view of your increased sales effort?

This week, we identify your Top 40 list of prospects. These are the names of individuals, men and women, inside of an

organization: entrepreneurs, individuals, or leaders in a company. Don’t place the name of a specific company (e.g.,

General Electric) on your Top 40 list. Instead, put in a placeholder, (e.g., “G.E. executive TBD [to be determined]”. Your

goal throughout this process is to find out the name of the person with buying authority who is your target.

Are you becoming a mean, lean, highly effective seller throughout this Virtual Sales Bootcamp process? With your head

and your heart, are you seeing selling fundamentally differently than when you started the program?

To be one of the most effective, best sellers, you must

1. Be pro-active: take action; this is about application, not theory

2. Have an answer to the question, “Who do you want to do business with?”

Top sellers don’t just answer the question with the client avatars (from Video #7). The avatars are not just caricatures.

They are very valuable and will help you get in touch with the types of individuals who

You can help the most,

You can provide the most value to, and

Will relate to you and have an affinity towards you (will know, like, and trust you) and want to do business with

you.

You must be very specific and not generic. As specific as your avatars may be, now it’s time to get even more specific by

putting names on a list. So, here are some specific ways of how you can…

Create Your Top 40 List

Existing Customers These are people who you are currently doing business with; maybe not the primary person you are doing business with

in that organization, but his or her peers or supervisors.

This is not about having a four-hour meeting with them, but getting together to chat briefly and connect a name with a

face; make sure they understand the things you are doing; and know what else you can do to meet other needs, issues,

challenges, obstacles, and problems they may be having. Note: You may have existing relationships with different people

on those accounts who are on your Top 40 list.

Past Customers These are people who you have done business with in the past. Go through your records and contact manager to find

Former employers,

People who you have worked for,

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Former colleagues, and

People who reported to you, etc.

Former clients

These are very rich territories for you to mine your existing contacts and people you know to add on your “Top 40 List”.

You can also ask them for introductions and referrals to others.

Almost Customers These are people who asked for proposals, but were not a “No” but a “Not now” at that time.

Reach out to them. Do not question them on whether they made the right decision. This conversation is a positive one

along the lines of, “I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to reach out to get a synch up. Let’s get together to have

coffee or lunch. I would love to see how you are doing. If the choice you made before has served you well, terrific.” You

are not there to try to change their mind. Your position is to act with dignity and class and be happy they were able to

improve their organization. You just want to circle back around and check in on them.

Dream Customers These are people/businesses with whom you would love to do business. For some, this may be geographically tied, but

for others, there won’t be geographic limitations. Look for the big fish – the ideal clients – someone who might be “sexy

or influential” to some of your other prospects. (It’s easier to gain some clients when you have another marquee client.)

The majority of your list will be people of comparable background to you, perhaps with similar education, interests, and

hobbies. You can find those out using your social media skills. Look at company/industry directories and find people who

are competitors of your former clients. Obviously you should not disclose any info on any client. You must hold

everything they told you confidential. From your prior client, though, you have experience in the industry. As a result,

you can share some of their language, vernacular, and/or some information that demonstrates your understanding of

the challenges in their industry without disclosing the names and the identity of who you have worked with previously.

Your Avatars Revisit your avatar(s) and identify people who match that avatar. Keep in mind, the match won’t be exact, but look for

general matches to what you have identified with the avatar, particularly the psychographic qualities and their needs

and how they would benefit from working with you.

Use Your List Your motto is now, “One a week”. (If you want to do more than one a week, that’s fine, but your minimum is one a

week.) It is time to reach out, touch base, and secure favorable introductions.

BNI chapters are perfect for favorable introductions. During your 45-60 second commercial, you can share something

like, “This week I’m looking for a favorable introduction to Joe Smith, who is the President of XYZ Bank. If you happen to

know Joe, please see me first. I’d like to share why I’m interested in speaking with Joe before you reach out to him to

provide a referral for me.” Specific is terrific. If someone knows the person you name, they will begin to think, “How can

I help you?”

Remember: you are seeking to engage them in a conversation and create a connection. The first thing they will do is

Google you. That’s why Video #4 “Find Yourself and Fix it” was so important. When you reach out there is always a cause

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and effect. You reaching out will cause them to do an investigation of you. That’s what you are looking for: some level of

engagement and then a conversation.

Remember the importance of your referral partners. Talk to your referral partners. If you don’t have any referral

partners, talk to people who know you really well. Show them your Top 40 and share these are people with whom you

would love to have a conversation to explore doing business and to see there is a mutually beneficial relationship to be

had. Ask if the person knows any of them and would provide a favorable introduction.”

Favorable Introductions A favorable introduction is someone who can create a positive connection.

You DO NOT WANT people to:

Sell or pitch anything

Tell what you can do with the person or the company

You DO WANT people to share that:

They know, like, and trust you – and why

They believe that you are excellent at what you do and have positive thoughts or feelings regarding you

You asked specifically for an introduction to that person to have a conversation and see where it might go

Objective The objective of the Top 40 list is to:

Secure favorable introductions with prospects you may want to do business with

To create an introduction so you may secure a meeting/conversation

Take Action This week, it’s all about getting specific on who makes your top prospect list –

and taking action to connect with those people. No more role playing: it’s

time to apply what you’ve learned and go do it!

MOVE OUT!

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Action Plan This week, you’ll work with your Accountability Partner(s) to create your Top 40 list.

1. Watch the video with the worksheet.

2. Reflect on the work you did last week regarding conducting a sales conversation and how you will apply that into

real life scenarios – starting now.

3. Hold (at least) two meetings with your Accountability Partner(s) to set your intention at the start of the week

and to check in and report how you’ve done at the end of the week.

4. Create your Top 40 list (feel free to have more than 40, but have at least 40)

a. Existing customers

b. Past customers

c. Competitors of former customers

d. Almost customers

e. Dream customers

f. Client avatars

5. Check in with your Accountability Partner

When did you last connect with your AP? As an AP, you must hold your partner accountable for the Top 40 list.

This is your duty! No excuses! Contact him or her today.

a. Set up an appointment to meet.

b. Share your “Top 40 List” with each other – otherwise: 25 pushups for both of you!

c. Help your AP improve his or her list.

6. BONUS: Already completed your Top 40 List? Add 10 more, to make 50!

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