Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company

by Tom Searcy, Barbara Weaver Smith, Barbara Smith, et al.

Book Overview

Using the ancient Inuit whale hunt as a metaphor for big sales, Whale Hunting gives you a clear nine-phase model for successfully finding, landing, and harvesting whale-sized sales accounts--the kind of sales that transform your business. Here, you'll learn how to turn the dangerous endeavor of selling to large companies and big contracts into a strategy for continued success and growth. Stop wasting time with little accounts and start landing monster...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470182695
• ISBN13: 9780470182697
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Compass for answering an RFP

I read this book first from cover to cover and enjoyed the analogy. It was not until our company really had to answer an RFP that this book showed its true merit. We used this book and Searcy's new book, RFPs Suck, almost exclusively to create a winning proposal. We not only beat out an incumbent but won the job without being the lowest price by showing how we would save the requesting company time and money. As a small business, I always thought that our unique selling proposition was our nimbleness, our creativity, and our innovation. While these characteristics continue to be important to us internally and to other smaller clients, we learned through Whale Hunting that this is not what lands big companies. I read the book, I used the teachings of the book, and we got the whale that we had never landed. Five stars obviously.

A Realistic Paradigm Shift

This is not just a book, it is a paradigm shifting opportunity for any organization. While the Whale Hunting analogy may be difficult for some to adopt, the concept is real and tangible. The basis for this philosophy is that the organization creates a culture that is prepared to nurture and sustain relationships with the right client. The actual capture of the client, while it may take a while and tire out the orgainization, is the culmination of all of the preparation. The entire organization supports the process, which inherently will break down silos, build team, and encourage process instead of magic. Our organization took this concept to the next level, and invited Barbara in to assist us with developing the next tangible steps. Her energy and enthusiasm about building a strong culture that is ripe for "the whale", as well as her support for bringing this strong methodology and making it appropriate for our industry, was very appreciated. We have only begun to embark on this journey, and are anticipating a successful outcome!

More Than a Book about Landing Big Sales

As a professional educator most of my adult life and a president of a small business, the title of this timely and well-written book caught my attention immediately. The "whale hunting" metaphor aroused my curiosity and got me into the first chapter. The people-oriented concepts put forth by the authors --and the blueprint they provide for big sales success-- sustained my interest in the practical, often profound, ideas I encountered throughout the remainder of the book. I couldn't put this remarkable book down or refrain from writing marginal notes on almost every page. However, this is more than a book about landing big sales. It's a book about the power of collaboration, teamwork, and developing an "all for one, one for all" company attitude. Kudos to Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith for landing "the big one" in the world of popular business books! Richard T. Vacca, Profesor Emeritus and President, Vacca Authors and Consultants, Inc.

This is the real deal

It's not easy for little companies to land deals with big companies. It requires an understanding of how and why the big companies buy. It requires that the small company develop processes that meet the psychological and relational needs of the big company as well as having a competitive product or service. This book explains in very clear language what a small company needs to do. As I said before, it's not a simple thing--to hunt whales, but if a small company wants to grow, I know of no better strategy, and I know of no better guide to the process.

Whale Hunting--A true process for landing large clients

First the cons... I don't like the title, Whale Hunting. The book has this title because the authors translate the hunting methods of the Inuit people of northwest Alaska into methods and systems for gaining large client sales. What do whale hunting and business growth have in common? A precise and successful methodology, as it turns out. However, as a surfer and general admirer of dolphins and whales, I find all the whale hunting analogies to be overwhelming for my easily disturbed psyche. That said, no whales die in the book. The Pros... Well written, clear, concise, exceptional methods, strong actionable advice. This book really walks you through the process of selling to large clients, and there is more to it, than you might initially think. The Review... In Whale Hunting: How To Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company, authors Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith explain the nine phases that the Inuit people of northwest Alaska use to scout, hunt, and harvest their whales. The authors translate the Inuit methodology into processes and apply them to the business practice of landing large clients. The book offers specific, actionable steps when it comes to making big sales. And it shows how to engage a cross-functional team of subject-matter experts throughout the process of selling and closing the deal. Once a company learns the process, it is easily repeatable from client to client. These are the basic steps: * Pre-Scouting - Analyze your capabilities, and the field of available clients * Scouting - How to target your best prospects, research them, and get their attention * Planning - Plan your contacts, message and questions * Hunting - Analyze the buyer's team and mitigate their fear * Capture - Selectively discover information from and disclose a controlled message to your client. * The Big Show--A step-by-step guide for meeting with the buyer's team * Servicing - How to service the large client with capacity and velocity * Understand the process - Refine your internal operations and systems so that they can handle more large accounts. While these specific steps are presented clearly in easy-to-understand terms, implementing them requires an exceptional amount of work, time and the right people. But, the authors contend, the pay-off in landing a major account (one that is 10 to 20 times the size of an average account) is worth the effort.