Working with a group of technical salespeople this week reminded me of a recent PBS Nova show about the transformative impact on the ecosystem in Yellowstone Park due to the return of wolves to its area. Just as that one change led to dramatically different outcomes in nature, one changed element in the sales process of these salespeople had the power to transform their buyer/seller landscape as well.
First, How the Wolves Changed Yellowstone
According to research from Oregon State University and Washington State University, grizzly bears are benefiting greatly from the return of the wolf — 
with the return of the wolf, an historically important part of the grizzly bear diet has returned as well, berries. Berries were previously abundant within Yellowstone but largely disappeared during the last century with the removal of wolves, mostly as a result of elk over-browsing. With the return of wolves, elk numbers have fallen to levels which allow for a far greater abundance of shrubs — benefiting everything from grizzly bears to bees and butterflies. Think about it. One causation, the simple re-appearance of the wolf, set off an entire positive ecological chain reaction.
Next, How a “Wolf” Can Change Your Sales
With the sales people, the problem was that they were losing business. With some analysis, it became abundantly clear that the one change they needed to make was to prepare more strategically. By preparing minimally as they were, they were inadvertently setting themselves up for a negative sales chain reaction. Why is smart preparation so important? Insufficient preparation makes it less likely to engage clients on their level or win their respect, which tends to reduce any meaningful conversation, which leads to you offering off-base solutions, which leads to client objections, which leads to interest in your competition, which leads to client rejection, which leads to lost business. However, when a salesperson begins with appropriate and thorough preparation, just the opposite happens. Smart preparation makes it more likely that clients will respect you and want to engage with you in a meaningful way, which tends to make them active participants in a business conversation, which makes it easier for you to provide solutions that are on-target, which makes it easier for them to select you, which makes it easier to grow your business.
Time to Re-visit the Wolf?
How thorough is your sales preparation? What do you need to know about your client? How do you find out? What do you need to know about you prior to a call? Have you developed best practices with your team around preparation? If you would like my list of Preparation Best Practices, just email me at amiller@annemiller.com
Anne Miller
Click here for the Yellowstone Wolves story
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