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First in Thirst

First in Thirst How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat into a Cultural Phenomenon
By Daren Rovell
Amacom, 2005
ISBN 1885167628
191 pages

The Big Idea

Do you dream of landing that one big account that can dramatically increase your profits or your paycheck? Do you want to hang on to your big customers and enjoy massive repeat business?   

Author and expert entrepreneur Steve Kaplan shares with you strategies that can help you successfully Bag the Elephant. Whether you are a business owner, a salesperson, or an executive, you will be able to use the tips and techniques to get you over the top!

The Third Path: Achieving Lasting Growth and Profits

Every business follows one of three paths. Unfortunately, only one can lead to lasting success. To get to the winning path you must either:

•  Make a lot of small sales to more and more small buyers, or

•  Make a few big sales to a few big customers.

Option number two is better because it takes less time, fewer employees and a smaller capital.

 

 

The Three Business Paths

The Three Business Paths

 •  The Trail of the Snail. More than half of business owners end up working their tails off day after day without reaping rewards. This happens when business owners fool themselves into thinking that success is just around the corner, and yet see no way to get to it. Others end up following this path because they are afraid of change.

  • The Arc of the Shooting Star. A third of all businesses grow so fast, experience skyrocketing sales, only to fall back to earth in the end. A shooting star business fails because it didn't capture more big customers to feed its growing business or didn't improve the company's infrastructure to meet big customers' needs and demands.
  • The “Bag the Elephant” Track. Companies that follow this path grow steadily but never allow their number of customers to outpace their infrastructure. Here are four tips on how to win big:
  • You must attract, keep, and leverage big clients.               
  1. You must acquire the needed expertise to scale up the business.
  2. You must instill a big-business culture in your corporation.              
  3. You must have the courage to make changes to further growth.

You've Got to Believe: Elephants Need You, Too

Elephant strategy, or targeting big companies as clients, is inexpensive and very profitable. You must make Elephant hunting a vital activity in your everyday work routine. You can not do without it.

To bag prime clients, you must know how big companies operate. Try to find out how they decide to buy a product or service. After which, you must try to figure out which of your prospective clients are best for you. It is only after you have done all these that you can draw a strategy for approaching them. The best strategy is to seek a champion inside the company to vouch for you and your business......

 

 

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