Sales Safaris: How to Find Those Elusive Customers

Thursday, March 3: Kanha National Park, Central India

I woke up at dawn and spent six hours in an open-roof jeep, scouring the jungles for one thing: tigers. I saw a lot of deer, wild peacocks, and monkeys. All were beautiful, but I wanted to find a tiger. Why? Because they are the most powerful predator in the jungle—and the most elusive.

Many of our most profitable prospects are just like tigers. We know who they are—high-end visionary organizations with the means and the willingness to invest in our solutions—and we could easily find their main phone number or website. But the buyers in those organizations are hidden in the deep forests of assistants, committees, and purchasing departments. Before we can sell to them, we have to find them. Here are three things I learned from tracking elusive tigers in the jungles of India and how to apply those lessons in our "it's a jungle out there" market environment.

Lesson 1: Follow the Food

Whether you are tracking tigers or prospects, timing is everything. Instead of searching in the middle of the day when the animals are resting, we left at dawn and dusk when the tigers were on the prowl for food. And instead going to the tigers' favorite watering hole, we went first to where the deer were and we waited. Why? Tigers love to eat deer. If the white-spotted deer (their favorite item on the menu) were calmly hanging out and all of a sudden bolted, we knew tigers weren't far behind. If things stayed too calm, we sought out another group of deer.