Kaplan - Bag the Elephant! : How to Win and Keep Big Customers

H OW TO W IN & K EEP B IG C USTOMERS

BY S TEVE K APLAN

Workman Publishing, New York

Copyright 2008 by Steve Kaplan

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

eISBN: 9780761153825

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Design by Paul Gamarello

Photography by Steve Grubman

Author Steve Kaplan may be contacted at 312-893-5890

skaplan@stevekaplanlive.com

www.stevekaplanlive.com

Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

225 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014-4381

www.workman.com

Dedication

To Andi, for your support, understanding, and patience in putting up with the years of travel and eighteen-hour workdays while I pursued my dreams.

To the next generation of business moguls:

Ryan, to whom everything comes so easy: I cant wait to see the impact youre going to make on the world.

Madison, my little entrepreneur, who at twelve has already had several successful businesses and no doubt will rule the world someday.

To all my parents, especially my mom, Ila, for their love and support.

To Brendi and Nancifrom getting into trouble as little kids to having families of our own,throughout the years youre still the best sisters and friends I could ever ask for.

To Jules, who always has the right advice and owns the brightest business mind I know.

Foreword by John E. Pepper
Chairman & CEO (retired), Procter & Gamble

Foreword

by John E. Pepper

I found Bag the Elephant! How to Win & Keep BIG Customers to be a very practical and accessible presentation of how to successfully develop a long-term relationship with big clients. This book will help prepare youand those on your teamfor long-term success. It tells you how to understand the culture and the organizational structure as well as other things you need to know about major clients. It provides ideas and techniques for developing your prospect list, making winning presentations, creating champions inside your client, and negotiating the contract. It presents a value-oriented approach for building alliances, serving the clients needs, and dealing with crises. Not least, it helps you avoid mistakes that can derail you.

This is not one of those how-to books that tries to teach some mechanical formula or addresses issues from 40,000 feet. Rather, it addresses a range of important strategic success factors with substance and straightforward language. What makes this book especially valuable is its reliance on personal and relevant stories growing from Steve Kaplans personal experience and their presentation in a highly conversational style.

Procter & Gamble benefited significantly from Steves experience, his ideas, and his creativity. He and his company (SCA) provided services to a large number of our brands operating across several of our divisions. During the seven years that Steve worked with P&G, he contributed insights into both our processes and our programs. He contributed to productive change within our market research, marketing operations, production, and purchasing areas. He also supported several new product introductions with his ideas and techniques.

If you gain close to the benefits that we at P&G did from the experiences and concepts which Steve communicates in his new book, you will find this a very worthwhile read.

John E. Pepper joined Procter & Gamble in 1963. He was elected group vice president in 1980, joined the board of directors in 1984, was named president of P&G in 1986, then served as CEO and chairman (19951999) and as chairman of the board (20002002). He has served on the boards of Xerox, Motorola, Boston Scientific Corporation, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, as co-chair of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and as chairman of the United States Advisory Committee for Trade and Policy Negotiations. He is now vice president for finance and administration of Yale University.

Preface

A Word from Steve Kaplan

Have you ever dreamed of landing that big account? That monster contract that would put you over the top? Youve probably entertained the hope of dramatically increasing the size of your profitsand your paycheck. Perhaps youve already had a taste of the prosperity that can be yours when you ink the paperwork linking you with that big customerthe Elephant.

Would you like to learn a strategy that can skyrocket your odds of winning that big payoff, hanging onto that Elephant, and repeating the accomplishment again and again?

If youre the owner of a small or medium-sized business with sales of up to $200 million, Ill tell you the ins and outs of these giant companieswhat you need to know and how you need to think in order to win them over as customers. Ill show you why you dont need to be afraid of Elephantsbecause they need you as much as you need them. Ill give you real-world advice on how to execute a successful Bag the Elephant strategy:

How to position your company for that huge customer

How to select the best Elephant for you

How to avoid the killer mistakes that can bury your company

How to negotiate with a huge company

How to use your Elephant as a resource for more than just profit

How to deal with big-company demands and maximize your profits at the same time

How to use their bureaucracy to increase your profits

How to get all of your employees onboard a total company effort to Bag the Elephant

If youre a salesperson or sales manager, I dont have to tell you the advantages of landing those big accountsthats something you dream about every night. Ill give you the insider information that will put you way ahead of your competitors:

How to navigate your way through huge companies

How to identify and secure internal champions

How to build strong alliances within the big company to keep them needing you

How to understand and leverage the Elephants buying and decision-making process

How to match the right salesperson with the right company

How to position your sales approach for maximum effectiveness

If youre an executive or a manager in a larger company, you know how hard it is to achieve strong growth by chasing small accounts. As the person in charge of growing your department, division, or piece of the business, youll quickly appreciate the value of an Elephant strategy. Ill show you