In our last installment of the Top Hunter Series, we discussed how top hunters employ creative prospecting strategies to get in front of potential customers. Today we will share the 7^th and final Best Practice for acquiring new accounts: Top Hunters are tenacious and relentless in executing their prospecting strategies.

When we asked top account acquisition reps what made them successful, the word that came up more than any other was “tenacity.” The definition of tenacity is: “The quality of being determined to do or achieve something; firmness of purpose.” As one rep put it, “I have to believe, deep down inside, that I am going to win, no matter what the odds are against me.”

How can you ensure that your account acquisition reps have the tenacity required to succeed? Through our discussions with top hunters, several items were suggested:

1. Provide recognition not only for results achieved, but also for those in your organization who display high levels of determination and relentlessness in pursuit of goals.
2. Ensure that reps have a system in place for following up and provide regular coaching and accountability for follow up.
3. Recruit reps with the right attributes to be tenacious. Leveraging one of the personality based assessment tools available in the market today can be a huge advantage here.
4. Encourage tenacity through competition. One rep interviewed shared a story of a great manager who regularly had competitions to see which rep could reopen accounts that had ‘gone cold’ and had stopped buying from the company.
5. Set the example by being tenacious in your own pursuit of goals, because nothing breeds tenacity like a good role model.

Use these tips to help your team become even more tenacious and have a strong close of year in 2013! Thanks for tuning into the Top Hunter Series. It has been a pleasure to share the secrets of Top Hunters with you! It is our sincere desire that these articles have supported you in achieving your goals and we look forward to continuing to share best practices and insights with you!

The 7 Best Practices of Top Hunters

There are some specific things that top sales hunters do that enable them to consistently win new business accounts. As we reviewed the insights that the top sales hunters shared with us, 7 best practices emerged as the keys to their success:

1.    Focus on acquiring new accounts

2.   Maximize prospecting time

3.   Develop insights about target accounts and share these with target contacts

4.   Build compelling value propositions and emphasize them when prospecting

5.   Understand the buying team and buying process for their target accounts

5B. Align selling efforts with the buying process for target accounts

6.   Develop “multi touch” prospecting strategies

7.   Be tenacious and relentless in executing their prospecting strategies