The New Power Base Selling: Master The Politics, Create Unexpected Value and Higher Margins, and Outsmart the Competition

Establishing the Prime Objective

The Prime Objective of a sales campaign is not the sales objective of securing an order for a particular solution by a specific point in time. Yet, it is just as important.

The Prime Objective is an accomplishment that, when achieved, will directly lead to relative superiority—the point in a sales cycle when you have gained a decisive advantage over the competition. When you can sustain that superiority, you exponentially increase the likelihood of closing the deal. If you lose it, however, it is very difficult to regain.

In our Revolutionary War example, the equivalent to the Prime Objective was giving France the confidence in the American cause that it needed to enter the war as an American ally—which America achieved in October 1777. Victory at the Battle of Saratoga gave the Americans relative superiority that they sustained with French military and financial assistance. It was the turning point of the war!

Another example of a Prime Objective is seen with mountain climbers. In Figure 14.2, you see a point in the climb that, when successfully achieved, suggests that the summit will surely follow.

Figure 14.2: Achieving the Prime Objective

For example, when climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in East Africa, mission success is achieved by reaching the summit at 19,340 feet above sea level and returning safely to base camp. On the final ascent to ...