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Business Rule #49:
Stake Your Turf
April 24, 2006
by Caroline Pfouts
Breaking a losing streak is no simple task. Recovering from poor past performance is more than just stepping up your strategy; you have to overcome the perception that you’re not a winner, both in your boss’s eyes and, more importantly, in your own.
After four straight losses, Gold Rush did just that this week. The challenge was to produce and sell a limited-edition commemorative brochure of Ellis Island. The proceeds were to be donated to the Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty Foundation and would determine the winning team.
Gold Rush Project Manager Lee Bienstock assigned Tarek Saab the task of designing the brochure. Right from the beginning, they had a shared vision of the product. When Tarek explained his vision of publishing quotes alongside photos of immigrants who came through Ellis Island, Lee got completely on board. It was an approach that invoked not only the history of the landmark but also all the emotions in coming to a new country.
Synergy Project Manager Allie Jablon also delegated the brochure design. She didn’t have much choice after she and Tammy Trenta got off the ferry to go back for a forgotten notebook and didn’t make it back in time before the ferry took off. Stranded on the island, Allie decided to appoint Andrea Lake to do the job. Unfortunately, Allie was so unhappy with Andrea’s design for the cover that she made a last ditch effort herself to revise the artwork.
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Gold Rush took a proactive approach to sales. The first day, Lee and Charmaine Hunt devoted themselves to bulk sales of the pamphlets. With great gusto, Charmaine started by cold calling local hotels. Lee assisted by running computer searches, coming up with potential leads. As the afternoon progressed, Charmaine was met with rejection after rejection. She vented whenever a prospect was particularly discouraging but still kept making those calls. Charmaine’s persistence distinguished herself as a professional. She seemed to understand that selling is a numbers game. If you want to make more sales, make more sales calls.
In contrast, the Synergy team didn’t consider the possibility of bulk sales until nearly the end of the second day. Unfortunately for them, it was way too late in the game for such a campaign to be effective.
Gold Rush also aggressively tackled retail sales. They got up at five o’clock in the morning to get an early start taking their brochures to the street. On this task, claiming the best sales territory was critical. Gold Rush staked out the line for the ferry to Ellis Island. What could be better than a captive audience of people waiting to visit the landmark the booklet commemorates?
The strategy worked like a charm. When the Synergy team finally showed up at Battery Park, most of the tourists who wanted to buy a brochure had already bought one from Gold Rush. Gold Rush didn’t even have to say anything to the Synergy team to get them to relocate to another sales territory. Synergy took their chances and moved their sales operation to Ellis Island.
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Claiming the best sales territory was critical.
