Strategic Sales Strategy: How to Prepare for Business Disasters Like a Cattle Rancher

Danita Bye

The more I think about it, the more I’m struck by how much entrepreneurs and managers are like cattle ranchers – and as the daughter of a rancher-turned-oil-man, I should know. For one thing, to see what they’re worth, cattle ranchers need only look out the window and gaze upon the grazers in the pasture. Business owners and managers simply fire up Windows and look over their contact list and salesperson roster (no offense, Mac people – just making the analogy.)

Whether you’re a successful rancher or a businessperson, what you see through your windows is your livelihood, and you’ll both take steps to protect it from disaster. Cattle ranchers, at least the ones who make it in the business, understand that disaster is not a matter of “if” but of “when” – and that preparing for disaster ahead of time is not a matter of “when I get around to it” but a continual priority. By the time the cattle get out of their fences, it’s too late to marshal a plan of action. After all, your cattle are your business, and the longer you take to get your business back in order, the bigger your losses are going to be. Ideally, you want to be so prepared that you suffer no losses at all. Lost cattle demand action, not thought. And that means having thought out a three-phase problem resolution process well before an emergency comes along. Let’s start with Phase 1, the pre-disaster phase.

Good Fences Make for Good Neighbors – and Good Business

A smart cattle rancher seems to spend an inordinate amount of time mending fences when the weather is good and when, to the untrained eye, the fences look to be in pretty good shape anyway. Ask that rancher, though, and he will tell you that looks are deceiving, and, anyway, it’s better to shore up your fences when the sun is out and lightning isn’t raising the hair on your arms. And while you’re at it, it’d be a good idea to check on the horses, the tack, the trailer hitch, and all the other details you won’t have time for when the cattle escape.

Similarly, a smart businessperson – a transformational leader – will anticipate and prepare for likely emergencies, however infrequently they may occur. The hours she spends here may look like a waste of time, but when the competition’s lined up around the perimeter, looking to poach customers and talent and generally cause havoc, that businessperson will be glad the fences are strong and the disaster preparedness plan is in place. In the end, the time spent here will save time, money, and maybe even the business, itself.

Phase 2 is the big event, the time when the cattle are strutting all over your neighbor’s property or the four-lane highway a mile away. Before the rancher swings into action, he takes time to assess the severity of the situation and coordinate the most efficient response. How many head are out? How far are the furthest? Which are in the most danger or causing the most damage? Where did they get out (cattle are always easier to put in at the place they escaped)?

With an accurate analysis of the situation in hand, a rancher can solve the problem quicker and using fewer resources. The same goes for business owners and managers: making disaster analysis part of the pre-arranged process mitigates damage and expense. And if the problem’s an especially big one, you can get outside help on it as soon as possible.

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over: Turning Business Disaster Back on Itself

Post-disaster is the focus of Phase 3. With the cattle safely back in the pasture, the fence quickly fixed, and having taken a moment to catch his breath and have some coffee and pie, the rancher again analyzes events, asking questions to delay the inevitable time when disaster will again strike. Why did the fence fail in the spot that it did? How can the fence be made stronger? How could I have responded better? Did I have the right outside help lined up? And am I ready to help out when called?

Just like the rancher, the businessperson will study the fallout of her recent emergency and, with the help of her team, ask questions whose answers are then fed back into Phase 1 planning. While she knows she can’t prevent disaster entirely, the process she’s working is lessening the likelihood and the impact when it does happen next.

In the end, for ranchers, businesspeople, and everyone else, it’s all about knowing you’re vulnerable. And paradoxically, assessing that vulnerability makes you less vulnerable, not to mention less fearful and much more capable. Whether your cattle are literal or metaphorical, they’re going to get out. Every day that passes without incident is one day closer to disaster. Don’t let that day come without a three-phase preparedness plan of your own in place.

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Bio: Danita Bye

Nationally recognized sales management and leadership expert Danita Bye built her reputation on building and inspiring process-oriented, no excuse, high-performance sales teams that deliver bottom line results. With her unique Fortune-100-turned-entrepreneur perspective, Danita helps CEOs and company presidents take their businesses to the next level. Her practical, no-nonsense approach to sales management, combined with her leadership acumen, enables sales leadership to increase sales, creating predictable revenue streams.

As a 10-year veteran of the Xerox Corporation, Danita consistently achieved award winning sales performance before leaving to become an equity partner and national sales manager for a Minneapolis-based medical device company. In this capacity, she increased annual revenues from $300,000 to a run rate of $20 million in just ten years.

Danita has authored numerous articles on sales management and leadership. In addition, she was a featured as a sales development expert on the TV show, “The Ruthless Entrepreneur,” which is currently airing on the Oxygen Network. Leadership Shift, Management Acceleration and a library of eBooks on critical sales management issues are available on the Sales Growth Specialists’ website.

Danita can be reached at Danita@SalesGrowthSpecialists.com, 612-267-3320 or 800-256-2799.

For more insights on Sales Strategy and Sales Process, visit www.SalesGrowthSpecialists.com.