By "indirect," I don't mean that sales people should be under-handed, evasive or dishonest. I believe sales people should be straightforward.

Some take "indirect" to refer to channel reps. I'm not referring to that either. This article is for bag-carrying sales reps who manage a territory or a good number of accounts. And by "indirect," I really mean to say getting referrals, rather than cold-calling directly into accounts.

Using referrals isn't by any means a new idea. But how many sales reps do it efficiently and effectively? Do you? What this first part of the article is to describe is the necessity and benefits of thinking "indirectly" with the goal of raising the urgency of prospecting and selling through an ecosystem of indirect relationships.

I break the forcing functions as impacting three dimensions: width, depth, and time.

You need wider coverage because you need to do more with less
Typically, sales reps need to cover more because corporations need to do more with less. Now, you may be a rep who feels that you territory is too small. In that case, "wider" coverage means turning over more of those stones with a finer-toothed comb in order to find opportunities. In either case, the first rule of hitting a quota is building sufficient pipeline to cover it. And wider coverage is going to require basically churning through more and more accounts to fill that pipeline.

It's more than a single rep can do.

Leveraging others sales reps at other companies to turn over referrals addresses the coverage issue. These other reps could be typical resellers or consultants, or you can have an expanded view of whom to get referrals from (a topic covered later in the article).

Without them, the numbers are clearly against you. Remember: you need to do more with less, coverage more prospects for less revenue. How will you do that?

Niche products and complex options requires deeper expertise product wise and company wise
There are endless choices for corporations now. And solutions need to be more focused and in some cases more complex. The typical targeting approach is to start with the C-level and work down. Nowadays, every sales rep is armed with a Hoovers account or access to a Yahoo finance page and they are looking for the CFO, CIO, or the VP of whatever it is that they need.

Meanwhile, solutions (technology or otherwise) often meet specific needs and can fit within a set of complexity either in explanation or deployment at the customer site. You cannot get that from typical, publicly available data. You need depth within the organization, not only executive-level sponsorship. You need to get into a company and build value from the people experiencing the pain directly.

You also need depth in terms of the product and solution -- what systems are in place and how does it fit their unique environment?

Referrals can give you bits and pieces of that information. Why? Because they may have spoken to the right person you need and understood their needs. Or, better yet, the company you are targeting is already one of their customers.

Imagine the kinds of information they could provide to you.

Time isn't on your side -- similar products to yours are coming out and if you miss the window, you've left money on the table
As much as we all like to believe that our product is superior (and it could very well be), often times if a customer has a pain and someone gets there before you, you've lost the sale. How many of you have reached a prospect who is a great fit and they tell you that they just bought Product A or Product B which is a substitute or competitor? Isn't it that much more frustrating when you realize (and even the prospect realizes) that you have a better solution? But the purchase has already been made. There are plenty of reasons to lose a sale that are out of our control. But do you want getting to a customer too late to be one of them?

There are more competitors, all using efficiency-enhancing tools like sales-force automation and online marketing tools, who are driving to your targets before you can. Where can you get an upper-hand? What about through referrals, people who could even know the customer has a problem before they have gotten a solution? Conclusion -- it's not a new idea, but do you think it's a good one?

Sometimes the best ideas are ones that we already know, but just aren't implementing. Building your business through referrals is one of those.

But our approach is slightly different. That’s why we call it building your “ally force.” In the same way that a company builds a sales force, you build an ally force – allies who turn referrals and contacts to you. In other words: Don't be the lone wolf. Run with the pack, instead.

The forces are closing in. You need wider coverage; you need deeper expertise and penetration; and you need a faster go-to-market. Allies are the way. Stay tuned to find out more on how.