Bag the Elephant!: How to Win and Keep Big Customers

By Steve Kaplan

Book Overview

Now available in paperback, Steve Kaplan's Bag the Elephant, is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today , and Business Week bestseller that has received praise from around the business community: "Steve Kaplan's elephant strategy is right on the money, as long as you're willing to roll up your sleeves and go to work." --Daniel M. Snyder, Owner, Chairman of the Board, The Washington Redskins. "Kaplan shows you how to think BIG, act BIG, and win BIG." --Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling . "A terrific read From now on, when I think about building business and sales, there's no way I'll ever forget the Elephant." --Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive . Bag the Elephant is all about how smart businesspeople can woo and keep those all-important elephants--the big, make-or-break customers. Like its companion, the New York Times bestseller Be the Elephant , it is filled with dynamic advice and real-life examples, delivered in an energetic, straight-shooting fashion that gets right to the core of its powerful idea--how to land the account that will put you over the top. Here are six keys to achieving the elephant mindset and understanding the big customer. How to map and use a big company's red tape to your advantage. Why the elephant needs you as much as you need it. Preparing yourself and your pitch. How to negotiate with elephants without losing your profit margins. And how to avoid the five killer mistakes, from mismanaging client expectations to losing sight of the numbers. For small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and sales people, stalking and landing an elephant can be the most profitable adventure of your life, and Kaplan explains everything you need to know.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761145249
• ISBN13: 9780761145240
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great for medical practices

I am the owner of a 6 doctor group, and I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It offered me an unique insight to the business world that I have not seen in any of my usual medical-business journals or books. It is to Steve's credit for him to share so much of his knowledge and experiences and allow others to learn from his mistakes and benefit from his triumphs. I have already implemented several ideas that I got from his book into my practice, and anticipate significant financial rewards from these changes.

Outstanding! The art and science of building a business empire

Steve Kaplan has successfully intertwined his vast experiences with a set of sensible protocols, giving business tools to companies on a long term vision for success -- real success -- big success -- well planned success. He has tried to eliminate the intimidation factor, opening the way to aggressive but cautious solicitation of larger companies for more substantial orders. He goes explaining in detail, how to approach contacts despite the bureaucratic red tape, using business psychology, as well as knowledge in procuring deals. He advises learning to live with established obstacles and work around them -- by mail, telephone calls, visits, etc., and repeating the steps as necessary but judicously. He outlines the art of being confident in indentifing targets, knocking doors, and getting access to the "elephant dealer", and all the time focusing on coming face to face with the REAL ELEPHANT. The description of the different personalaties of salesmen (The sage, the pal, the pit bull) are appropriately analyzed in dealing with them. And what happens after negotiating with the "elephant" and even making the big deals? The process in the aftermath of success...and how to avoid problems? The book describes, step by step, issues that could derail a successful operation, as he considers the following measures: >Biting more than you can chew. <br /> >Don't put all your eggs in one basket. <br /> >Remember your champions(people who have helped) <br /> >Calculate profit margins accurately (its what you keep and not what you sell that counts) <br /> >Partnership is a two-way street. <br /> >The budget (Review, objectives, strategy, tactics, implimentation) <br /> >Killer mistakes and fumbling a client crises. <br /> <br />The book is smoothly integrated and easy to read. It is very much like an algorithm that can be followed on a chart. <br /> <br />I recommend it highly for anyone interested in improving a business operation, with a bold and long-term vision for success. <br /> <br /> <br />

Get Your Sales Force on the Road to Success

Steve Kaplan does an awesome job illustrating the do's and dont's when dealing with a big company. Instead of complaining about the "red tape" inside big organizations, he shows you how you to use it to your advantage....a crucial difference between success and failure. Using real life examples it is in an easy to read format, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to grow their business.

A great book on how a David can capture a Goliath.

As a business owner for nearly two decades, I am always on the hunt for a great new business book. Many hit narrow points, but few encompass a concept and wrap it with sound writing skills communicating the concept clearly and succinctly. In BAG THE ELEPHANT, Steve Kaplan has quite successfully captured the latter. For those not oriented toward this type of jargon, an "Elephant" has, for many years, been the synonym for a large client/customer. In my field, consulting, obtaining an elephant client is daunting, difficult, exciting, and more than anything else, a helluva challenge. However, the potential rewards are incredible. (NOTE: I am not a major proponent of a business built around a couple of elephants or a handful of smaller elephants. The simple reason is attrition; it happens to everyone and if your clientele numbers are few, the departure of one elephant can cause extreme hardship on the basic operations of one's business. My advice is to build a client base with many small-to-medium size clients and sprinkle in an elephant or two once your foundation is established. Attrition is much more palatable under these circumstances.) As noted, Kaplan has effectively and succinctly described his concept of bagging an elephant. His basic premise outlines various strategies for business owners seeking to enter the realm of the larger client/customer (i.e. the elephants). Kaplan divides the book into five parts, which effectively and humorously, describes the process of bagging the elephant: Part I - "Your Elephant is Waiting" - Kaplan describes various strategies for aligning your business with elephants, and how to gauge success in obtaining an elephant. Part II - "What to know about Elephants" - Kaplan compares and contrasts the characteristics and attributes of small and large businesses, and describes the challenges of bridging the gap between the two (i.e. cutting through the bureaucratic red tape). Part III - "Romancing your Elephant" - Kaplan describes various methods of getting one's foot in the corporate door. This is handled quite effectively with a graphical flow chart of procedural "to dos." Part IV - "Leveraging your Elephant's Power" - Kaplan lays out a conceptual plan to keep your elephant once you've gotten it. This is probably one of the more important sections (concepts) in the book as this is the final litmus test of your business's ability to handle, on an ongoing basis, the daily trials of dealing with a larger business. Inasmuch as the corporate cultures will be disparate, the small business owner must become a chameleon. Part V - "Five Killer Mistakes" - Read this section very carefully. If you've been in business long enough, you may know each of these personally. All in all, Kaplan has successfully captured the essence and nuances of being David in a Goliath arena. This is quite simply daunting however, simple reminders of why one decided upon entrepreneurship vs. the corporate life will present a grounding effect

Bag the elephant

I purchased this book for my husband. When I got home I started to flip through the pages before I knew it I was reading and actually understanding this amazing book. I normally would not read a book about business, However this book was unique. It had humor and real stories about people just like me who were able to turn their business around by simply thinking big. I know you need to work hard at anything to make it successful, but with this book and the wonderful way it is worded anyone can understand and achieve success. Anyone who wants to further their career can start by reading this book. I would like to thank the author for writing a book that was so well written that even I understood it! This book made my holiday shopping so much easier. All my friends and family will be learning how to bag the elephant this year.