So, what does this have to do with C-Suite Prospecting, the theme of this blog, for the coming months.  It takes courage and tenacity to step outside one’s comfort zone into the challenging arena of boardroom decision-makers especially if you have made a living calling on mid-level managers.  In this tight economy decisions formerly made by mid-level managers have been kicked upstairs to the COO and CFO’s desk.

I adopted this inspiring motto as my motivator to have the courage to take action when my entrepreneurial instincts whispered to me to test a new concept or analytic technique, rather than doing nothing and remaining inside my comfort zone.  

Megatrends, a 1982 best-seller, featured 10 trends most likely to change our lives. One research technique used to substantiate the author’s claims inspired me to apply it to my (then) new sales discipline of C-Suite prospecting. 

Content analysis was first used by military intelligence to collect and analyze public attitudes from printed newspapers. During WW2, military intelligence readers, conversant in Japanese, Italian and German studied newspaper editorials from combatant cities to interpret the psychological impact of bombing raids on civilian populations. The resulting increase in bombing raids was credited with shortening the length of the war and saving millions of Allied lives.

In 1983, I applied this technique to corporate annual reports to drum up business for my infant marketing consulting practice. A stockbroker provided current annual reports from multiple CEOs in the computers, communications and chemicals industries.

In one annual report, that of a Midwestern computer reseller, the CEO’s message to stockholders cited the ‘spoked-wheel concept’ repeatedly as his breakthrough initiative for his forthcoming nationwide expansion. There was absolutely no doubt who took credit for this concept!

When I solicited his business, I praised his brilliant ‘spoked-wheel concept’ in my letter and again, in my timely follow up phone call. His ego got the best of him, as he flew to Orlando a few days later, to meet with me to explore our potential to become one of his regional distribution points.

Since then content analysis techniques have enabled me to mine gems from corporate annual reports which have served me well to ethically access C-Suite deciders.  Is this a brazen misuse of content analysis?  Well, I prefer to credit intelligent risk-taking as inspired by the proud SAS motto: Who Dares…………………………Wins!