The Power of WhaleSales™ - Building a Strategy for Transformational Growth
A podcast on How to Land Megadeals That Accelerate Revenue Growth and Elevate Executive Relationships
When Alan Weiss and I sat down to record our recent conversation, we explored a topic that has shaped the trajectory of my career and the growth of countless companies: the WhaleSale™ Strategy.
A WhaleSale™ isn’t just a big sale. It’s a transformational client relationship, the kind that changes how your company is perceived, how your team performs, and how your business grows. These deals are not accidents. They are the result of intentional strategy, executive alignment, and the courage to pursue opportunities that most people assume are out of reach.
In the conversation, Alan and I discussed how “landing a whale” requires a shift in mindset. It’s not about chasing volume—it’s about creating deep value for the right clients. Alan shared his early experience of undervaluing a deal and how that realization changed his philosophy toward pursuing larger, more strategic opportunities. I agreed, adding that many businesses already have whale opportunities within their existing client base—they simply haven’t recognized or nurtured them yet.
At my former company, I made WhaleSales™ part of our culture. Each year, we set a specific goal to identify and win one “whale” client. That single decision transformed our stability, growth, and brand authority. It wasn’t just about revenue—it created a sense of purpose and momentum across the entire organization. WhaleSales™ became a strategic discipline, not a lucky break.
Alan and I also explored how large, high-value clients can be a catalyst for internal change. These clients raise the bar for performance, attract top talent, and generate new referrals and expansion business. Alan broke it down into three components: the original payment, the expansion revenue, and the referral impact. Together, these create compounding returns that small, transactional sales can never match.
What I love most about this approach is that WhaleSales™ build defensible moats around companies. When you’re working at the executive level—aligned to their goals, their strategy, and their outcomes—you become indispensable. That’s how you separate your business from commoditized competitors.
We also discussed the human side of these deals. WhaleSales™ aren’t about “closing” someone; they’re about building executive trust. Alan put it well—landing a whale is about making friends and providing value, not killing opportunities. When done right, these relationships last for years and create exponential impact.
Our conversation ended with a simple question: Why don’t more companies do this? The truth is, most teams focus on volume instead of value. They measure activity instead of alignment. But the companies that learn how to identify, pursue, and sustain WhaleSales™ grow stronger, faster, and far beyond their competition.
If you want to explore how to build your own WhaleSale™ Strategy, Alan Weiss and I work with companies to identify high-value clients, design executive-level engagement systems, and develop repeatable processes for securing transformational deals.
Let’s make WhaleSales™ a deliberate part of your growth plan.
You can listen to the full conversation with Alan Weiss here:
Every company has a potential “whale”, a single client that can reshape its future.
The question is whether you have the strategy to pursue it.
We partner with organizations to create custom Whale Deal strategies that align teams, position value at the executive level, and deliver measurable financial impact. Let’s build your roadmap to the next megadeal.
https://www.lisatmiller.com/contact/
https://alanweiss.com/contact/
You can watch The WhaleSale™ on Vimeo: