How many of your top 15 accounts are from customers you brought on board within the last 18 months? It’s understood that many of your customers will be just fine post COVID-19. It’s also understood that a select group will struggle to find their way back to their pre-COVID-19 ways. Finally, and unfortunately, you’ll have some customers that have gone away for good. Business development and existing customer growth are the oxygen companies need, especially today. What does your scorecard look like?
Do this exercise for not only the top 15 customers of the company, but also for each sales rep and territory that you are working. What are you learning? What do the successes look like — what’s working? Where are the areas that need help and what will you need to do differently going forward?
Changing your trajectory begins with changing your habits. Not a wholesale change, but incremental change. You don’t need home runs each and every day, you need to get better at getting on base. Identify the habits that will fill the gaps in your new business development and existing customer growth efforts. New habits, the discipline of sticking with them, and a commitment to getting better each and every day will help drive the results you’re looking for. Doing all of this is hard, and not everyone will succeed. The ability to add and develop new habits seems to run parallel to those who consider themselves life-long learners. Would you agree?
New habits can come in many shapes and sizes. They can be personal or focused on business results — or both. Many folks will start a new habit in order to achieve a goal or obtain something you didn’t already have. A few business related habits could include:
- Identify the 10 accounts in your market space that you currently do not do business with. Identify what’s in your way, and what new habits will you work on to overcome those obstacles to improve your chances of winning that business?
- Your pre-COVID-19 business development strategy may no longer be effective post pandemic. Identify what you’ll work on, and the changes you’ll commit to making.
- What new habits do you need to develop in order to better manage your account management and new business development time management conundrum?
- Marketing and lead generation can always be better. What will you start doing more of or less of?
- What new habits will you begin working on today?
Identify the gaps and the changes that you want to make in your new business development and existing customer growth scorecard. Work with your team to identify the habits that you’ll need to change and or add to your efforts. Prioritize them with an eye towards the ones that will make a significant impact, taking into account the time and resources they will need to fully develop.
Have a clear picture of where you want to go, and engage your team to make it happen. If you have any comments or thoughts as to how you’ve approached these issues, please send me a note or include them below.
Mike Philie can help validate what’s working and what may need to change in your business. Changing the trajectory of a business is difficult to do while simultaneously operating the core competencies. Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry by providing direct and realistic advice, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach. Learn more at www.philiegroup.com, LinkedIn or email at mphilie@s756788055.onlinehome.us.
This blog originally published in Printing Impressions
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