Building new Tier 1 clients from neglected Tier 2/3 customers

All organizations need Tier 1 clients i.e. those top accounts who generate your recurring revenues year in year out and often represent a significant % of total revenue (i.e. Pareto). However, it should not be at the expense of all other customers or prospecting for new business.

Have you planned for losing a Tier 1 client? How much focus do you give your Tier 2 and Tier 3 customers? Who has the potential to be your Tier 1 customers of tomorrow? Do you judge the attention to Tier 2 and 3 clients have today based on their current spend as opposed to their potential? Do you have time and bandwidth to look at these hidden gems?

If the answer is “No” to any of these questions, Synergistica can be utilized to bring this focus for you.

Delivering new approaches from other sectors and geographies into your market

Many organizations and industries adopt the same business development approach and techniques, because “that’s the way it’s always been done”. Invariably this often gives the same results (or over time diminishing results) as the status quo is not challenged. Outside eyes and ears are not utilised and many in an organization, including the sales teams, do not have the wide-ranging experience to deliver new ways to find new markets, clients or partnerships .

Embracing how competitors or like-minded organizations tackle the same business problems in different sectors or geographies of the world is to be encouraged. With sales, as an example, if you look at successful individuals or teams, consistent sales processes and skillsets will have been applied universally. They are adapted dependent on the complexity and size of an opportunity. If you haven’t looked at how others do it, then you may be missing sales opportunities.

Augmenting your teams to drive new behaviour and processes

There are very few businesses who have the luxury of building sales teams today to take advantage of all opportunities open to them. Equally bringing in extra headcount without signing up front to increased quotas and taking account of sales cycles, once a business plan is set, is extremely difficult. This is true for all businesses, but especially if you are an SME.

In today’s world, experienced sales professionals are brought in to augment existing teams, to help increase the sales pipeline/funnel, on a contracted basis. This can be especially useful if you are looking to develop new territories or verticals, but against clearly defined objectives established at the outset. New business developed on this basis can be used to fund additional sales heads in subsequent fiscal years. The softer benefit is these individuals bring new behaviours into an organization, positively impacting the productivity of an existing team over and above what was being forecast.

Challenging the status quo if results are stagnating

Many organizations, both large and small, fail to take the time out to look at why results are not improving year in, year out. For some larger SME’s and corporates this can be because markets have changed, but their relationships, go to market models, solutions and sales techniques have not.

Often the sales or account teams have been used to achieving a fixed level of business from a set of accounts and the hunger for new business or new opportunities from an existing client have waned. Salespeople are human as well and may not venture into areas of their portfolio of solutions and services where they feel uncomfortable. Are you missing opportunities daily?

Setting new bars for the ‘art of the possible” as a sales team

Is all your team achieving 100% of their quotas today? For sure, that’s why we all sign up to being a sales professional, as well as accelerators (incremental bonuses) and achieving “Circle of Excellence” recognition.

Aside from quota setting, which is another subject, all successful sales people are looking for the shortest route to achieve their goals (quota, KPI’s, targets). There areseveral pitfalls to preventing the best chance of success for both the individual, team and business. The traits needed for success are: –

Clarity and agreement of

Following the principles of a sales cycle

Robust up front qualification ,

Having a breadth and depth of relationships between your own company and clients on both individual opportunities and accounts

Flexible commercial packaging

Chameleonlike interpersonal skills

Effective leadiership and management of teams

Clear and effectivecommunication internally and externally

Doing what you say you are going to do when you say you’ll do it

Commitment, energy, fun and drive.

Where are your areas of improvement and what could you be achieving as an individual or team with new ideas, focus and commitment?

Contact Synergistica to bring new ideas and
re-energize your sales performance