Big Payoff | SellXL - Selling at the Executive Level

The Big Payoff of Account Planning … Opportunity Creation

By John Czabala

A point comes during an effective account planning workshop, when the account sales leader steps back and says ... Look at that. We have just identified some great business ideas to take to the client. These are initiatives and projects we think they will implement, or should be implementing, to improve their business. These are net new opportunities for us. These ideas will clearly differentiate us from our competition.

Opportunity creation is the result... but it all begins with a deep understanding of your client's business.

Understand Your Client's Business

Tired of hearing that phrase? We can agree that it appears to be overused. But if that's true, then why is it we often hear client executives say, "I want your sales team to understand our business"? Is it a matter of the team leader or sales team being too busy, or too focused on their needs rather than the client's? Even some of the most successful sales organizations and experienced account executives can get caught in the old syndrome of pushing solutions...i.e. here's a solution, what's your problem?

The door to new revenue growth opportunities and sustainable competitive advantage is wide open! The sign over the door says Understand Your Client.

A true understanding of your client's business drivers and pressures requires you to become a student of the company, their industry, and their competitors. Sound like a lot of work? Yes it is ... in the beginning. It's commonly known that it takes full throttle to get a plane off the ground, but when you reach cruising altitude you can throttle back and level off.

This is about making a smart initial investment of your time that can pay back huge dividends in terms of new revenue growth and competitive differentiation.

How do you gain the knowledge you need and develop insights into their business? Information on public companies is plentiful. We advise you to look first in their annual report. ..and look even more closely at the CEO's message. Typically, it will carry some clear statements about their performance, challenges and growth strategy (ies). It often also includes the CEO's top priorities for the upcoming year. It may seem obvious, but too many salespeople don't take advantage of this source of knowledge and insights. We've seen the ‘Wow, I didn't know that' look on the faces of account team members when a few strategic gems are read from the CEO's message in the client's annual report.

The client's website provides extensive information as well. Want more in-depth information? Get a copy of their 10K report, a filing required by the SEC. Order a Hoover's report on the company or try one of the many business search engines on the web. Listen to the client's Quarterly Earnings Call - there are many other resources you can tap into as well.

Deeper Understanding Leads to New Opportunities

As you gain more knowledge and develop additional insight into their business drivers and the implications they must consider, you will be better able to consider the decisions they face and where they may launch initiatives. Once you've gained the confidence to ‘think like a client executive', don't let time pass before you go and test your fresh knowledge and insights into their drivers, pressures and potential initiatives. Make those sales calls that let the client know you and your team are focused on their business needs. Put the discussion in their context and use their metrics - they'll find the time to listen.
This fresh knowledge and insight isn't just for calling on line executives. Many of the calls you make are on middle management, where the focus is on getting things done, e.g. operations managers. The next time you are responding to an RFP or to an informal request for a proposal, ask your contact, ‘What is the business need or initiative that requires this product, service, or solution?' Think of it as reverse engineering. Odds are that the request is related to the implementation of an initiative that was developed and decided at the executive level. Your solution may provide them assurance that their initiative and resource investment will give them the end business result they need. Given your fresh knowledge and insights into why they may need your solution, you can put yourself in a stronger competitive position by helping the implementation manager connect their activities to the larger business picture.

Leverage Your Successful Relationships

Once you establish yourself as a business asset (i.e. delivering business ‘value') to your client and close new revenue opportunities, you'll be in a position to further leverage yourself and your team into other parts of the organization. Keep improving your account planning activities and nurturing your relationships as you make progress. You'll have internal references to help you gain access upwardly and laterally.

Summary

Remember... be a student of their business. Continued study of your client, their industry and their competition is an absolute requirement. Always look for the connection between their business drivers (problems and opportunities), the initiatives / investments they select in order to address and solve the problems or seize opportunities, and your products / services / solutions. Knowing which initiatives they need to launch or the initiatives that you anticipate they will need to launch will always place you in the position of providing differentiated business value. Talk their language and anticipate their needs.

Bottom Line

The combination of knowledge, insights and internal references provides you with terrific leverage for creating more revenue growth opportunities ... and that's your sales team's ‘Big Payoff' from investing in an effective account planning approach.