Having worked with more than two dozen different professional services firms (including IBM and Accenture), I’ve seen my share of common sales and business development pitfalls. Among the most prevalent: Weakness in account management and account planning effectiveness — even with a firm’s largest and most strategic clients. Client churn, poor penetration at top accounts, […]
Category Archives: Account Management
What Constitutes a World-Class Sales Organization
I was asked recently by a long-term client, “What makes the difference between an average sales organization and one that is world-class?” Great question – and one that deserved some forethought to answer. So, after a few long flights and a couple of days of contemplation I shared the outline below with him. I’ll be […]
Segmentation Strategy: Do You Know Where Your Gun is Aimed?
Assume you are about to go hunting on 500 acres of land that is split into parcels with a different kind of animal in each parcel (i.e. squirrels in one parcel and Moose in another).
Don’t Expect Your Technical & Sales Support People to “Sell”
In every sales-oriented organization we need to find ways to help our technical and support resources recognize that they can be an integral part of the selling process and still be comfortable with their own style. They don’t have to be pushy; they don’t have to be bold; they don’t even have to ask for the order. In fact, I would argue that they (and we) would be far better off if they didn’t do these things and stopped feeling pressure to “sell.”
Did Your Last Keynote Speaker Have a Lasting Impact?
Every year you (or your meeting planning team) search for a great speaker for your sales kickoff meeting that will really get your team motivated for the new year (especially when your goals have increased by 20%!). You’ve had the guy who climbed Mt Everest who talked about overcoming challenges. You’ve hired the disabled person who has run 27 marathons and talks about perseverance. You’ve even had the comedian visit to get the troops to laugh and hope they forget about the price increases they have to deliver to clients and the quota increases that likely mean they will earn 25% less than they did last year.