I’ve asked a few support people to be more involved in developing one of our big customers. It was getting to be a lot to manage on my own. Now I find my employees aren’t prioritizing client’s new business opportunities. They keep saying they’re too busy. What should I do?
Congrats on making a move to expand your sales team! Know that the transition from account support to growing sales opportunities is a big transition. Concept and executing are two different things; it takes practice to develop skills. Your staff probably also needs people to delegate to, just as you’re delegating to them. Make sure your people are signed onto the responsibility of new business development.
Handling a client’s requests for existing projects is very different from the socializing and concept meetings that go with new opportunity development. Here are some tools to organize new business activities:
- account contact list (existing and potential) – name, title, role, responsibility
- key player list – those most likely to be in charge of new business development
- current and pending projects list
- contact / meeting plan: monthly, quarterly or semi-annually, depending on how fast things change for each key contact, to gather information on what’s coming up
- goals for the number of new projects to pick up in the coming months
- game plan for getting new projects: meetings, networking, bids, etc. within the account
Review the tools with your newly minted account managers to be sure they understand what’s involved. Schedule brief weekly timeslots to check in on your staff’s progress.
It may be that you’re backing out of the transition process too quickly. Meeting with clients to deliver on work is very different from pursuing new opportunities. Concept meetings are much more intangible, and someone who’s been focused on projects and due dates may not even notice the opportunities that are swirling around them.
Have your account managers set up and host transition meetings with the client’s key contacts. Help them prepare by asking what they know / want to know regarding new projects. Emphasize the importance of listening, rather than talking, in account development meetings.
If you think your account managers will fall into their old pattern of reporting on what they’re working on, rather than finding out what’s coming up, help them build a list of questions to ask the client:
- What kinds of projects are the horizon?
- Who else might be involved in those projects?
- What kind of help might you need from us?
- What’s the likely timing?
Give your account managers a questionnaire to fill out, to help them make the transition from talking to listening and information gathering.
As you delegate new business development to people 1 level down, they may need to push some of their work down. Most people today have a full plate of assignments. Adding something new means something else has to come off. The good news is that pushing work down in the organization, and focusing higher level resources on selling, are two of the most effective ways to grow sales and profitability.
Finally, check in with your managers to be sure they want to learn about how to chase new business within existing accounts. Make sure your managers understand that learning to sell and expand existing accounts is a growth track for them, and one of the most important development opportunities they could take on. If they’re not interested, find out why, and make it clear that without learning how to develop new business they will be limiting their career and their earnings.
Looking for a good book? The Seven Keys to Managing Strategic Accounts, by Sallie Sherman, Joseph Sperry, Samuel Reese.
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Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., www.StrategyLeaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at 877-238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi? Please send it to her, via e-mail at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com
