Making the first sale to a customer is just the beginning of your business relationship with them. This three-step series shows you how to use this ‘platform’ to grow sales (after that first sale) with medium and large sized companies. Here is step 3 of 3.

Step 3 - Approach internal prospects through relationships and referrals

Once you have assessed the Incremental Revenue Opportunity (IRO), map this against the existing tiers of customer spend. Focus a good part of your time on those accounts which have the highest potential for increase (H1 to H3 in the table below), regardless of the size of current spend. This approach also helps you avoid ‘over-servicing’ large customers from who you already enjoy maximum ‘share-of-wallet’.

In 2008, James began a new role (as an Account Executive) on the team which reported, through his Manager, to me. In his portfolio of medium and large corporates, one of the inactive clients was Australian Consolidated Press in Sydney CBD. Within the first six weeks, he secured an opportunity to meet with the Brand Manager of one of the publications. At that meeting, he built good rapport as well as developed a clear value proposition for his target buyers. He was invited back in a fortnight to present to a team of 14 Brand Managers. That led to the developing of new relationships with individual decision makers in business units and getting a clear understanding of their needs. Within six months, this account went from being inactive to being a highly active relationship.

In a world that is increasingly aware of the power of social media and networking, it is imperative to maximise leverage from our existing relationships. They enable us to establish trust quickly and build new relationships to develop new opportunities.

Here’s to your continued success!

Have an opinion, question or story? Please click the Comments link below to share it. We would love to hear from you!

The general consensus in cyberspace seems to be that the average consumer is exposed to over 3000 advertising messages a day. This includes outdoor media, logos on products, printed material, radio, television, Internet, SMS, email and of course, the telephone. Everyone is trying to build a brand, position themselves or selling something.

No one can retain all that information.

As a result of this advertisement saturation, people have developed ‘selective attention’. This means that they will pay attention to only those things that they need, want or desire.

So, how do you get through the clutter to your prospect? You must answer the question “What’s in it for me?” (W.I.I.F.M). Show them how you will fulfill a need, want or desire.

Do your current sales and marketing messages answer this W.I.I.F.M question? Is it clear on your website? Take a look at: http://www.thewebshowroom.com.au . Note the central banner which starts with ‘We will build you...”. Is W.I.I.F.M clear on your sales collateral, your appointment setting script, your proposals, your presentations and responses to customers about what you do?

Here are three steps to help you answer the W.I.I.F.M question:

1. Determine the valuable outcomes your products deliver to customers
2. Develop a simple message to clearly spell it out to
3. Distribute this through every marketing channel you use

This is a move away from traditional product or service focussed selling, which most of us are guilty of and a move towards consultative, need-focussed selling.

If your customer understands how you can fulfill their need, want or desire, you will have their attention. This will enable you to secure appointments, discover needs and present a compelling solution. You will, as a result, improve your chance of winning the sale, every time! So, stop telling customers about your products and start selling the solutions they want!

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback. Click the link below to save or share this article.