Sales: Organize a strategic plan

Q. Why do my reps keep visiting accounts that never grow?

A. They spend more time with these accounts because the fear of loss is greater than a potential reward. This fear compounds when the rep is on commission. They may protect their income and the “cash cow” feeding it.

They don’t ask for additional lines of business because “it would risk my relationship.” It’s a productive account, but it doesn’t require this much time.

Territory reps get sucked into “servicing/farming” these accounts instead of “selling/hunting” new ones. Reps justify the time by saying they “get all the business” from an account. How often is that proven true? A rep who parks themselves at a few accounts is limiting their potential to help more patients and providers. They don’t have to be the hero.

The same fear keeps them calling on accounts that will never refer. The big account that got burned when your company dropped the ball. The rep tries to win the account back but it wasn’t them who dropped the ball – they can’t fix it. That account doesn't need another sales call. It needs a reason to believe the problem is fixed.

Organizing a strategic sales plan will help drive sales calls into five buckets and prioritize time using the 80/20 rule.

1. Top accounts: Your highest producing accounts. The ones you’ll lose sleep over if they stop referring.
2. Growth accounts: Existing accounts with upside.
3. Target accounts: Your competitors’ accounts with potential.
4. Dormant accounts: Accounts that stopped referring.
5. Do not pursue: Accounts to stop calling on. They were burned or are bad business.

If your reps can’t tell you which bucket each account is in, they don’t have a sales plan. They have a driving route.

BJ Anderson is the president of QP3 Training Systems, Inc. He can be reached at BJA@QP3.com.