The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Can you have too much emphasis on new business?

I submit that’s not a crazy question. There’s a scenario, more common than you think, where an excessive emphasis on finding new clients can mask a significant problem growing inside your organization. Ask yourself: What role is that new business playing? Is it fueling your sharp growth curve? If so, congratulations.

Too often, the answer is that new business is playing a very different role—that new clients are coming in the front door just fast enough to replace those who are leaving by the back door. The emphasis on new business development in your organization might be coming at a high cost—not placing sufficient emphasis on satisfying, retaining, and growing your existing accounts.

Or you might not even be breaking even: You could be working harder than ever to find new revenue that is failing even to cover the losses you’re experiencing due to attrition. It reminds me of the classic line from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”

The other day, I was writing what seemed like a pretty smart piece for The Marketing Mind blog. That’s the site where we capture a wide variety of consumer and industry trends.

Our goal is to convert topical issues into valid business reasons to help sellers get appointments, and needs analysis questions that lead to meaningful challenges they can help their clients solve.

In sales we often feel that if a prospect doesn’t buy from us we’ve somehow failed. Some sales managers reinforce this belief. The truth is that not all prospects are created equally. As with your active clients, some prospects are clearly better than others.

Last week, my daughter-in-law arrived at our house with two really enthusiastic grandkids after a stop at the mall. My granddaughter was carrying a brand new Build-a-Bear. And my grandson was all fired up about a new bag of Legos he was allowed to buy… and couldn’t wait for help from Grandpa in building something really cool.

Markets ebb and flow, and it seems a greater number of variables than ever before can impact one’s performance in a quarter or a year. Certainly there are things that happen beyond your control, so let’s look at what’s within your control—what you can do to ensure that you will deliver on your sales quota this year?

1. Get Closer To Your Key Accounts

Unless you are in a business where you sell something once and move on, the work you do on behalf of your Key Accounts has more impact than anything else you can do when it comes to delivering your quota. You’ve heard of the Pareto Principle, aka the 80/20 rule. It’s true. In most businesses, between 75% and 80% of the revenue comes from only 25% of the customers they do business with. And it’s very likely true for your own book of business. The last thing you want to do is lose a Key Account, and most of them have untapped potential for new business.

So for each of your Key customers you should set a goal to renew your needs analysis at least quarterly, perhaps more often. New needs require new solutions, so knowing those changing needs helps make sure you are part of each new solution. Work to increase the number of decision influencers with whom you have contact within the account. Not only does this help you keep your current business in place, but also new influencers often have new problems that need to be addressed. Can you help?