Adding customers is a compulsory exercise requiring persistence and a significant investment of time and money. For much of the B-to-B market, cold calling is no longer an option so what works best? In our connected, noisy, ever-urgent economy, consider the following concepts to meet and develop new customers: Plan your attack. Rather than knocking on any door you see, plan your attack as follows: Specify your Core Customer, the customer most likely to buy …
Bob Schultek My good friend is a passionate biker, and an entrepreneur. He often uses his cycling experience to make a point about business. We were discussing the rapid evolution of technology as a driver of competition when Mike uttered: “Intense competition is the new normal, and there’s no time to rest. Bikers prefer to ride in hilly country – it’s a hard ride up and restful ride down. But when you ride on flat …
Evaluate Mutual Value Produced We had been discussing the various ways that increased collaboration with customers prevents commoditization when Ben asked, “Can we collaborate too much with customers?” The short answer is “yes,” but to delve more deeply into Ben’s point, we first revisited why customer-partnering has proven to be so effective in battling commoditization – it produces results for customers that fosters enduring relationships. Sales productivity is increased, driving growth in revenue and profitability. …
The most productive means of achieving sustained growth performance is to help your core customers build their business. Who are your core customers? If you don’t know, isn’t time to find out? The most useful description of “core customers” I’ve seen is Robert Bloom’s (The Inside Advantage) who defines them as customers who purchase your product or service in quantities that optimize your profitability. Start by assessing what has worked to build your business…from the perspective of your …
