Selling Today
Strategic Sales: How Saying No Can Grow Your Business BY TODD M. ZIELINSKI AND LISA BENSON
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hen the COVID-19 pandemic hit, most corrugated, folding carton, and retail display manufacturers found that they fell into one of two categories: those fortunate enough to be providing packaging for essential businesses and those that weren’t. Suddenly many manufacturers saw a shift, and they were either overwhelmed with business or saw it drop off. We have heard in the marketplace that companies that weren’t servicing essential businesses have taken a hit ranging from 20% to 32% top line year over year. Now, as companies are working to build momentum again, many are quoting anything that comes their way to fill excess capacity, whether or not it is a good fit. Going after the wrong type of prospects isn’t uncommon. In fact, according to a survey by Sales Insight Lab, 71.4% of salespeople report that only half or fewer of their prospects turn out to be a good fit. If you are wasting efforts with a poor-fit prospect, you are losing valuable time and resources. The sooner you realize they are not a fit and walk away, the more time you save. As busy as your salespeople are, wouldn’t it be great to give them back that time to focus on ideal opportunities?
Strategic Sales Growth Is the Answer When we talk about “strategic sales growth,” we are talking about growing your business by defining your prospect using a tactical approach so that you weed out those that are wasting your time. When you think of growth, you may be thinking you want to grow X% year over year, by a specific dollar amount, or by expanding geographically or into a new industry. This is a good start.
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BOXSCORE July/August 2021
However, there is an additional question to ask: What does strategic growth look like—i.e., how do you define your ideal customer in terms of opportunity to facilitate growth? Your Ideal Customer So, maybe you’ll break out SIC codes, look at the company size and the industries they are in. This is a good first step, but this isn’t enough to weed out the prospects who aren’t a fit. You can have two companies of similar size in the same industry with entirely different packaging needs. One may need a lot of support with structural and graphic design, and the other may use more plastic packaging and prefer off-the-shelf corrugated for the little they do need. This is why it is imperative that you go deeper and really focus on what your ideal customer looks like. Look at some of your best customers—those who create headaches are not the ones you want to emulate. Some things to consider include: • What type of program is in your sweet spot? • How many SKUs are ideal? • What materials, product size, shape, weight, etc. are preferred? • How much consultation and support do they need? • What is a realistic lifetime or program opportunity value? • What should the average order value be? • What is the purchase frequency that fits with your operations? • What margins do you need?
You can probably come up with an even longer list of pertinent questions specific to your business. Your ideal customer is likely complex. The key is to focus on the right type of profitable work, move away from quoting, and focus on one order. When you focus this way, you can intentionally go to market, proactively targeting the right type of accounts that will produce the specific opportunities you want. Equally important to identifying your strategic sales profile is defining what you do not want in an account. Be specific about what you are willing to walk away from and why. Don’t be afraid to say no to any opportunity that doesn’t fit, but be sure to communicate what is an ideal fit, and ask if those opportunities exist within that prospect’s organization. This also gives you an opportunity to look at existing customers. As you start gaining customers that fit your exact profile, start weeding out those customers that aren’t a great fit or take up too much time for little return. It
