Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching
A Few Big Customers, or a Lot of Little Customers?
This question can cause great debates with Sales Coaches, Sales Managers, and Sales Executives. In my opinion, some sort of blend of both is in order. Using Baseball as an analogy – think of this as a blend of Base Hits and Home Runs. Base Hits normally win Baseball games, but fans love Home Runs, and they look great on TV highlights. Unfortunately, batters that are purposely trying to hit Home Runs (as opposed to Base Hits) tend to strike-out or fly-out more often.
Smaller accounts can have greater growth potential, may be easier to obtain, may be easier to maintain, and easier to replace (if the customer is lost or goes away).
Larger accounts are extremely gratifying when you win them, tend to get you recognized, can be more complex or exciting projects, can be more demanding, and are harder to replace (if the customer is lost or goes away).
Let's use a 2023 corporate acquisition as an example. As a Sales Executive, your largest customer was Bed Bath and Beyond, which represented a large percentage of your sales territory. Through the bankruptcy process, Overstock United acquires Bed Bath & Beyond – what happens to your account, your territory, and your commission? Going back to COVID-19 as an example, your largest account was an Airline or Hotel Chain – imagine the revenue impact.
Industry experts suggest that your larger accounts should individually account for no more than 10-15% of your total business.
If you have an opportunity to land a "big one" and you can provide excellent service on the back-end, do it! Just focus on getting some additional customers, and don't sit back and coast. Add more accounts, and never settle for just handling your existing accounts (you never know what unexpected events can occur.)
Have a great sales week!