Executive summary:
• The best sales professionals are outstanding at intensive farming of a territory.
• The best sales leaders:
Apply a comprehensive territory management plan across their team. • Have a communicated rule on how often key accounts need to be engaged.
Have communicated criteria on how accounts are graded.
Insist on account management plans from the front-line account managers.
Have multiple account managers working for large clients.
Who owns the relationship with your biggest clients?
If one of your key account managers leaves tomorrow does the relationship also leave the business?
Are new members in your sales team given a warm set of relationships or starting from the deep freeze?
What are your criteria for sales activity in your top 20 accounts?
Many years ago, I studied agricultural science at the University of New England in the northern tablelands NSW city of Armidale. As part of my studies, I learned the stark difference between the intensive farming that is found in horticulture or pork manufacturing compared with the broadacre requirements found on some beef properties in central Queensland. In the latter, the stocking rate could be where one beast requires 10 or 12 hectares on which to graze.
Related to this, I have found that the best sales professionals are outstanding at intensive farming of a territory. The less skilled requires a broad acre approach. This is also akin to “picking the low hanging fruit” without too much sweat or application.