Developing an Existing Portfolio

We have just explained how to measure the productivity of visits to prospective clients. It's essential to remember that you should pay the same (if not more) attention to clients already in your portfolio as you do to prospective clients. With this in mind and respecting the principle in our introduction, you will be able to analyze the productivity of client visits.

Find the mistake:

A sales manager of a large division in an international industrial company recently told us about a conversation he had with one of his sales engineers.
The engineer, after receiving sales training, went to his manager's office with his head hung low.

Engineer: It didn't work. They decided to choose another supplier for the deal.
Manager: What do you think we were we lacking?
Engineer: I don't know. I really can't believe they did this. I was quick to answer all their questions. I even tried to apply what I had seen during my training course - just goes to show that "in theory" and "in practice" are not the same thing.
Manager: I don't think you have fully understood the situation. You didn't lose the deal just now. You lost it six months ago! Our competitors have been present for at least six months and have slowly made themselves indispensable. Don't think that by just responding to the situation created by our competitors that you can win the deal!
Game over!

Too often, just going to see the clients is enough to satisfy some sales reps and their statistics-oriented managers who want to assure those higher up on the chain that they are taking care of the clients.
* What is the purpose of going to meet a client already in the portfolio?
* How can you measure the productivity of these meetings?

These are two very simple questions that you should analyze, both individually and collectively, during a sales meeting dedicated to this sole exercise.
Another more direct way to pose the question is: What would we lose if we didn't have a sales team and everything was done over the internet? Or even worse: What would our clients lose if everything were done over the internet or by phone?

To round out what we have seen in prospecting new clients, we propose another formula to work on the various areas, goals and outcomes for client visits. It's up to you to select the appropriate areas for your sector and to communicate and make them relevant for your team. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that results take precedence: Our proposal is to specify how you will measure the new business generated from current clients in your portfolio and thus handled by your sales team. Calculate the Global Account Value per Salesperson (GAVS).

Recurring orders renewed through known representatives
+
Orders on new projects or new products through known representatives
+
Orders generated from other departments or divisions within the client's company
+
Orders generated by other salespeople or strategic decisions made by the company based on information or practices from within the company.
=
Global Account Value per Salesperson

GAVS implies a certain idea about what it means to be a salesperson. The heart of the question is knowing to whom the client belongs. We believe that the client belongs, first and foremost, to the company. Your company entrusts the client to the caring hands of a salesperson who is skilled to serve the client and maximize its value. On paper, this sounds rather simple. Yet how many examples are there to contradict this notion? We know the consulting sector quite well. This sector has many capable consultants who will explain to you why their client cannot further develop its relationship with the firm, that their client absolutely cannot deal with anyone but them, that their client is undergoing changes and therefore cannot envisage other ways to collaborate, etc.

By implementing a GAVS monitoring program and even linking part of variable pay to GAVS progress, you can establish what to truly expect from a sales rep who is given a specific client.

Then, by looking at each of the items that help to improve GAVS, you can analyze the quantitative ("how much") points that you need to monitor to draw conclusions that can be used to improve the "how" component and, as such, the results.