BASICS OF SALES

I was doing well in one of my accounts but I still felt there was quite a bit more potential business that I was missing out on. I could not place my finger on it but the feeling was palpable.
Before I could think about this problem I had to justify to myself why I was feeling this way and if indeed it was the correct assumption. My first move was to gather as many facts as I could and make assumptions as best I could. When I gathered the facts I could then attempt to set the correct course of action.

I started paying closer attention to the way the account was run, the people in it, the people working there and those peripherally connected with it.

After a time and close observation, some trial and error, I came upon the problem. It seems the commission for my line in the account was quite a bit lower than my competitions. Consequently the sales force was concentrating on those products that would yield them the best commission. The commission was set by their company on my product.
This was the starting point. This was the problem unmasked.

Before you can solve a problem you must first recognize one exists. You must plan a course of action to remedy it. Sometimes nothing will work and there is no solution, but even if this is the case you still can benefit from this set of circumstances to help you in the future.

1- You now know there is a problem and you have to come up with a plan of action to solve it.

2- If it is indeed unsolvable you must adjust your expectations in the account. Try moving on to another account where you have a more competitive advantage. You can then try to make up for the business you are losing in the problem account and the time your spending there while you are losing business.

Sometimes you can make up for short falls in some accounts by switching your efforts to accounts where you have a better advantage. You must first and foremost recognize there is a problem. This is the most important thing to be aware of. Do not think that because you have a good amount of business in an account that you are getting what you should be getting, or what the account is capable of yielding.

Thank You
Joe D'Ambra
www.basicsofsales.com
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