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Even if our employer pays our fuel bills and we’re not concerned about recent gas prices, the CFO has noticed the price increases and is working on ways to control this cost. If we are currently paying our own fuel bills we directly feel the pain. Here’s a sales tip to keep in mind; we’ll see many companies in the upcoming months change how they handle fuel expenses. Many will stop paying fuel costs altogether.

The great news is that by necessity we are being forced to better manage our accounts in ways that will help us in the long haul…in ways that represent solid basic sales skills.

“…by necessity we are being forced to better manage our accounts…”

• We need to determine who our best customers are (and by that I mean most profitable) knowing that fuel costs are justified for this class of customer.

• Identifying outside customers that are marginally profitable is a valuable exercise. We can handle these customers through another channel (e.g., inside sales, website, etc.) or fire them with a dull pencil. Firing a marginally profitable customer with a dull pencil simply means we raise their prices until they either become profitable or they quit buying from us. This was one of the most important sales tips I got when I first started in sales.

• Our sales manager is constantly preaching to us to sell more products and services to existing customers. He or she is giving us good sales advice. Now is an excellent time to get more out of our existing customer contacts instead of adding small customers at additional locations.

• We must take control of our calendars. Instead of jumping all over town, we need to plan our customer appointments so that they tend to cluster in the same area on the same day. Our customers understand that it is costly for us to drive to their location and will provide sales help in our scheduling.

We have to manage around the reality of $4+ gas. The things we do to help us control those costs will actually make us better sales representatives by improving our revenue within accounts and sharpening our territory management skills.

Related links: Fire a Customer for Fun and Profit, Cross Selling

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There have been many studies researching the main reason that some sales reps are extremely successful and some are less so. Virtually all of the research comes to the same conclusion and it is surprising in its simplicity.

Sales managers want to know this predictor because it can help them hire the right people and provide focused sales tips in order to teach them how to sell. Sales reps want to know in order to improve their sales skills in an area that will have the biggest impact. This quest for the magic pill is one of the reasons that there’s a new sales blog around every corner.

“This predictor of success is not one that you have any control over…but in a way you do.”

What is it? Time in territory. That’s right, the longer a sales rep is in his or her territory the more likely he or she is to be successful. In the math world they call this a positive correlation. As the length of time increases, so does sales volume.

I think the implications for this are significant:

• If you’re a sales rep and thinking about changing jobs, remember that you’ll have to start the clock over again. Be careful about throwing away the time in territory that you’ve already earned with your current employer.
• Sales managers, do you have a long term sales rep that is not performing like you think they could? Then get out there and encourage and nurture them. You don’t want to lose his or her time in territory.
• Changing jobs frequently can hurt a sales rep’s career and a high sales rep turnover in a company can hurt an employer.

The bottom line sales tip is that hanging in there with our sales job or, if you’re a sales manager, hanging in there with a struggling long term sales rep might be the best thing you can do for your sales volume.

To receive this sales blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Summary: Many sales organizations mismanage their account and salesperson assignments. There are three common problem areas.

Something that I have seen across numerous sales organizations is what I call RSTAA (Reckless Sales Territory Account Assignments). It takes many forms; see if you are guilty of any of the following:

1. The “you’ve-been-transferred” customer. This is the account that is reassigned to a new salesperson about every two to three months. The account is not that highly valued but isn’t bad enough to terminate the relationship either. It typically is assigned to new salespeople. As hard as it is to believe, sales management doesn’t really see why this account isn’t growing. Sales management needs to either dump this customer or let someone have it long enough to see what can develop. Continuing to change salespeople on a regular basis will result in the customer ultimately abandoning ship anyway.

2. The “sales-management-doesn’t-care-what-you-want” customer. The chemistry between salesperson and customer sometimes is not what it should be. If tension between salesperson and customer continues for an extended time the customer will normally request to be assigned to another salesperson. In almost 100% of cases where I have seen this, regardless of the size of the account, sales management says “no” to the customer’s request. I can’t say exactly why this almost always happens but laziness, lack of creativity and desire to keep the status quo would be good guesses. If customers really want a new salesperson, they’ll get one, one way or another. A surefire way for them to get a new salesperson is to move their business to one of your competitors.

3. The “we’ll-get-someone-assigned-to-you-someday” customer. This kind of account is similar to the “you’ve-been-transferred” customer. The account is not on the front burner but does generate some consistent revenue. This customer has no point of contact with your company. Eventually a competitor will call on them, bring them a dozen roses, double their order volume and you can kiss this reliable revenue generator goodbye.

Not being smart about account/salesperson assignments will cost you business. When customers leave you because of unhappiness with their salesperson relationship (or lack thereof) they typically don’t hire a sky-writing company to let you know why. They just quietly move on to one of your competitors.

If you’re not already a subscriber, click here (salesvitamins.com) to subscribe and automatically receive Sales Vitamins™ as new posts become available. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer