New Business – It’s Now or Never!

There has never been a better time to target and win new business.

There, I’ve said it. I’ve been dying to get that off my chest.

In the midst of some of the most challenging economic circumstances some of us have seen for a while (and some have ever seen) I’ve decided to take the plunge and say something positive. 

It’s obvious, isn’t it? New business is crucial for the survival of any business: Whether that’s new business from existing clients or business from brand new clients; without it we will struggle to survive let alone prosper.

So is it survival of the fittest then? I guess it is. But I’m not sure it’s ever been any different really. This time though, with a seemingly never-ending stream of disappointing economic news and even gloomier predictions there is a likelihood of greater existing client revenue pressures than we’ve seen for a while, especially so if you operate in a static or even declining market like traditional office supplies. 

As a business specialising in sales growth services, I can tell you that the No1 reason we hear from clients considering our services is the need for new business. And not just in the workplace supplies sector, every sector. 

Why is that? 

Well, for one, business costs have risen and will continue to rise. New business growth will help compensate for these rising costs. Another reason is existing client spend is static or down – your customers are feeling the same pressures as you are. 

I would hope that, by now, we are well on our way to a more diversified customer offering in our portfolio of products and services. One that provides us with the opportunity to sell more to our existing customers. This the first rule of new business strategy – sell more to your existing customers – and we have written a handful of articles on this already to hopefully inspire the desire to make this happen.  

The good news, from a new business perspective at least, is that this diversified solution is now, or very soon will be, more attractive to your customers than it has likely to have been before. That customer will be receptive to reducing costs through consolidation. They may even be fewer in staff numbers so are/will become time-poor, so fewer suppliers to manage would be lovely I would think! 

Making it count

For a start, we can accept that it’s real. The vast majority of companies are being forced to review what they do and make it more efficient, cost-effective and /or deliver greater value for money. 

Step 1 is to recognise we need to be PRO-ACTIVE. We need to take initiatives to our existing clients not wait until they come to us. We need to re-visit that product sector we haven’t been able to sell them before and re-state the benefits of single source supply – furniture, FM, print, PPE, whatever it is you don’t currently sell them, try again. We need to review our mix of own brand and alternative brand products. We need to plug the gaps. We need to look at ways we can help the client reduce their overall spend by spending more with us – maybe even looking at proposing a margin decrease on our current products if we can secure additional ranges and increase average order values (especially if we can work with client to reduce cost to service). Take the game to them!

We also need to be mindful of our pet clients coming under attack too. If you have enjoyed a healthy relationship with that client and even healthier margin then the chances are somebody will target them as a potential new account again. Which one of your clients would you attack if you were a competitor?

And if you are reading this thinking that you have an unbreakable relationship with your current pet clients remember that change may be forced upon you client too – revisit your relationships and make sure you are connected at EVERY level in the decision-making chain. I like to use the burglar analogy – if you were to HAVE to break in to your own house for whatever reason how would you do it? That’s what a burglar would do too so that’s your weakest point.

Again, we have covered this in previous articles but my point is NOW is the time to push forward with being proactive with your existing customers with your expanded solution. 

Most of all though with existing clients be pro- active NOT defensive.

Let’s take a look at brand new business.  Where do we start? 

Pick a number!

Quick question for you – business owner or sales person – how much brand-new business do you NEED to stand still? That’s right. If you’re existing client spend is expected to slip backwards how much brand-new income do you need to replace it? Now that may seem like a really obvious question but you’d be amazed at how infrequently that question is asked.

I spoke with a potential client recently. I was told they had a new business growth target of 10% for the year so I asked how much existing business they expected to lose. They ‘expected’ to lose nothing. There were no current contracts about to expire. No ‘at risk’ customer and the existing client base was made up of secure, regular, established clients. The existing sales force was settled and established.

What about change?” I said. “Change happens. Something will change.”

It just does. In their industry the natural client attrition rate was around 6-8% i.e. they would probably lose 6-8% of their existing clients through no fault of their own no matter how great they were. Therefore, to ensure they ‘stood still’ their new business targets should’ve been 8%.. just to make sure. And that is a fact of sales. SOMETHING will happen that is beyond your control that will affect your CLIENT and that will potentially affect you. No matter what your current circumstances SOMETHING will change. And that’s good as change is thebiggest driver of new business opportunity there is. Without change happening opportunities to capitalise on change will not present themselves as frequently – there will be no need for seeking alternatives, no need to consider consolidation, no need to seek out a new solution. So, think about this current economic climate as just that – a big forced circumstance of change. And change is magic pixie dust for the new business activities, just don’t be fooled into thinking that new business isn’t needed to achieve a stand-still result as it very like will be. 

And if you want to grow 10% then you will need to achieve double that to allow for this attrition. If the attrition doesn’t happen then that’s great but please, please allow for it in your plans. 

The most positive aspect though of ‘change’ presenting opportunity really does come in the form of brand-new business. Business you’ve never had before. Business that’s been with a competitor of yours for years as the relationship is stronger than the commercial dynamic. Well, has that changed? Is change happening TO them or their business? Most probably. So, re-target them. Target people you’ve targeted before and you may find the door is just ever-so-slightly more open than before. And when you get through that door? Ah, that’s the easy bit. Once you are in you can win. So can the other 5 companies who have been let in too. They can win. What you have to do of course is simply increase your chances of success by making yours the most impressive offering there is. How? Savings? Service? Personality? Products? Yep, all those things. And more. But that’s what your competitors will do too isn’t it? Maybe they will maybe they won’t. You can’t control that. What you can control though is how you make your proposition as RELEVANT as possible and to do that you need to make sure your sales people know ALL the component parts of your proposition so they know which bits to ‘sell’. We call it ‘Component Proposition’.

The budling blocks to new business success

If you’ve been reading our articles you will know we like to keep things as simple as possible. Your client proposition is no different. There are only FOUR foundation parts to an effective client solution – your PRODUCTS, your SERVICE, your COMPANY PROFILE and your PERSONAL PROFILE.

Unless you have a completely unique product or service solution your client will likely make a decision on their supplier based on a MIX of three things – best value for money and the best service offering wrapped with the least amount of risk specific to their business and their personal wants/needs. They will want you to be able to demonstrate that you have the products they need/want, the service they desire and the PROOF that you have the ability to deliver on your promises – that’s where your company and personal profile come in. The background history and evidence to your capabilities as a company should never be undersold. 

Likewise, your personal profile (or that of your sales person) – people STILL buy people. People will make decision based on how ‘comfortable’ they feel about the decision not just the benefits. The commercial edge you may have is crucial but undermined unless you make sure you make them feel comfortable and secure about you and your company’s ability to deliver.

When you truly dissect your proposition and profile into these four areas you will discover literally dozens of key features and benefits you can present. So which ones do you use and when? To do that you need to ask lots of questions and find out as many things about your prospect as you can. That is your right as a sales person/prospective supplier. Once you have done that you can literally ‘match’ the key areas of your proposition to the client’s needs and wants – I call that simply ‘Proposition Matching’.

Make it as PERSONAL to the target client as you possibly can. It does take some skill and many are naturally good at it but you can use a process if you prefer.

The discovery phase of the sales process is THE most important part. You cannot propose a solution without good discovery. You can’t deal with objections, negotiation and you will certainly not close opportunities that haven’t been properly ‘discovered’. My go-to (foundation) process in any sales situation is a process called SEQHIM. It stands for Status, Equipment, Quantity, History, Improvement and Motivation. I have used it for more than 25 years and still do today. Done properly you will find out everything you need to know about their motivation or appetite for potential change. 

Once I have SEQHIM-ed the situation another of my favourites is my own process called ‘PEPSI- Co’. I use it to ask probing questions and to make sure, when I do present a solution, I have covered these important areas in my proposal. It stands for Product, Existing (Supply chain), Service, Personal, Interpersonal and Commercial. 

If your proposition can deliver benefits in ALL the areas of PEPSI-Co you will increase your chances of new business success many times over. Test yourself the next time you are pitching for new business. Does it stand up in those key areas? Have I asked the right questions in those areas? Do I know enough to really optimise my chances of success? Try it and you will see.

I like to ask questions in the discovery phase of the sales process using these frameworks as I know that I have then considered every key area. You may have your own. 

These are just a few things to consider. New business is NOT easy. It is reliant on many factors one of which is LUCK. In the absence of luck though I like to rely on ‘change’ as key factor of new business opportunity. And client change has never been stronger than right now – use it to your advantage. And good luck!

Gary Naphtali

This article first appeared in the November edition of Workplace 360