Who Owns the Account?

Credit: Bill Gillespie

Years ago one of my reps was enjoying a relationship with a software firm. He printed their newsletter. It was a monthly and worked out to almost $400,000 annually.

I asked the rep, "what about other departments? We should take advantage of you being there daily to get deep and wide into the account." I was confident there was lots more work available.

The rep resisted. He understood the newsletter and didn't want to rock the boat. He didn't want his current customer to think he was looking for bigger fish.

I asked him, "what if they kill the newsletter?" He responded with the note below. It remains one of the most puzzling sales responses I've ever received.

I still remember my pushback. I said, "they could make it a quarterly. They might cut back on size. They might reduce pages or quantity." He was unmoved.

Well, they didn't do any of those things. They killed it altogether. Apparently, it wasn't the valuable marketing tool my rep thought it was. His sales fell by $400,000 in a single day.

The opportunity to cross the hall and meet others was gone. The chance to sell deeper and wider into a company that was getting to know him was gone. He was a rep that hadn't cared to meet others and now he wanted their business. He was rejected and lost it all.

This is always a dicey subject. Reps feel they own their accounts. I've thought that way too. Reps spill their own blood crawling over all manner of thorns and hazards to open accounts. They don't want input from others. I get it.

But, your employer has a stake in it too. They are trusting you to represent them well. They are trusting you to map the client's operations. They are trusting you to learn where all of the business lives and to have a strategy to win it all. Your employer wants you to protect them from examples like the one shared here today.

Reps, take time to profile the companies you work with. Understand all of the ways they consume your product/service. Get in touch with every department, learn what you can and develop a plan to win each slice of the work.

If the company or organization is too big for you to service, share that info with your sales manager. Together, craft a plan that wins your company a greater share. Be prepared to divide the account into segments with different reps if necessary. You can ask to lead the team.

Years ago I was fortunate enough to do business with a large soft drink company. I sort of expected to find "central purchasing." Lots of beginners think that way.

What I discovered, was bottle, fountain, sports venues, vending machines, military bases, branches of the military, corporate communications, truck graphics, FSI's.

Each brand (sku) had money to spend. Each sku had different sales channels with money to spend. Each client relationship manager (c-store, fast food, g-store etc.) had money to spend.

Each pocket of business has value. Each pocket of business deserves a plan.

This guy was a great rep. He never made this mistake again.