Removing the Barrier to New Customer Acquisition

When we talk with companies, their biggest challenges are growing revenues through new customer acquisition.

Companies have robust records of success with their existing customer base but are confronted with a barrier to securing new customers.

To understand why new business is so difficult for some companies, we conducted numerous interviews with top sellers and senior sales leaders. We led several studies of our own, combining our experience in hiring and managing sales forces.

We found that successful companies recognise that the sales process for new customers requires more allocation of time and manage different objections and barriers by comparison to existing customers. Time allocations include:

• 38% more time meeting with customers
• The meetings are in-person educating buyers investing some 36% more time at those
• Companies are evaluating a completely new product requiring broader consensus within a company, an additional 40% more time meeting with customers’ cross-functional teams.
• The time investment in new customers is considerably higher, and the sales process can be extended 4 to 6 times longer.

Do your salespeople have that amount of time available to invest in new business and service existing customers?

We also found that New Business Sellers are different

1. Those who excel have traits and behaviors different from those of people who successfully sell existing customers. They don’t just fit into the team.
2. They require different compensation packages to ignite them and reward the additional effort.
3. They require a different management style to those that focus on customer relationships
4. They need different marketing support to excel in their role
5. They are more influential in all stages of the sales process, not just some parts.
6. They can be more demanding individuals within the business.

When hiring, new business sellers are seen as a person that would not fit into the company culture and way of doing business.

The best companies develop sales organisations and cultures to support new business salespeople in rising to the challenge.

• They embrace rising stars.
• They hire a different profile of a person
• They embrace different management styles, compensation, tools, and marketing to assist them in delivering the results.
• They focus on breaking down the barriers and testing customer engagement at all stages of the process.

If your business requires new customer acquisition, you need to take a contemporary approach to your hiring process. Adele Crane Consulting and Recruitment brings 30 years of experience in profiling, hiring, and managing top performers. We partner with our clients to assist them to break the barrier of new business acquisition through:

• Hiring Sales Professionals, a dedicated service finding top sales talent for you
• Sales Force Assessments,
• Sales Compensation planning
• Marketing Strategies embracing digital marketing services

Reach out to us today to discuss your specific business situation.

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You may also like to read these articles:

• The Contemporary Sales Organisation
• Breaking Through The Sales Revenue Barrier
• Finding New Customers to Increase Sales

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