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Please
remember my columns are copyright-protected.
Feel free to print a copy for
yourself but please do not reprint
them for distribution without
contacting me first. Thank you.
 SAVVY
SELLING - JUNE
1, 2007
Selling
Deep vs. Selling Wide
by Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Do
you want to sell to more customers
or sell more within your current
accounts? Both approaches have
advantages
Are you
looking for more customers?
If so, ask yourself what kind
of new business you're after.
Do you want to go deep (sell
more within existing accounts)
or go wide (open new accounts
across several companies or
industries)? Before you decide,
consider the following positives
and negatives of both.
Selling
Deep
Typically, when you have several
clients in a large organization,
it is easier for them to refer
you to their peers. Let's say
you sell services to Barbara,
who works at a federal agency
(see BusinessWeek.com, 3/9/07,
"Selling to the Federal
Government"). At her weekly
staff meeting, her peer Bob
mentions that he needs your
type of services, too. She might
mention this to you and voilà—a
referral. Selling to referrals
is a quick way to increase sales.
When meeting
with referrals or attempting
to reach out to new prospects
you've found on your own, be
sure to describe your extensive
knowledge about your customers
and their industry. The prospective
customer will understand that
you bring more to the table
than a newcomer.
At one
time, my entire sales territory
consisted of five large buildings
occupied by two telecommunications
companies. Since I had such
a small territory, I quickly
became an expert in my customers'
culture, policies, and politics.
New customers felt more confident
when I could show them how to
fill out their own company's
purchase orders. They trusted
my recommendations because I
understood the context of their
requests. To remind them I offered
this value, I used to joke,
"If you need me, yell out
your window or look down the
hall for me. I'm nearby."
They loved it.
One caveat
about selling deep: Be very
careful to keep confidential
information private. Becoming
an expert can backfire if you
let secrets slip. If you're
not sure whether you can share
a piece of information with
another client, just ask. You
could get blacklisted, officially
or unofficially, if you announce
a layoff, new product, or any
other privileged information
before its intended release
date.
Selling
Wide
The most obvious advantage of
directing your selling efforts
at new companies and industries
is you reduce your risk and
thereby increase the stability
of your revenues. If all your
revenues come from one company
or one industry, and their need
for what you sell takes a dive,
your revenues will plunge, too.
Imagine what happened to the
companies that specialized in
selling to Enron or Worldcom—ouch!
By selling
your offerings to industries
or areas you've never sold to
before, you might discover opportunities
that are bigger or better than
those you have now. For example,
I once worked for a company
that sold a lot into Division
A of a Fortune 100 company,
but almost none into Division
B. Against the advice of my
boss and peers, who said that
the new division wouldn't pay
our prices, I discovered buyers
in Division B who did buy similar
offerings in our price range.
I started selling into this
new area and today my former
employer has a separate office
just to service Division B.
If you
want to sell to new industries
and accounts, study exactly
how you're benefiting your customers
now and look for other customers
who need those same benefits.
For example, if you can decrease
delivery costs for catalog companies,
discover what other industries
have similar delivery systems
and offer to decrease their
costs, too.
So what's
the perfect answer to deciding
whether to sell deep or wide?
It's different for everyone,
but if you're getting more than
80% of your revenues by going
either deep or wide, modify
your selling plan and balance
your efforts in the opposite
direction. Happy selling!
Michelle
Nichols is a professional sales
speaker and consultant based
in Reno, Nevada. She is also
the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright
2007. All rights reserved.
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