S2E5: Alice Heiman: Why Your Sales Territories Kill Company Growth
On this episode of Revenue Harvest, Nigel Green and Alice Heiman discuss account management strategies, account rating and ranking processes, and the problem with traditional territory models. Alice is nationally known for her expertise in elevating sales teams to increase valuation for companies. You’ll love this conversation on how good selling is still good selling, and with drastic changes in the marketplace how many timeless selling principles remain relevant. Listen now>>
Show notes:
Good selling is still good selling. The reality is that what's changed is the way we have to map what the buyer wants to experience (from our company) to the outcome (we desire). The principles are the same, but today’s tools are very different.
You have to know how your customers want to buy, and it’s likely changed since 2020. You can figure this out by looking at the customers who already buy from you.
We have to get more focused on the customer. How can we bring the customer the best experience? How can we engage the customer? Before the pandemic changed buyer behavior, sales were good enough that we didn't have to make any huge shifts or any huge changes. But with the pandemic, we've just shown a light on all of the bad practices that are happening in sales because they don't work anymore..
Executives have never been busier. They can't go play golf. Can't go to dinner. Can't go to ball games. You can't show up at their workplace and just say, “hello”. You can't do any of that. So without these old tactics, your salespeople are stripped of something that they used to do very well: their charisma, their charm, their schmoozing. Entertaining to help them get deals - that's gone now. So now it's just down to good selling.
We usually rank our customers by what they spend. But rating them just because they spend the most doesn't mean they're the best customer or that they have the most potential to buy more.
Most customers are loyal to your company, not just to the sales rep, even though some sales reps even say “that's my client, that's my customer”. No, it's our customer.
Links mentioned in this episode:
About Alice
Alice is nationally known for her expertise in elevating sales to increase valuation for companies with a B2B sale that have exceptional growth potential. Spending her time strategizing with CEOs, company leaders and their sales leadership to build the strategies that find new business and grow existing accounts is her passion. Her clients love her spirit and the way she energizes their sales organization. When she is not guiding CEOs to elevate their sales, she can be found hanging out with her family, exploring the mountains, snow skiing, sailing in Lake Tahoe, volunteering in the community, or reading a book in her backyard. Alice also dedicates her time to local entrepreneurs by teaching at the University of Nevada in the entrepreneurship minor which she helped inspire.