Distributor salespeople – inside and outside – often prioritize customers based on the size of the company and the potential spend. As a result, large customers often get a lot of attention – regardless of the distributor’s actual wallet share – and smaller customers are tolerated.
But this approach to sales may leave a lot of money on the table. Distributors shouldn’t necessarily be focused on who they’re selling to, but rather on how they’re selling to different customers.
As Jonathan Byrnes, senior lecturer at MIT, noted in Don’t Be Everything to Everyone, “You can’t be everything to everyone, so make sure you’re providing the right thing at the right time for the right people.”
Identifying the role you play for your customers and the most efficient way to fulfill that role may require a shift in mindset – and that can be a challenge for people who have been selling the same way for a long time.
Here are five articles from MDM that can help you segment customers in more profitable ways:
