Dear Manager,
When we started in sales, we probably had a manager who pounded in the virtues and importance of new client development. With any luck we were given a virgin territory that would depend solely on our ability to cultivate new relationships. It’s a very tough way to earn a living, and a very rewarding and successful approach to learning how to sell.

How many clients have you, as an organization, lost in the past year? Statistics suggest that a minimum of 20% of our customers are lost in a given year for a variety of reasons. Without a dedicated effort and strategy toward new account development, sales regions will languish and stagnate. In a strong marketplace, or with a very strong product presentation, new customers will come knocking on your door. In the long term, unfortunately, these market conditions will change. All too often, however, these same sales regions will continue to base the development of new customers on their ability to find us.

We have all known and worked with those who thrive in the hunt and development of new customers. Within this group, we have also known individuals who could only open new accounts (affectionately termed can openers); just don’t ask them to provide consistent service once they’ve achieved their initial conquest.

With time, sales professionals overcome most of the anxieties associated with calling on new customers. And yet, it is this very critical aspect of sales that is least likely to be given the priority it so desperately deserves. Why isn’t more emphasis given to new account development by our sales associates? The answer is simpler than you might think. The development of new customers takes us out of our comfort zones and interrupts our routine.

I would like to take you back to my early years in sales, when I would personally come up with any excuse in the world to avoid the dreaded cold call. At this time, I believed to succeed I needed to perform, and that failure to succeed was a direct reflection on me, personally. The pressure continued to grow, the rationalizations continued to instill guilt, and only on the rarest of occasions would I find the confidence to step up to the challenge.

There was a saving grace: I was still able to open new customers. I did so by following up customer leads and working every angle to develop personal introductions. I was <strong>killer and confident if I could simply arrange a purpose for my initial introduction. I got by the best I could for a period of time; there was no question I would need to overcome my phobic attitudes towards the dreaded cold call.

As I thought it through, it became clear my fears were centered around my concerns of rejection. No one enjoys rejection, and I seemed to enjoy it even less! The key for me was to develop a positive approach that would motivate me to consistently meet an objective. I realized I must first put the rejection issue aside. I could do so by simply setting my objective of making ten brief introductions of myself each week. You will note I called them brief introductions rather than the dreaded “you-know-what.”

My sole objective was to introduce myself and leave some of my wonderful product catalogs; there were no further expectations of these initial calls. In leaving I would express interest in following up after they had looked through the catalogs. As long as I was willing to make the ten introductions each week, I could no longer fail. No one could reject my efforts because my sole objective was to have made the introduction, not make the sale.

I realize to a degree these are mind games, but what is there about sales that is not controlled by our minds? I have shared this concept with others over the years, and I honestly believe it has been very useful. If you establish your objective for a given number of new introductions each week, meet this objective, and then do the proper follow up, you will open new accounts! On many occasions I was floored when a brief introduction would turn into a sale before I could get out the door!

There is no greater high than the development of a meaningful new customer. In a recent interview I was conducting, the applicant looked me straight in the eye and said, “Ya know, . . . . . .i it’s addicting.” It makes me wonder, could there be a support program for the dreaded cold call?! We have all walked out of an appointment with a new customer, feeling success beyond our expectations. We have also realized how close we came to not making that initial call. What if it had not been made? How many others have been lost?

The best approach I have found to this subject is an attitude that each rejection is simply an initial response to a positive outcome still under consideration. Those individuals who are most successful in this arena are tenacious as hell. They never accept an initial negative response. If they believe their products are a match for the customer, it becomes only a matter of time; it’s a matter of when, rather than if.

These individuals accept that it can take from six to ten calls to meet their objective. They understand that with each follow up call their chances for success will increase by at least 10%, and as much as 100%! They have also accepted the fact that it is a pure numbers game. With each rejection, you are much closer to meeting your objective! Ultimately, successful new account development comes down to an individual’s acceptance of the process. Now that we have developed a comfort zone for prospecting, the second aspect is to develop a routine.

Going back to our first sales position, or any sales position that required us to pioneer a new region, survival was terrific motivation for establishing a routine for new account development. The alternative was sitting on our hands and starving to death. Of course we made cold calls, and with fairly uncertain product or (as we know now), the pioneering would not have been required!

It was painful. With luck, we could schedule two solid days of appointments a week, with the balance of our time spent knocking on doors . . . . .. ugly. We accepted this as the package we agreed to, and that this was what the position required of us. With acceptance comes routine. You no longer look at something as a burden once it has been accepted as routine.

As territories and individuals mature, it becomes increasingly difficult to do the things that got us here. Working with existing clients feels good. There may be a sense of responsibility to not over saturate the market and, with our schedules so full, there simply isn’t the time we once had. There is merit in these concerns, yet more often than not they are a crutch. Certainly there are areas of any region that cannot currently handle additional development. From my experience, for every area such as this, there are five areas that are currently underdeveloped for the savvy sales professional. Even in those areas with strong market penetration, are there not other portions of your presentations that could be better represented?

There is good news in the equation that 20% of your account base is lost each year. We now have one full day each week (20% of our time) to re-establish our sales regions to their previous year’s position. It all comes down to do you have the time to handle one more major account in your territory? If so, do you have the time to find it?

As managers we must ask our sales associates to dedicate, without fail, a minimum of one day per week to new account development. This could be represented in two hours each day, two half days, or by simply blocking out a full day each week. There may be times of the year when two days are available, while at other times the pace simply allows no time. Consider not only monthly objectives, but also sales incentives for those associates who understand the value and priority in this program. We all need to be accountable. There may be lots of conversation, yet the only thing that counts is the answer to: are there any new accounts being opened? There are many ways to consistently meet this objective or, as managers, it is time to provide assistance to the regions that cannot.

I have often thought of the option of hiring a full time “can opener” to assist our various territories in new account development. Once the customer was established, they could then be turned over to the existing associate. It’s an interesting concept, and not without conflict. I would be interested in your thoughts, or in the results if you have tried it.

There is no greater impact on a sales region than a new account being opened. I would trade five reorders for one new account. If each customer were looked upon as an income stream, then with each new customer you have created a new income source that will compensate you for years to come. Remember that high when you opened your first new account? Begin to live for that high; if not addictive, it can become habit forming.

Most service and retail industries are in the process of dramatic change and evolution. What will the role of the salesman be in the next ten to twenty years? Will the service function of a salesperson’s job continue to exist with the technology on the horizon? I am not suggesting the world will ever be without salespeople in their purest form. I will suggest that these market conditions require us to return to the days when sales associates lived and breathed for the potential of opening new accounts. If the day ever comes when someone is going to turn out the light, my bet is on the sales associate who opens the last new account.

Personal Regards,
Keenan

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