10:36
Faizan
When companies plan for organic growth, they often look exclusively at customer acquisition (the "hunter"/Sales function) and overlook account growth (a "farmer"/Account Management function). In this case study, a company that compensated salespeople (hunters) based on new-customer acquisition did not correspondingly incent the account managers (farmers) for finding the full revenue potential of each customer relationship. Instead, the account managers oversaw the equivalent of repeat orders and resolved customer complaints. With very little additional training and partnership-orientation from departmental leadership, this function can often fully exploit the beachhead established by Sales.
This is one in a series of case studies highlighting "Key Questions and Course-correcting Quotes" taken from 20 years of B2B customer insight projects. All names are fictitious, but the situations are real. Case studies paint a picture of how important it is to learn what your B2B customers think--but aren't saying. These are real-world examples of how soliciting and acting on customer feedback has helped companies hold onto customers longer, grow relationships bigger and pick up new business faster.
Case study: How "Farmers" Started Printing Money
Key Question (asked of an operations manager--the vendor's chief contact in this 6-figure relationship):
"Are there products or services you'd like to see 'LiteManufacturing' add?"
Course-correcting Quote:
Operations Manager: "We buy kits from LiteManufacturing, but we have to buy components from another vendor. I'd like LiteManufacturing to start offering components."
My Client's Quandary:
This was a simple baseline feedback project, not a treasure hunt designed to grow revenue, yet there it was: money being left on the table. I knew LiteManufacturing sold kits and components; was there a reason they hadn't told this customer? One call to the account manager, and he understood how he had dropped the ball. He immediately walked his customer through LiteManufacturing's full offering and picked up that customer's component business. The president then required all the account managers to hold annual "account review" meetings with the 20% of customers who represented 80% of the company's revenues. Objectives: Give customers a chance to offer unstructured feedback, and remind them about everything LiteManufacturing offers.
This is one in a series of case studies highlighting "Key Questions and Course-correcting Quotes" taken from 20 years of B2B customer insight projects. All names are fictitious, but the situations are real. Case studies paint a picture of how important it is to learn what your B2B customers think--but aren't saying. These are real-world examples of how soliciting and acting on customer feedback has helped companies hold onto customers longer, grow relationships bigger and pick up new business faster.
Case study: How "Farmers" Started Printing Money
Key Question (asked of an operations manager--the vendor's chief contact in this 6-figure relationship):
"Are there products or services you'd like to see 'LiteManufacturing' add?"
Course-correcting Quote:
Operations Manager: "We buy kits from LiteManufacturing, but we have to buy components from another vendor. I'd like LiteManufacturing to start offering components."
My Client's Quandary:
This was a simple baseline feedback project, not a treasure hunt designed to grow revenue, yet there it was: money being left on the table. I knew LiteManufacturing sold kits and components; was there a reason they hadn't told this customer? One call to the account manager, and he understood how he had dropped the ball. He immediately walked his customer through LiteManufacturing's full offering and picked up that customer's component business. The president then required all the account managers to hold annual "account review" meetings with the 20% of customers who represented 80% of the company's revenues. Objectives: Give customers a chance to offer unstructured feedback, and remind them about everything LiteManufacturing offers.
Posted in: business
