Attract and Grow Strategic Accounts: Helping You Win New Business in Challenging B2B Settings

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Those whose mandate is to meet a sales target know the exhilaration of winning but also understand the dilemma of a target account not buying from you.  You address needs, expend the effort, operate in good faith, and build trust.  Nevertheless, you fall short—why?

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Great sales teams constantly refer to sales approaches that work in one sales setting but may not work in others.  The questions to be addressed however are the same:

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• This target account has clear needs we can fulfill.  How can we be considered for this work?

• Will they buy? Will they buy now?  Will they buy from us?  What is the decision criteria?

• How do we win this piece of business and grow the account?  How do we breed confidence?

• Can we show we understand the complexity and can solve the problem on multiple dimensions?

• How can we improve the risk/reward equation?  Does the path to closure justify the investment?

 

Haig Barrett Partners (HBP) has successfully developed account development strategies and facilitated their execution for our clients.  We augment your efforts to win new business by conducting primary and secondary research, gathering business intelligence, and conducting interviews within the target and across our network of industry influencers and thought leaders. 

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HBP’s objectivity and practical insights can strengthen your team’s awareness of the key elements of account development and opportunity closure.  We investigate the key elements of deal development and articulate the actions necessary to win new business and improve your position within the account.

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• Account Access and Pursuit Feasibility:  Referrals, networking, and the coordination of marketing, sales, and technical staff are essential components of opportunity identification and advancement.  Assessing account access gaps and the risk/reward ratio are key go/no go criteria.

• Assess Solution Need, Fit, and Trade-offs:  Articulating “the job to be done” and communicating product differentiation are threshold entry points.  Quantifying value, articulating risk, in addition to product and service performance with evidence are integral to the complex sale. 

• Participate in the Entire Buyer Journey:  Buying processes are getting longer with more than 50% of qualification steps completed before suppliers are consulted.  We focus on helping you engage further upstream to meet the qualification needs of decision-makers and influencers. 

• Engage the Buyer Team:  Typically, upwards of five buyers are involved in the purchase decision, each having their individual qualification needs and biases that change throughout the journey.  HBP helps you understand the complexities of the “Committee sell” and how to intervene.

• Address Incumbency and Competitive Preferences:  Incumbents are not immune from disruption.  Assessing the degree of entrenchment does not go far enough.  Thinking like your competitor’s decision-makers, emerging technologies, and market trends reveals gaps to exploit.

• Planning for Endogenous and Exogenous Deal Disruptors:  Multiple factors can sabotage opportunity ranging from internal organisation changes, an acquisition to a client’s customer cancelling a programme.  “War Gaming” must become an integral part of the account playbook.

• Position the Sales Team: Knowing who to call on with what messaging requires preparation.  Creating an agile approach to consistently communicate value by bringing new insights to each conversation builds trust and confidence.  Leveraging pilot studies, sample tests, or sharing benchmark information will typically result in a deeper look at your solution.

• Effective Account Nurturing:  Winning business is not a one-call close but rather involves in excess of 10 “touches” just to advance a lead.  Putting in place a closed-loop systemic follow-up programme strengthens relationships and ensures alignment to the buyer’s schedule, not yours.

• Personalised Messaging:  With the typical buyer receiving upwards of thirty “push messages” per day, personalisation allows you to differentiate and tailor your messaging to the buyer and information needs in their preferred communication medium.  Adopting a customer segmented omnichannel communication structure is proven to boost engagement and commitment.

 

Closing a sale has become increasingly complicated, costs more, and takes longer.  The emergence of the hybrid workforce, buyer risk-aversion, and budget sensitivities are all cause for a re-think of how new business is developed, how resources are deployed, and having better insights to facilitate closure. 

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The stakes are getting higher; customer acquisition costs are rising, and many markets are facing headwinds.  Improving the sales win ratio is a competitive mandate now requiring a more diverse set of skills, increased cross-functional teamwork, and refining one’s sales methodology to align to the buying process—account to account.  More than 90% of top sales organisations agree. 

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Haig Barrett Partners brings extensive industry knowledge having supported leading innovators and emerging companies spanning the BioPharmaceutical, MedTech, Digital Health, Industrial Products and Health Care Delivery ecosystems with their market and business strategies and Go-to-Market programmes.

We provide you with an objective, unbiased point of view, and “hands-on” support to help you apply Artificial Intelligence to achieve your market expansion and Go-to-Market goals.  We welcome the opportunity to learn more about your situation, your needs and priorities, and to share insights.

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