Sometimes we get so focused on seeing what’s there that we forget to look for what isn’t there.
Some of my favorite examples of this come from corporate logos that make use of negative space. For example, have you ever noticed the arrow in the FedEx logo?
Hint: Look at the white space between the E and the x.
Or how about the Hershey’s kiss candy hidden in the Hershey’s Kisses logo.
Hint: Look at the white space between the K and the I.
And then there are these zoo logos. You probably notice the elephant in this one right away, but do you also see the giraffe, rhino, and the Cologne Cathedral?
And the Pittsburgh Zoo’s logo seems like one of those optical illusions that is supposed to tell you something about your personality. Do you see the tree or the gorilla, lion, and fish?
Of course, these pictures are fun, but as usual, our point is a bit different.
When we’re looking at sales data and trying to understand what’s going on, it’s easy to get so focused on what’s being sold and what customers are buying from us that we forget to think about what’s not happening.
Each of your customer segments has a typical buying pattern — a group of products and services that they buy. If you line up a particular customer’s buying pattern against the group pattern, you might see some negative space — that’s the products they aren’t buying from you but are likely buying from someone else.
Obviously, capturing those missing sales could be a tremendous boost to your bottom line. But how do you spot those missing sales, and what can you do to get sales to act on them?
A few of our favorite webinars discuss this topic in greater detail. Check out “Whitespace Analytics“, “How to Maximize Cross-Selling and Up-Selling“, and “Predictive Sales Analytics“.
While you’re busy with that, we’ll be looking for the hidden Danish flag in the Coca-Cola logo.
Conducting Whitespace Analytics
What if there was a way to analyze all of your customers at once, identify the whitespace opportunities, and serve them up to the sales team on a platter? Learn the seven step process for doing just that.
How to Maximize Cross-Selling and Up-Selling
Effective cross-selling and up-selling requires operational solutions that only Sales Ops can deliver. In this on-demand webinar, learn how some innovative groups are making happen---efficiently, effectively, and very profitably
Predictive Sales Analytics
Predictive sales analytics has proven to be a powerful tool for improving effectiveness and boosting results at-scale. In this on-demand webinar, we demystify the core concepts and applications in sales environments.
