Most B2B sales organizations are somewhat surprised when deals close quickly and at decent margins. For most, these types of sales opportunities are few and far between.
They’re anomalies. They’re shooting stars. They’re flying unicorns.
But what if I told you I knew where you could find a bunch of sales opportunities where your close rates would be 77% higher? And your sales cycles would be 51% shorter? And you could win the business at 5-7% higher prices?
I’m sure you’d want to know who these prospects are, right? And of course, I’d be happy to sell you the list.
But here’s the thing…I don’t have the list…you do.
Five Performance Boosters of Follow-On Sales
The guide, Five Performance Boosters of Follow-On Sales, details how sales operations can dramatically improve overall sales performance by focusing more energy and attention toward selling to their existing customers.
The guide exposes five major ways in which sales to existing customers can be qualitatively and quantitatively superior to sales made to new prospects:
- Greater and more immediate access to the decision makers.
- Shorter sales cycles as a familiar and established supplier.
- Greater odds of winning due to the “incumbent advantage.”
- Less focus on price as a trusted and established supplier.
- More experience with the customer, lowering cost-to-serve.
Specific examples of differences in close rates, sales cycles, and discount levels between new and existing customers are highlighted in the guide, as are the resulting effects on the overall sales ratios and metrics.
Of course, we’re not advocating a wholesale shift in focus from new prospects to existing customers. We’re simply reminding you of something that’s all-too-easy to forget in the ongoing quest for new customers:
Your best prospects may not be prospects at all.