It is tough to begin a venture with paying customers that develops traction, but it is even harder to cultivate beyond certain level of trade. Why? The author hints this as the venture grows their complexity to escalate. The original business model must deal with new products or markets. In creating the company, early direction behaviours that worked are often not adequate to manage and grow it. SG&A (selling, general and administrative) costs frequently accelerate quicker than revenues. The result: Each year a large number of bright enterprises are either forced to go out of business as they are not able to scale their sales activities or operate in little markets. The authors illustrate together with the case of a real company in the payroll services business.
The company had an expensive ad hoc procedure for appraising forecasting opportunities and business development initiatives. The leadership team was not able to define its core customers. Distinct customers have different transaction costs for the seller, as the authors describe. The choice of consumers additionally influences "downstream" after-sale economics and organizational requirements. The article discusses how intelligent opportunity management can help companies scale their selling initiatives and the importance of customer selection. It concludes with an overall framework for helping executives examine sales productivity and pipeline worth
PUBLICATION DATE: January 01, 2013 PRODUCT #: SMR440-PDF-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about SALES & MARKETING
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