Part 1: secure and grow COVID renewal
During hard times, it can be tempting to “bow down” and wait and see. Focus on maintaining the status of the stability of the business. Don’t try anything new. Don’t take any chances.
After each recession, however, the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, Bain, and other management consultants publish research showing that large companies are taking advantage of economic volatility to act faster, innovate more, and gain market share.
“We estimate that nearly 40 percent of leading US industrial companies fell from the top quartile of their industry during the 2001 recession, and a third of major US banks suffered the same fate,” says McKinsey & Company in Preparing for the next downturn. “At the same time, 15% of companies that weren’t industry leaders before the last recession moved into these positions during that period.”
Your customers want you to take action now more than ever to take action. They are looking for someone to help them be successful. They need a “lifeline” in times of difficulty.
As you move into the second half of the year and plan your strategy for next year’s success, double your understanding of your customers and how you can help them succeed. If you do this, their partnership and renewed business will, in turn, make you successful.
Strategic organizations resist the urge to stop and instead focus on four fundamental elements: improving your customer’s value and increasing their income. In the first half of this blogging series, we’ll take a look at the two most significant areas for generating revenue during a client renewal cycle.
Step 1: Secure your renewal.
If you have competitors among your biggest customers, you can be sure they are watching your renewal and develop strategies to take that piece of the pie from you and add it to their cup.
You must be able to answer three (3) questions to ensure you win the renewal.
1. Do you know the senior executives who should derive value from your solution?
If you’re selling technology or services, you need internal supporters in addition to the project owners in IT or Operations. It is necessary to identify and develop defense from the line of actual entrepreneurs; Production, sales, marketing, finance, etc. Who are the specific leaders that exclude the value of your solution?
2. What value do you provide?
What specific business value do executive stakeholders expect? Tip: The answer here is not: “we have six sigma / .999999 uptime” or “we are in the green on all of our service level agreements.” These are table issues. Ask yourself, “What business outcomes do they need to help us deliver (usually cash denominated, better margins, better customer retention, higher revenue, lower costs, prevented fraudulent activity, etc.)?
3. Have you emphasized the business value you provided? Did you make money with it?
Make sure you get the credit you deserve on your next business review with the client! If you’re selling a platform that helps with recruiting, it’s not about how many recruits you’ve brought in. The point is that you’ve got in 10% more recruits, with 30% fewer recruiters, which saves the company $ xxx per recruit. Reconnect with business value so your contributions to the business they made known.
Step 2: Grow Your Portfolio During Renewal and Increase portfolio share in significant accounts.
Many companies see the renovation as a moment of fear, “the customer will beat us on the price or go to a competitor.” As mentioned earlier, now is not the time to settle for complacency. Take the opportunity to expand your customer contributions and gain more cross-sell and upsell commitments.
We will use this mindset to increase your portfolio share. Examine nearby cross-sell or up-sell opportunities and see if any of the following conditions exist.
1. Can you turn up the volume?
Situations where the customer’s purchasing center (region, group, etc.) buying the same product from you and two or more competitors is a fantastic opportunity to take out the 3rd and 4th competitor. After that, take it all or share it with the two best suppliers, and that includes you.
2. Can you place nearby products or related products?
From a customer’s perspective, are there any complementary products or services complementary to the ones you are currently selling that the customer obtains from a competitor? For example, are they buying two security products from you and one or several other security products from a competitor? Or they may purchase application modernization and progressive services from you, but outsource the applications to someone else. Or do they buy your car dashboard stickers but not the upholstery?
3. Is there a new, unused shopping center?
Are there another region, production location, etc. Are you buying a competitor’s product from your customers? Can you offer a volume discount on the work currently shipping to increase the footprint with this customer?
Today is the time to redouble strategic planning efforts. Learn more about how your customers are coping and how your organization can help meet their needs. Train your (now virtual) employees to deeply understand their customers and generate more revenue in strategic accounts to be better.
Salespeople, frontline managers, and even executives might believe, “There is nothing we can do to increase short-term revenue or increase our chances of winning business.” It is 100% incorrect. With the right strategy for planning accounts and opportunities, organizations can come out on top. The best companies will identify hidden short-term income opportunities and ready themselves to progress their long-term growth as the economy picks up.
