Winning Moves to Accelerate Winning New Customers

In the startup world, there are microcosmic metrics that are critical to founding teams, acting as indicators for whether the business will live to see another day.  No kidding.  One of the sobering metrics, coined by Paul Graham, is “Default Alive or Default Dead.”  Translation: if we keep doing what we are doing, do we keep moving the business forward, or is it producing languishing results – i.e.- default dead?

The laws of physics govern business. These laws are stealthy. And, these laws have a grisly effect when we remain unaware of their unseen forces.  For this articles’ purposes, we want to reveal how allowing your Customer Acquisition processes, the engine for sales revenues, to stymie on status quo mode will eventually bend your business towards ‘default dead’.

First, realize that if your business has been sitting in ‘status-quo’ mode for some period, it can’t stay there.  It’s going to either move on its own (negative direction) due to external forces beyond your control, or it will move in response to smart, intentional changes that you initiate to swing in the direction of growth.

Knowing exactly which changes to make is what often keeps CEO’s from initiating anything. Big rock, winning moves, like changing the business model or bringing to market a new product or service, can get the business moving towards big growth. But this type of transformational change takes time and demands concerted, persistent effort throughout the entire company.    

What are the winnable now moves that CEO’s can make immediately to get their business swinging towards growth?

Winnable Now Moves

Every small business CEO can move the revenue needle in the right direction by initiating smaller moves in the short term. Implementing a Buyer-Centric Sales Process across your customer acquisition team is a winnable move that could deliver results in 90 days.  Consider these provocations:  

  1. Has your Customer Acquisition team identified and obtained access and connection to the universe of companies that are in your network of prospective buyers?
  2. Do your revenue teams understand your customers’ business and how the value you deliver fully impacts their business?
  3. Who are all the Personas within these companies who influence the purchase of your products?  Do Seller’s know each Persona’s buying motives?
  4. Do your Sellers prospect for new opportunities effectively, gaining edge before they ever walk into a first meeting? How do you know, what’s the metric?
  5.  Do your Sellers effectively qualify and then build preference for your products through all stakeholders and throughout the entire sales process? How do you know, what’s the metric?
  6.  Are your Sellers’ performances to win new customers resulting in predictable revenue for your business?  What indicators predict outcomes?
  7. Is your weekly, monthly, quarterly sales opportunity pipeline reliable? What indicators predict desired outcomes?
  8. Are your Seller’s inspiring new customers to actively refer them to new prospects and opportunities?  How do you know, what’s the metric?  

When you have a Customer Acquisition team that is delivering lackluster performance, and you have no predictability for weekly, monthly or quarterly revenue, transitioning to a Buyer-Centric Sales process may be your winning now move.  
Only 3% of companies ever get bigger than $10 million. For CEO’s who desire to grow their business but have yet to figure out how to consistently win new customers in fast changing, technology-driven markets, and at a rate that is aligned with lofty revenue goals, we believe we can help.