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Expanding your 'account share'

By Michael Saraf

Manufacturer partners want to increase their market share, and this is a main reason why they chose their sales model of selling through distribution. Savvy manufacturers and distributors alike understand that market share increases usually follow “mind share.” That is, customers will buy from companies who are at the top of their mind. Strong marketing campaigns, an authoritative sales force and reliable customer service go a long way toward strengthening the company’s mind share among the customer base.
Where distributors can grow significantly, however, is through an increase in their “Account Share.” As vendor consolidation is alive and well in the industrial marketplace, distributors will do well to position themselves as being the “one-stop-shop” solution for their customers. A well executed “Account Share Program” will ensure a healthy distributorship.

As distributor salespeople, we have all spent our fair share of time waiting in the lobby to meet with our customer. “He is with another salesperson at the moment,” we’re told by the receptionist. “Please have a seat and he will be with you shortly.” We take our seat and go over our talking points for the meeting. We are here to show our customer the latest and greatest abrasive product, because that is what we sell him – abrasives. Sure he has other suppliers for different product types, but when it comes to abrasives, we are his source.

Today’s meeting will not be difficult. We have shown this new abrasive product to dozens of other customers by now, and we know it inside and out. We are their abrasive supplier, too. We have other customers to whom we sell adhesives. Still others buy packaging products from us. We are solidly their source for those categories. We do not have much business in other categories to any one of these customers, but the business we have with them is good. It is like the old saying – “If it ain’t broke…”

The problem is, in today’s industrial marketplace, your customers are looking for value at every turn. The fact that you are only selling one or two product categories into a particular account is not delivering the value that they are seeking. Don’t be fooled – it IS “broke.” The fact that we are waiting in the lobby while our customer is talking to one of our competitors should tell us it is broken. And, if that is not telling enough, when we see two other competitors sitting in the same lobby when we are on our way out, that ought to drive the message home. But, it does not. Too many of us are content with the business that we do have, even if it is only one or two categories. We feel safe, and safe (we mistakenly think in this case) is good.

The good news is that it can be fixed, and the solution will result in your distributorship being held in high regard by the types of customers that you want to serve. Your salespeople will become stronger, and in the eyes of their customers, they will be seen as part of the team. When you reach that point with your customers, it will take something monumental to have your business with them displaced. Your sales will grow, and customers that were marginally profitable before will become very meaningful to your top and bottom lines.

“Account share” has to do with your distributorship’s breadth of business activity within an account. The more categories of products that your company is providing to the customer, the larger your company’s account share at that particular account. Using the previous example, when the salesperson is selling only abrasives into the account, the total account share is small because there is only one category of product being sold.

A healthy practice to implement to assist with the development of your salespeoples’ account share is to conduct regularly scheduled meetings with the sales team. Select the top five or six product categories that your distributorship is poised to be successful with, and assign those as the categories for the program. Examples of product categories would be: abrasives, tools, adhesives, tapes, safety supplies, packaging supplies, maintenance and janitorial supplies, signage, etc.

Instruct your salespeople that they are to select three existing accounts for reporting purposes, and in each meeting they will discuss their accounts and the progress being made in each of the categorized areas. This is very effective, as it results in a level of information exchange that otherwise never occurs. Your salespeople are probably a diverse group, with areas of expertise that differ from each other. One may have a lot of experience with tapes, while another is well versed in packaging supplies. In any event, you will find that they are sharing great ideas and meaningful contacts with each other.

The key to making this a successful program is to have your salespeople be accountable for making progress in the account each and every week, and in every product category possible. If an account grows stale or offers no additional potential, have the salesperson replace that account with another, and start the process over. It is also important to conduct these meetings regularly, perhaps on a weekly basis in the beginning. Salespeople are competitive by nature, and this type of exercise allows them to display their knowledge among their peers, while strengthening the entire team with valuable information. It works, and it works very well.

At the customer level, the salesperson should be up front about the program. Their customer will be keen to the idea, and from my personal experience with this activity, the customer will be forthcoming with items on which the salesperson can provide a quotation. Customers are usually the best teachers for salespeople, as they live in the practical world where the products are being consumed. The salesperson will not be an expert on more than one or two of the categories initially, but that will change over time. He or she will eventually become an authoritative resource for multiple product categories, and when their customer has a need, your salesperson will get the call.

Salespeople spend a considerable amount of time chasing business in accounts where they currently have none. It is far easier, and much more profitable, to expand their business with existing customers. Work with them to grow their “Account Share” and watch your company’s sales and reputation flourish.

Michael Saraf, president of Brand Performance, LLC, has more than 20 years of industrial sales and marketing experience, helping manufacturers and distributors strengthen their brands, build customer loyalty and capture market share. Visit
www.mybrandperformance.com to learn more.

This article originally appeared in the Nov./Dec. 2014 issue of Industrial Supply magazine. Copyright 2014, Direct Business Media.

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