Winning new client business

Winning new client business is one of the most difficult of all the sales and marketing activities not least because in most cases the customer you are seeking to win is already serviced by a competitor.

To be effective, new business acquisition needs to be part of the overall strategic sales plan rather than something that one assumes or hopes sales people are doing.

Key questions that we generally want to address when we work with clients to win new client business are:

• What is the profile of the preferred customer for you?
• Have you identified all of the potential preferred customers in your different market sectors?
• What are the critical factors that will induce a customer to move the business to you?
• What does the new business pipeline look like?
• What are the critical steps in the process to win a new client?
• What are the expected conversion ratios?
• What is the decision making process and time?
• What is the target for new client business?
• Who is responsible?
• How do we know that we are on track to achieve the target?