Focus on customers with whom you can unlock business potential. The interesting customers are not those with whom you generate the highest sales or contribution margins today; rather, they are those who promise continual business potential for your company. You can only get to these target customers through strategic sales management. Systematically identify these target customers by researching the target customer segments that are attractive to your company. It is worth investing time in looking at the strategic alignment of these target customers and identifying who is involved in the buying decision process at these companies. Try to find out which of your competitors the target customers are buying from today and what advantages you can offer your target customers compared to your competitors. Develop these advantages in your company. This is a task that concerns not only sales, but the entire company. Finally, focus your marketing and sales communications precisely on this content and address the entire buying center at your customer´s premises.
Developing target customers into key accounts is a long road that must be traveled along systematically. This path is time consuming. Provide sufficient qualified resources for this in your sales organization.
Think about how you want your business to grow. You can further penetrate markets with existing products, you can expand with your existing products into new regional markets and/or into new applications or you can expand internationally with existing products. You can also sell new products to your existing customers, and, this is the supreme discipline, you can also expand into new markets with new products.
Ensure not only the identification and development of strategic key accounts, but also strategic sales management.