With the 2026 selling year in full swing, we are all keenly focused on winning new business, growing our current client accounts and of course, hitting our Q1 numbers. While keen focus is a wonderful thing, we must take the time to lift our heads to look around now and again because what’s happening outside of our focus parameters can actually dictate othour short and long-term success.
Okakura Kakuzo, a famous Japanese scholar, shared a critical quote that we should take into account in all of our actions – “The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”
Keen focus aside, a mandatory prerequisite to being able to readjust to your surroundings is understanding what’s happening in them. What’s changing with your markets and where they are headed is huge. Lifting your head up from your pipeline and your account planning is nothing short of a mandatory and constant exercise.
I know the concern. Where do I find the time to analyze my markets in the 30-day quota world in which we live? The sales manager’s mantra of “What have you sold today” is not a trite phrase but very real. The answer to finding the time is a bit of a mindset change but one that can be fairly easily implemented in the team selling world in which we live. And those pipeline reviews and account planning sessions are a great place to start to understand those surroundings in order to implement the readjustments Kakuzo mentioned. Think about it. Team selling, by its very nature, is based on collaboration. As such, you must seek every opportunity to collaborate with your team. Discussing and strategizing market changes with smart colleagues will also likely create competitive advantage to help close some of those pipeline deals. And help you learn which deals to avoid. Love that readjusting!
I’ve always been a big fan of frameworks and I’ve shared this one before. It’s a simple guide that charts five critical market areas for your team discussions. Are there others? Of course. But to avoid analysis paralysis, let’s jump on these five:
- Account Base
- Economy
- Service Structure and Deployment
- Market Patterns
- Competition
For each of the five, what should you be discussing with your teammates?
For account base, what about industries you focus on? If Finance, what’s the impact of tariffs, inflation and interest rates? What about Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals? What’s the impact of continued runaway costs and new offerings like weight loss drugs? What about the public sector and traditional retail? Construction, manufacturing and real estate…..what of the dreaded impact of AI?
Then the economy. What of the global impacts of increasing lack of cooperation among countries? In The US, what about stock market gains and 401K account growth battling affordability for the headlines? What about SMB accounts with government grants and talk of rampant fraud? What about the cutbacks in the federal government workforce and federal suppliers? And how will future government decisions affect your clients’ customers and people?
Regarding service structure and deployment, how effectively positioned are you for today’s delivery platforms? How does it affect your business model and your ability to win deals and serve clients? Can your organization deliver today with the same levels of quality as in the past and truthfully, how much does it matter? And what of the impact of alliance, channel and delivery partnering? And can your delivery assets be difference-making advantages for you in winning deals?
And market patterns. How much do continually shifting demographics impact your clients? Do you know how changes in metropolitan city centers will dictate change for your accounts? Has your organization effectively embraced social platforms? If not, has the train left the station? And what about the thought leaders of the verticals you serve? Do they guide the markets or have they been cancelled? In any case, their names are changing daily.
And the last, your competition. I offer again one of my favorites – the old Indian saying, “In the dark of the night, every cat’s a leopard”. Indeed. And as you think that one through, know that many of your competitors’ spots are changing rapidly…Kakuzo’s readjustment fans, perhaps? If you don’t know your enemies of today versus their previous incarnations, you’ll pay the price. You’ll lose deals, clients and revenue. Competitive propositions, people, partnerships and pricing. Collaborate to know. Truthfully, you have no choice.
Team selling is about collaboration. And your teammates’ heads are filled with information about your surroundings. But their potentially valuable information is meaningless unless put to use. So gather your teams – the people to whom your markets matter. The people who care and can make a difference. Ask them the questions. Then act on your readjustments…..constantly.
Comments