As we march towards the end of 2024 and another selling year, we work to close deals and position ourselves for a strong start to 2025. Potential territory realignments and new account assignments present both new and foregone opportunities as we proceed laser-focused on our pursuits and clients, those current and those likely to become ours on Jan. 1. Of course, it’s very appropriate to have that dual focus as deals and accounts are typically the two areas most closely connected to wins, commissions and bonuses. While focusing on these two selling success factors, we need to also consider a broader and more all-encompassing topic – our markets.
Kasey Anderson, the American singer and songwriter, gave us this very apt quote – “You influence your surroundings every bit as much as they influence you”. And in sales, our markets represent our surroundings, the geographic, vertical, account size and characteristics, etc. Clearly, they influence us and our chances of success but how can we influence them? First, we must understand and internalize that markets of all types are driven by constant change.
As I mentioned, at this time of the selling year it’s perfectly understandable to be focused on accounts and closing deals. That said, neglecting at least a review of what’s changed and changing in your markets is foolish. Assembling your sales and delivery teammates for compact brainstorming sessions is an extremely valuable use of organizational time as the year moves to a close. For strategizing about market changes will not only help future planning but create competitive advantage to serve your accounts to help win deals in your Q4 pipeline.
To get started, I suggest following a simple framework I’ve often shared that identifies five critical market areas for your brainstorming event. Is the list comprehensive? Perhaps for some sales teams but for others, focusing on these five areas will simply provide a massive start. And of course, there’s bleed-over from one area into the next. That’s as it should be. So you need to get busy with these:
1. Client Base
2. Economy
3. Service Structure and Deployment
4. Patterns and Trajectory
5. Competition
Let’s consider the most relevant questions in each of the five areas for your team brainstorming. Obviously, your questions will be customized to your business but here are some difference-makers for all to ponder.
In terms of client base, what about your verticals? What legislation is impacting or will impact your industries and geographies? What about the public sector and fluctuations in government funding? And needless to say, how will changes resulting from elections and administration policy changes affect your verticals?
What about the economy? What about changes in small and medium-sized businesses versus enterprise accounts and the resulting pains and opportunities? With government actions worldwide greatly impacting local economies, consider the economic shifts of greater amounts of spending flowing to the military and national defense initiatives. Ponder also the changes in construction, transportation, and the consumables markets, verticals likely filled with your clients and prospects.
In service structure and deployment, how effectively positioned are you for the continuation of the virtual world? It’s here and it’s hungry, long outlasting the knee-jerk reaction to Covid. What’s the ongoing and long-term impact on your markets? And how well can you sell and serve remotely? And what about changes in seamless virtual alliances, channel and delivery partnering and the streamlining of contract vehicles? And can your products, services and people provide a difference-making advantage in the midst of this change? Can they, in the end, be win themes?
Regarding the patterns and trajectories of your markets, what’s the impact of the continual changes in demographics? Patterns of geographic movements in real estate, construction and transportation are all impacted. What about the media, advertising and the ubiquitous social platforms? The impact of shifting cultural and political patterns – have you kept up and will you get faster at doing so? And what about your industries’ thought leaders? In the US, as a great example, it’s not only the changing political characters but the Elon Musks of the world. What’s their impact on your surroundings?
Lastly, the competition. I always come back to the old Indian saying, “In the dark of the night, every cat’s a leopard”. Indeed. In your brainstorming, you know that many of your competitive leopards’ spots have changed significantly. If you don’t know your current adversaries versus their earlier selves, you’ll pay dearly, losing deals and clients as a result. Know as much as you can about changes in competitive propositions, people, partnerships and pricing. You can pretty much count on the fact that your best competitors know all that about you.
Assemble your teams now. The people invested in understanding the relevant market changes that will dictate your future. The people who will execute on the ideas resulting from your brainstorming. And remember the anonymous quote – “It only takes one idea, one second in time, one leap of faith, to change everything forever”.
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