Hiding In Plain Sight

I recently did some work for a chemical supplier who wanted to increase their share of a local specialty crop market.  The management team had watched this market grow over a period of time and seen significant acreage increases year after year.  They agreed that they needed to get into the market before it was too late. 

They concluded the best option was to find an experienced agronomist who could bring both market intelligence and a book of business with him.  A top-quality candidate was located and hired.  They gave him a pickup, a phone, and a laptop, then sent him into the countryside to bring in the business.

A marginal increase in business was seen but after two years the hired gun took his skills, and clients, to another supplier who was willing to pay more.

Management again decided to follow the same formula.  They found another candidate and exactly the same scenario played out.  After 5 years attempting to make inroads into the specialty market, they were no better off.

A year after losing the second agronomist they were considering a new tact.  They now were looking to buy a smaller regional supplier who had already built a significant presence in the specialty market.

I took a quick look at this company’s sales over the previous couple of years.  I looked at volumes of chemicals sold and customers with repeat purchases.  What I found was surprising.

The two agronomists each provided a marginal bump in sales and when they left there was a small decrease in sales.  Neither of the agronomists hired to bring in new business brought many “new” customers to the supplier. 

With very few exceptions, every sale attributed to those agronomists were made to customers who already had accounts and a history with the supplier.  The only thing new was that these customers had a person assigned to support them and manage the relationship.  While these customers did purchase more during the period when their assigned agronomists were employed by the supplier, and there was a decrease after the agronomist left, they remained customers and continued to purchase products.

While management and the board were digging deep trying to find a way to enter the market, they did not see that they already had a firm foothold.  Hiding in plain sight was the fact that they sold to virtually every specialty crop producer within their footprint.  Individually none of these customers were large buyers, so they did not garner much attention, but collectively they generated over $1,000,000 in revenues annually for the supplier, with or without the agronomists.

The analysis also showed that while customers had consistent contact with the supplier their volume of purchases increased.  Additionally, these increases grew incrementally each year that the customer relationship was actively managed.  To sales professionals, this concept is understood.

While this group was exploring external approaches to the market, they were missing the best solution, which was already within their grasp.  They already have the relationships, they simply need to do a better job of recognizing and managing them.

We are often like this supplier, looking harder and deeper for answers while missing those hiding in plain sight.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”  Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

How well do you know yourself?  Are you missing things that are hiding in plain sight?