Account or Asset

Later during the session on developing accounts, it was apparent upon further questioning that these salespeople had referred to a list of names of individuals in companies who had purchased from their organizations in the past. Based on the length of time since the last contact, they could not be considered an account, much less an active one.

It is a mistake to consider a name and contact information on an account customer list as an asset. For it to be an asset, the customer must be an active account providing you with profitable business on a regular basis. The names that these salespeople were referring to as accounts were those who occasionally buy, but there was no active selling being done by the salesperson. There is a big difference between someone who buys when your price is the lowest and an account where you are providing value and receiving payment for that value.

To consider an account active, the salesperson must understand the account, have a relationship with the personnel in the account, understand the account's needs, and provide value to motivate the customer to provide a return for the salesperson's time and effort. If the time and effort is not expended to cultivate or develop the account, no matter what its potential, it cannot be considered an asset and will not assist the salesperson to reach his or her income goals and performance objectives.

To develop the account, the salesperson must take the time and effort to uncover and clearly understand:

It has been said that knowledge is power. However, it is only power when it is acted upon. A salesperson who understands the account, but does not actively engage in activities to develop relationships and increase business, cannot be successful. Some unique activities that you might consider in developing accounts are:

A name on a customer list is not an asset if there is no relationship of value. The real asset of a salesperson and the organization is the expertise and the relationship of mutual respect and dependence built through partnering with your clients to solve problems and produce positive returns for your organization's time and energy.