Low Volume Opportunities

I’ve been helping a 10-strong sales team sell a new product lately.  Each one had to nominate 5 accounts where they thought they could sell it.  I then helped by recording for them what happened when they pitched it.

A few months in, there is now a problem.  Very few have got sold.  My role is to show why this has been the case and propose a remedy.

My first conclusion derives from the lack of enthusiasm I sense from each rep about the promotion.  The unit price of each is between £5-10.  Most of the people they see take them in volumes meaning the commission they can reap is low.  And as one guy put it to me, unless he can make an extra 200 quid out of it at least, he wouldn’t put any extra time into it.

In this wholesale distribution environment, there is a lot of money to be made by adding an extra line to your regular order.  For a project of this nature, it looks like the best way to achieve this is through telesales, rather than door-knocking account managers.

In addition, it seems that knowledge of potential volumes has emerged as a critical piece of info.