Dead opportunities…Those small hustles…

Dead opportunities…And revisiting them

So that prospect you wrote off last year as unsaleable after multiple calls is dead. Or is it? Now to be frank, if nothing has changed in terms of what you have to offer, the account’s management, or the quality of the current suppliers’ services, chances are that it still is and that it’s probably not worth pursuing.

But aside from any changes in your offering, how do you know whether or not the conditions behind that door are still the same? Of course the answer is that you don’t. And the only way to be sure is to make that call.

To put it mildly the foodservice business is pretty dynamic. Some might call it chaotic. Chefs and even GM’s have a pretty short employment span and can be pretty active job hoppers. So, unless you darken that door, you may never find out.

The truth is that call has a low probability of finding a welcoming buyer who’s eager to hear your ideas. But even if that’s only a small chance, isn’t it worth at least a drop by call to find out?

Don’t do that and to your painful dismay you might learn that things have changed, but only because a new decision maker arrived and that he just changed to a different supplier.

Next up: Reviving the nearly dead.

 

Those small hustles …versus the big deal.

While we’re busy getting the creativity germ activated, let’s bear in mind that there’s a danger of thinking too big – or probably more accurately only thinking big.

While bold ideas are certainly welcome and can lead to equally big things, there’s a downside. That danger’s in overlooking those smaller ideas that can collectively result in big things – with equally big impacts.

It’s enticing to ponder expanding your coverage to include a nearby city. But maybe the better solution is to look harder at your top ten accounts (who likely account for the majority of your sales) and see where you’ve left money on the table.

It might be that unsold laundry in your largest extended care facility. Or perhaps it’s all that housekeeping business, or those foodservice add-ons we’re so often guilty of overlooking.

None of this is to say that those small hustles are the final – or even best answer to satisfying your aspirations for meaningful growth. But chances are they’re absolutely capable of being a big part of it. Moreover those opportunities are more likely to result in faster near-term results