The New Power Base Selling: Master The Politics, Create Unexpected Value and Higher Margins, and Outsmart the Competition

Step 7: Complete the Triathlon

So far, we have discussed the process of creating demand and upstreaming to the corporate executive level within a customer’s organization. The third and final element to completing the triathlon is to expand your footprint in the account by servicing demand. The point here is to create a critical mass of installed base in order to secure the account. Creating demand makes you highly competitive in this regard. You now have a Support Base that will drive up your win potential in a way that did not exist before you launched your creating demand initiative.

But make no mistake, as you build your installed base, people will expect more of you. The customer will want you to comply with all the requirements of a bid but will also want to see some innovative thinking. You’ll probably work with new people within the account who know exactly what Unexpected Value can do for one’s career. They will want you to add a layer of creating demand on top of your more traditional solutions. It does not need to be revolutionary, but it does need to keep you higher up on the Sales Value Chain. This type of out-of-the-box thinking may relate to the products or services that you provide; it might involve other customers, your executive team, or your R&D group. But however you accomplish it, you absolutely must do so to fully leverage a creating demand initiative and further the penetration and development of an account.