As I was cleaning out our pellet stove over the weekend, I started thinking about how dirty most salespeople’s account bases end up because they are never cleaned. The reason for a good weekly cleaning is easy to see when we’re talking about a pellet stove; it will burn more efficiently and use less fuel to keep the house toasty warm – with the side benefit of pretty flames adding ambiance to the room.
When you look at your account base it isn’t quite so easy to see why you should clean it up.
Efficiency
Instead of spending time with prospects who are never going to become customers – clean them out of your account base. Now is the time to get rid of accounts you’ve been actively calling for too long (of course you need to determine what ‘too long’ is for your business!) without any forward movement toward earning their business.
Don’t discount the importance of cleaning up customers too! While you’re scraping away the buildup remember to remove customers who take up more time and energy than their business is worth.
Less Fuel
It will take you less energy and effort each day to close business, find new opportunities, and earn new customers when you’ve created a clean account base for yourself. By not spending your valuable time on prospects that aren’t going to buy and customers that don’t make you money, you’ll have more available to use on those people who will move you forward toward your goals.
Keep Warm
For your account base to keep you warm, it needs to be full of the right accounts. Accounts, in your cleaned up world, will meet your Ideal Customer Profile; you know the ones that you love working with because they see value in what you do AND are willing to pay for it.
Ambiance
Here is something that most salespeople discount as ‘unimportant’; the fun that comes from working in a clean account base. Instead of seeing a to-do-list full of calls you don’t want to make, you’ll be excited to make the next dial! That excitement will come across in your voice and translate into better conversations with prospects and customers.