Winning Small

If you are going to expend that first big block of effort and energy to participate, you might as well go ahead and give whatever it takes to win. –Johan Bruyneel (Coach to Lance Armstrong)

You won your dream client’s business. Well, sort of. You won some orders. You filled those orders. You’ve been successful, and you continue to get some orders. So now you’ve moved on to pursuing and winning your next dream client.

Not so fast! Your work here isn’t done. There is no reason to win if you are only going to win small.

If You Behave Transactional, You Will Be Treated Transactional

Many salespeople and sales organizations settle for low wallet share. They are happy to get some of the business. They never do the work that it would take to deserve a greater share of their dream client’s business.

You know how I always insist that you create value before claiming it? This is true here too. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that because you are getting only transactional orders that you should treat the client as if it’s transactional. This is wrong-headed. If you want to gain wallet share and win big, then you have to treat your client like it’s already transactional.

This reminds of a metaphor a friend of mine shared with me. There is a man standing shivering in front of a small fire. The man says: “Give me more heat and I will give you more wood.” The fire replies: “Give me more wood and I will give you more heat.” Lest there be any confusion here, you are the man shivering in front of the fire. You have to go first.

You control whether or not you are strategic by behaving that way, and by doing so, you earn the opportunity for more wallet share. This is how you transform what might have been a small win into a bigger win.

If You Are Going to Expend the Energy

If you are going to put forth the effort it takes to win your dream client, then expend even more energy and really win the client.

Why would you go out and expend the energy to win another client only to create another small win in which you capture a relatively low wallet share? It’s not healthy to win small only to go and win small again.

What makes wallet share so important is that it is often easier to gain wallet share than it is to win another client. Think about it. You already have the relationships. You are already doing business with your client, and it’s easier to get time with a client than it is to get time with a prospect. You already have a contract. And if you’re smart, you already have ideas that will make a difference for your client. You have everything you need to turn your too small win into a bigger win.

If you are going to win, go and win big!