Podcast #46:
Profitable Growth Podcast
Part 3 of 10

By Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins Associates

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Jim:

Hello, this is Jim Tompkins the President and CEO of Tompkins Associates and Tompkins International. Today we are back with Part Three of our series on Profitable Growth.

Joining me today is Greg Hazlett, Principal with Tompkins Associates in our Global Supply Chain Services Group.

Greg – thanks for joining us. I know that you have spent a lot of time working with companies on their growth strategies. Not only have you worked on strategies such as target markets, but also on solution selling. This podcast series is focused on “Profitable Growth” – can you help us understand the relationship between Profitable growth and Solution Selling?

Greg:

First – Jim, thanks for having me. I have been spending a lot of time recently working with companies on their growth strategies, and nine times out of ten, after all the initial discussions on project objectives we end up with Profitable Growth being the primary objective. Companies want to grow their revenues, but they want to do so at the same time as they increase their operating margins. They do not want to grow at any cost - they want responsible growth, growth which allows them to continue focus on operational excellence. They want growth that positively affects both the top line revenue, and positively affects the bottom line costs. The focus today is not purely on capturing market share at any cost, but on growing and improving the overall business in a planned, manageable way.

With Profitable Growth being the objective, one of the key methodologies we work with companies on to achieve it, is Solution Selling. Now Solution Selling is nothing new – it has been around for over 20 years, and there are numerous books on the subject, as well as seminars, and even regular blogs on the subject. Even so, most companies look at Solution Selling as being purely a sales tool, and not necessarily a critical part of any sustainable Profitable Growth strategy.

Jim:

Great! Okay, so how are you helping companies connect the dots between Profitable Growth and Solution Selling?

Greg:

The starting point is typically coming right back to the objective – Profitable Growth. We start with a discussion around what we call the 'Profitable Growth Framework.' This framework can be summed up as focusing on the companies with whom you want to do business, developing real, sustainable business relationships with these companies, and collectively identifying and delivering solutions that provide value to both parties.

To get into a few more specifics, the:

Focusing, is developing a target account program, including the development of suspect, prospect, and target accounts, the individual marketing plans to be put in place to nurture and develop each of these, and the pipeline process to track activity and results.

Relationship Management is the process by which relationships are developed with key individuals within your target accounts. The intent is to develop multiple points of contact, at different levels, within separate departments of target companies. The need for multiple relationships is both to ensure that you have an understanding of both tactical as well as strategic initiatives within the organization and also to ensure that if one contact within the target company leaves, you do not want to be starting over.

And lastly, Identify and deliver win – win opportunities and solutions. You will be more successful, both in the short-term and in the long-term if you are helping your customers solve real problems, with solutions that deliver recognized value. In ensuring these solutions solve the underlying issues the customers are focused on, and that they deliver real, recognized value, you are continuing to strengthen your customer relationship, and the customer will allow you to be appropriately compensated. By focusing on delivering value to the customer, you will be involved in more opportunities, have access to higher margins, and become a trusted partner in the customer’s business – the true goal.

Jim:

Is it fair to say that the reason you focus on Solution Selling is to help your clients achieve Planned, Profitable Growth?

Greg:

Yes, The outcome we are striving for with our growth strategies client’s is Planned, Profitable Growth. By taking a pro-active approach in determining with whom they want to do business – the targeting process, developing strong communication channels and real relationships with key target personnel, and then understanding their real business issues, working with them to solve them, and receiving their acknowledgement in so doing – they can deliver planned, profitable growth to their organization. The associated growth is profitable for a number of reasons:

1. Because of the focus on target accounts, there is no unproductive sales nor marketing costs chasing every opportunity they come across
2. As the client discovers what products and services yield them the highest returns, they can target these companies and opportunities
3. And, through development of relationships, and through delivering recognized value, clients are more willing to allow suppliers to make a fair return, and to continue to engage them to deliver additional solutions, or purchase additional products.

Jim:

Some people think of Solution selling just as a sales strategy or program – is that a fair perception?
 
Greg:

Not from my perspective. Solution selling needs to be a part of the DNA of the entire company. This isn’t something that just a few people within a sales team can follow and the organization will then have a path to profitable growth. Many different parts of the company need to be involved.

In order to know which companies and industries to target, you need to understand your internal capabilities, leverage points, and areas in which additional volumes deliver compounded levels of profitability. You need to have relationships that are operational in nature, as well as financial, technology based, and strategic. This isn’t easily accomplished by one person, regardless of how capable they are. And finally, at the end of the day you need to deliver operational excellence. If you do not deliver the value on every solution, you will not develop and expand the relationship, and you will not have the opportunity to participate in additional, and perhaps even more lucrative, opportunities.

Jim:

Greg, in order for companies to be successful in achieving profitable growth through a solution selling process, I’m assuming there are some key principles companies will have to adopt in order to drive growth.

Greg:

Absolutely. Some of the guiding principles include:

1. Listen to your customers and act on their needs
2. Expect to succeed
3. No acceptable level of lost business
4. Be a salesperson, no matter your role
5. Engage higher levels of management with customer before it becomes necessary
6. Don’t just report the good news
7. Get out of your sales “Comfort Zone”
8. Think broadly; assess the real size of the opportunity
9. Provide accurate business pipeline visibility
10. Work and sell as a team – this is critical. A salesperson or a sales team cannot succeed at solution selling without the entire organization playing its role.

Jim:

Thanks Greg – I appreciate your thoughts on how a company’s focus on solution selling can help it achieve its Profitable Growth goals.

Greg:

Thanks for having me.

Jim:

Well that wraps up this 3rd part of our series on Profitable Growth. Join me next time as we dig deeper into Profitable Growth as we look at technology and the role that technology places on Profitable Growth. I look forward to speaking to you real soon.

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