Prioritizing based on sales of businesses
A normal companies (potential customers registry checks and reports referred) for low volume. At recruitment companies and executives because only a few provided sufficient volume. A Real Estate, Financial and consultancy agency and the difficulties of access.
Also discarded those banks and savings banks with centralized services because of the difficulty of access and chose to focus on those entities that have no centralized turned to each of the offices in a potential client. Another important decision was taken and that I have previously mentioned, is that the market should be locally cost effective. No entrepreneur wanted our day travel pass.
Thus, the decision was made:
Our entrepreneur was going to sell ‘consultation records “and” reports referred “to offices of banks that did not have the centralized, for each office was a potential customer. Then we decided to focus even more and see how many banks meet the requirement. We use a shortcut. We take the “yellow pages” and called the center of each of the entities to find out and find out. We did more things, our entrepreneur visited old friends, talked to friends, we conducted a random survey, and summarize the conclusions about the market was awaiting him the next.
The market
The market is mainly occupied by two specialized companies which control 56% of the total and the other 16%. Price levels are agreed between the companies. The lower fee, has positioned itself as a company of high level of service and high price with a loyal customer base primarily in the business and services, and the other is positioned as an alternative appropriate service at a reasonable price, customers being mainly banks, bank branches and more specifically of entities that do not have this centralized service – when we are talking about (1998), that meant about 5500 bank branches, bearing in mind that 2225 corresponded to only 2 entities.
This equilibrium took more than 15 years
Most of them with a structure of about 40 employees, had a sales department of 4 people and one manager – the owner of the company -. The delivery of the work was 5 days, visiting commercial customers.
The youngest of them with a structure of 5 employees, had a sales department directly by the owners of 50% 2 and 3 administration. The delivery of the work was 7 days.
What would you?
The final decision:
- Our entrepreneur decided and carried out several things.
- It would face the leader.
- It would focus on a single product (referred reports) – the largest commercial bank – the other products only offer added value.
- Decided to target a narrow market sector. Specifically decided to focus on a single bank with 1500 branches, of which selected the 900 largest.
- The personally visited all within 4 months. Keep in mind that the distances from one office to the next could be between 100-150 meters, ie they were next to each other. Also commercially in an office, or the principal or the agent, always, which are also available for the visit. Not required nor was ever made concerted previous visit. 10 zones were drawn on the city in terms of ease of travel to maximize the number of daily visits.
Gathered on the spot requests received by fax or in the office.
Our entrepreneur just out each morning to your office visit route, appeared, he spoke with the manager or agent, leaving the documentation, he said goodbye and went into the next office. In addition to our enterprise, to address this market niche has another advantage, as opening bank branches only in the morning was perfectly organized their journey. In the morning visit in the evenings performing the work.
While he performed the work we focus on innovating the service offices had received so far. A few examples:
- Where competition only put the company name in large letters and in black on folio paper, we create a modern logo on glossy paper and color.
- Where competition matrix printer used, we used inkjet
- Where competition in a brown envelope delivered all reports with a detailed hand on the outside, we overtook the report we sent the original fax and mail.
- Each letter, each document (not reports) had a different style phrase “Let the things go wrong do not mean you can not get any worse,” which outline just what it was a deal and different relationship with the customer. (In fact I still remember that one agent collected the phrases, we even managed to order the book of origin)
Our entrepreneurial work hard and you earned a good living, but he was determined to become a permanent hole. Its turnover was negligible compared with the leader, so insignificant that it had not been aware of the existence of their new competitor.