Major Accounts & Networks: Jungle Myths
Discussions about how to win major accounts usually sound like this:“I know someone in there”. This I call the “network” myth.
You may have recruited business development talent because of their rolodex.
You know that word of mouth marketing and referrals is the most dependable way for specialized, knowledge services to win new clients.
And yet, when it comes to getting inside large, complex organizations, the “network myth” becomes apparent. How often has the expert you hired for their rolodex been disappointing?
The “network myth” often has inherent geographic and corporate responsibility limitation. In other words, not only is a referral from a personal or “natural” network likely to be to a peer, with similar background and at a similar organizational level, but there is a greater likelihood of that access being limited to a specific corporate function or one geographic location.
Wooing new clients is a discipline.
“Natural” or social networks may not provide access to all the “dream client” companies on your wish list. Social networks are frequently a mirror image of an individual. If you are a CPA, your network will probably include a lot of folks like yourself. Moreover, your network will probably represent a specific industry and function.
Let’s say you are considering hiring a CPA who has spent most of their career in consumer packaged goods, within supply chain financial management because a CPA would understand your business.
Your firm has a lot of consumer packaged good companies on your roster but you’d like to do work in the wireless industry. Will hiring this person, even though they have a Rolodex to die for, help your firm to diversify into the wireless industry where long-term prospects for growth are likely to be better?
