Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from one of my favorite reps in the entire world. This rep is a SUPER sales rep and just a nice person to know. I thought it was going to be just our usual monthly chit chat call but it turned out to be a lot more.
I could tell as soon as I heard the reps voice that something was on their mind but I decided to let them tell me when they was ready rather than being my usual self and bluntly asking. It didn’t take long, after about 2 minutes of catching up the rep asked me what I thought about vertical market selling.
As soon as I heard the words I knew where this was coming from. This rep has been selling to multiple markets for years and is very successful and knowledgeable about the markets. The company is starting to lead (a nicer word than force) reps into focusing on one market.
The idea of vertical market selling makes a lot of sense. A rep focused on only one market can get to know the market issues and have better value statements as to how their product or service can help solve the issues. By being involved in one industry the rep can become so knowledgeable that they are truly an expert and because of their intimate knowledge they can help their customers in areas that go far beyond their product and service. This consultant role will place the rep in a better position when the customer is in the market for a product like theirs.
The down side of vertical markets is a rep is now as vulnerable to the changes in the market as their customers are. The lack of diversity in the reps customer base doesn’t allow them to shift from one market to another as the economic climate changes. Another down side is the size of market potential a rep has in the vertical. If I sell into several markets in my territory I have the power of the numbers of potential customers to draw on. If I am only selling into one market my potential market is cut into a fraction of the size. Smaller market doesn’t mean smaller sales or less income, I know many reps that only sell in a narrow market that make more money than reps selling to markets ten times the size. The smaller market only means less choices and less room for any mistakes.
I had this discussion with my friend and finally my suggestion was to hold out and remain a generalist for as long as possible. I told the rep that at some point I was sure the company would force their hand and make the rep commit to a market segment, but that could be a decade from now. The rep said that is what they thought I would say, and that they didn’t feel scared about focusing on one market, they just didn’t want to be pushed into it before they were ready. I told them they had the luxury of choice now, but it more than likely wouldn’t last forever.
All sales reps working across many markets need to look at the pros and cons of the vertical market scenario. For some of you it may be a good business choice to make the move now, for others you may want to hold out as long as you can like my friend. Either way, it is always easier to make a change on your time table rather than making it by force.
There is nothing wrong with vertical market selling, but there is nothing wrong with being a generalist either.
Lorin
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