Exit stage left.

A part of strategic planning I find extremely useful for planning competitive conquest selling is identifying the entry points and exit points of our brand usage. In markets where a customer may replace one brand with another, it’s important to map the reasons why and points where that happens. For example, a customer’s satisfaction with a particular product or service may have been declining for years but switching to a competing product was too much of a hassle. Let’s assume that the hassle is that there is no convenient distribution point for the competitor. Once the distribution barrier is resolved, it becomes an entry point thanks to years of declining satisfaction with the competition.

Please be forewarned. It is critical to have accurate understanding of entry and exit points before undertaking strategic change to address them. I have seen several businesses make major, bet-the-company changes based on inaccurate entry and exit points. In their attempts to pull a customer through an entry point, they push more others through an exit point.

It is important to manage not only entry points but the situations that precede them- and to know the difference between the two. Many believe product quality is an entry point. The problem with this is twofold. 1) Nearly every producer and manufacturer claims they deliver high quality. 2) An individual likely has to have his or her own experience to trust a quality claim fully. Quality may not be an entry point, but it can affect customer acquisition or defection. A customer who enjoys the quality of the item he or she owns is less likely to defect to an unknown for other reasons. At the same time, repeated low quality may fail to retain a customer when other exit points are allowed.

A prospects buying window is not simply open by us wanting it to be so. Many factors affect the timing around purchase and purchase intent. But be mindful to manage mindfully and intently. Traffic through the window can go both ways.

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