Have you got too many accounts?

It’s been long debated in many companies. As a salesperson or account manager, how many accounts are too many for one person to manage?

There are many factors to consider, not least of all the individual’s ability to multi-task and their propensity for outsourcing.

Before we attempt to answer this question though, we probably need to pose another. What are you trying to achieve with these accounts?

Let me use my ever-growing family as a metaphor. I am now lucky enough to have three beautiful healthy children. It’s great to have so many small people in my life. The joy they bring is immeasurable, BUT they are very hard work.

Parenting for me as a minimum (having 3 under the age of 3) is functional. Success for my wife and I could be when they’re all watered, fed, washed and clothed each day. If that’s all you want to do for your customers (keep them alive), a simple ‘buyer vendor’ relationship, then you can probably look after a lot of customers.

In my early days of employment, I spent two years working in a restaurant kitchen and then four years working front of house in the same place. I learnt many skills, but several I use in my adult life the most.

• Ability to multi-task/prioritise – The ability to juggle multiple tasks comes down to a combination of identifying which are the most important and which are going to take the most time. You can only deal with so many activities if you try and deal with everything as it comes in.
• You don’t have to do everything yourself – You can’t do everything yourself. Along with prioritisation, knowing when to outsource some activities is key. If you surround yourself with people who have different strengths to yourself, knowing what tasks to assign to whom should come easily.
• Customer satisfaction – And this is the most important. A happy customer is very much easier to deal with than an unhappy one. If you do not put the time and effort into making/keeping them happy (in the business world replace happy with successful), then you will spend a lot more time with them when they are unhappy. Or you’ll spend no time with them when go to your competitor.

I also found out that happy customers spend more and tip more, and that was beneficial to my employer and myself.

Going back to what you want to provide for your customers. I think we can all agree that any salesperson worth their salt wants more than just to keep their customers ‘alive’.

Sales has evolved since I started nearly 20 years ago. We’ve moved through various phases including spin selling and ‘the challenger sale’. These days we’re into the era of the ‘Customer Success’ approach to selling. Customers are better informed about your products or services long before you’ve even engaged. In order to form the much sought-after client partnership, you need to be able to bring something to the table. And that is the ability to make the customer successful (or more successful) at what they do.

Back to my family, and this approach is akin to spending quality time with each one of them. To listen to them, to teach them and to nurture them into adolescence. As my wife and I are past the 1:1 ratio, we have two options. Do more with each one, but in a shorter space of time or get additional help.

The same two options are there for sales organisations. You can ‘work smarter’ or you can build a team and share the responsibility. Or preferably, you'll do both.

I could write a whole article on how i believe people can work smarter, but to keep it simple, as an individual sales person, if it doesn't benefit your customer, your employer or yourself (in that order), then you probably shouldn't be doing it. If you then add a little technology to automate or remove some of the lower value tasks, then you're going in the right direction.

Building a team, or asking for help doesn't always come easy to people. For me, control is everything, and it's easier to control the outcome if you're doing everything yourself. But three things in life are certain. Death, taxes and your target is going to go up each year. In order to hit those targets, without increasing your accounts (and thus spreading yourself a little thinner) you are going to need help.

In summary, there is no one answer. No one size fits all. As long as you are adding real value to all of your customers, whether you have help or are working smart, you don't have too many. If you aren't adding value to all of them, well that needs looking at.