Missing Out on Millions: The Price of Not Utilizing Heat Maps in Sales
When I was early on in my sales career, I used to be solely focused on closing a deal.
I was the guy zeroed in on efficiency over effectiveness, meaning I was focused on how to perform tasks quickly instead of the quality of those tasks and their results. I was in love with Pareto’s Principle. (For those who don’t know, Pareto’s Principle says that 80% of outcomes, or outputs, come from 20% of the causes, or inputs, for any given event).
Yeah…I was that guy.
While I’m not here to say I regret doing those things, I am saying that I’ve learned a lot over my career. One of the biggest differences between my early days and now is that I focus on process over perfection. It’s the ‘how’, not the ‘what’ that matters.
And, one of the main tools that I use to strengthen my process, analyze each of the buying customers in my territory, and yes, ultimately, achieve my end results is a heat map. Let’s dig into this underutilized tool.
What is a Heat Map?
It is crucial for any sales rep to understand the best way to generate new business in their territory and more specifically each account in that territory. Heat maps are a wonderful way to get a clear understanding of who your more profitable customers are, profitable relationships, most profitable products, least profitable products, etc.
Digging a little deeper, heat maps (specifically related to sales) can be divided into two main types:
Relationship Map
Relationship maps identify who matters and the routes to power by providing information on customers’ internal structures, personnel and decision-making processes, and revenue potential in key accounts.
In today’s complex sales environment, it’s essential that we, as successful sales tech professionals, are able to identify, connect, and access the key stakeholders and decision-makers that influence and control strategic relationships, budgets, and purchasing processes.
With this information, you’ll be able to visually see friends, foes, and third-party influencers and help you and your team identify gaps in relationships to build and strengthen quality relationship development plans.
White Space Heat Map
White space heat maps, also referred to as white space analysis, is the process of digging through the sales data in order to find “white-space” opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling.
That “white space” is the gap that a business can use to scale its revenue with its products and services. Using this type of heat map, you’ll see the areas where you can grow your account, align and map your resources, increase sales, and gain a higher return on investment (ROI) on your time.
Less is more on this heat map, so identify two variables from the analysis report, put them on a two-dimensional X & Y axis, and find the white spaces that need to be filled in for you and your goals. Simple as that.
Not Using Heat Maps is Killing Your Income
As you can see, utilizing heat maps means you are no longer taking a stab in the dark as to how to increase customer engagement and gain more mindshare with your customers.
Thinking about it in a different way…
Each department in any given company is solving a myriad of problems. And, if you haven’t talked to people in each department, how do you know if your product and service can help them? The answer is you don’t, and if you want to take your income to the next level, you probably should.
What are most sales reps getting wrong?
For starters, most of them are focusing on the group that really needs their product or services instead of the larger picture. For example, when I worked for Google and sold APIs, I mainly worked with customers that had an API in their title like API manager or API analyst. This was a mistake.
What I should have been doing (And eventually started doing) was taking a wider approach. I should have been zooming out and reviewing the company’s annual report, looking at all their business outcomes, and then determining how the technology I was selling would be of use to them and solving their business problems.
Once I had all that information, a conversation was a no-brainer for me and the customer.
Whether you call it a heat map, a relationship map, or a white space analysis makes no difference. What’s important is that you are using this crucial planning tool and taking planning seriously.
If you don’t, you’ll only have one single point of contact in a given account meaning your data is narrow and your relationship with that customer is at risk.
Don’t believe me? Then tell me, what if the main point of contact you know leaves? Or, what if the customer’s need for that product or service switches? What happens then?
Don’t let that happen. Use heat maps to better you and your sales rep game for every scenario.
What’s Next?
Do you want more help and guidance in creating and implementing heat maps into your process? Are you in need of a community of tech sales professionals who are building a better world through empathetic selling and problem-solving?
You can have both by joining my Patreon. And, listen, I know that everyone doesn’t have the budget for another monthly membership —so y’all know I won’t leave you out to dry.
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