Great People Works

When asked how to allocate time and set goals based on a large customer base we developed the following formula, used judiciously and considering strategic and tactical account development. First, assign a probability to the likelihood of success (P) in a certain amount of time, e.g. within one year, and multiple that percentage times the size of the opportunity (O) to give you a Goal (G). P x O = G. If you do this with each opportunity you can actually quantify where to spend your time when you are not prospecting for new customers.

For example:
Company/Customer A $150,000 (O) x 30% (P) = $45,000
Company/Customer B $ 50,000 (O) x 90% (P) = $45,000
Company/Customer C $ 65,000 (O) x 80% (P) = $52,000

Company/Customer B and C have smaller total opportunities than Company/Customer A, but your probability of success is higher so Company/Customer C, then B would be a higher priority and better use of your time. Company/Customer A may also require three times the effort to improve your probability of success. If you go back and revisit the size of the opportunity and percentages every 3-6 months you can tweak them and reallocate your efforts based on where it should result in the largest payoff. Company/Customer A may simply be a longer sales cycle, which often happens when you must educate your customer and help them realize that they have a problem for which you have a solution.