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Sales & CustomersCommercial Control

Creating proactive, profitable customer growth

Shift from order-taking and price-led selling towards disciplined customer development.

10 questions answered

Questions answered on this page

01How do I improve sales without simply discounting?
02Why are my salespeople behaving like order takers?
03How do I create more proactive selling in branches?
04How do I improve account management?
05How do I identify customers with more potential?
06Why are some customer accounts not growing?
07How do I get branches to win more business locally?
08How should salespeople prioritise customers?
09How do I know whether a salesperson is genuinely effective?
10How do I improve conversion without reducing price?

How do I improve sales without simply discounting?

Improve sales by creating more reasons for the customer to buy, not by making the same offer cheaper. Start with customer needs, product gaps, project timing, availability, technical support, delivery and the ease of doing business. Develop existing accounts through relevant categories and better service while targeting new customers that fit the branch capability and commercial model. Give salespeople clear pricing boundaries and evidence about margin, stock and cost to serve. Review why opportunities are won or lost, including response speed and follow-up. Discounting may still be justified, but it should buy a defined commercial benefit. Sustainable growth comes from stronger value, customer relevance and disciplined execution rather than repeated price concessions.

Why are my salespeople behaving like order takers?

Order-taking behaviour usually reflects the system around the salesperson. If targets focus on incoming turnover, branches remain busy, customer information is weak and managers review only results, people learn to respond rather than create demand. Define proactive expectations such as planned customer contact, opportunity development, dormant-account recovery and follow-up. Protect time for this work and give staff usable customer and product information. Managers should coach real accounts and conversations instead of simply asking for more calls. Remove administrative barriers that consume selling time. People become proactive when they understand where to focus, have something useful to discuss and know that consistent selling activity will be noticed and supported.

How do I create more proactive selling in branches?

Build proactive selling into the branch routine rather than treating it as an occasional campaign. Identify a manageable list of customers and opportunities for each colleague, based on credible potential and current needs. Agree the next useful contact, the reason for it and the expected follow-up. Use short weekly reviews to examine progress, obstacles and evidence, not just call counts. Counter, warehouse and delivery colleagues can contribute local information, but ownership must remain clear. Give people suitable product, pricing and service support so contact creates value. Proactive selling becomes sustainable when managers protect time, coach the quality of conversations and connect activity to margin, conversion and customer growth.

How do I improve account management?

Effective account management starts with segmentation and a clear purpose for each material relationship. Decide which customers need protection, development, recovery or a different commercial approach. Build a concise account view covering sales, gross profit, product mix, contacts, projects, service issues, payment behaviour and opportunities. Agree a small number of actions with owners and dates, then review changes in customer behaviour rather than repeating static information. Involve branch, sales, operations and credit colleagues where they affect the relationship. Avoid producing lengthy plans for every account. The value lies in better decisions, coordinated action and meaningful customer contact that strengthens both the relationship and its commercial return.

How do I identify customers with more potential?

Look for evidence of unmet demand rather than assuming the largest customer has the greatest potential. Compare the products and categories a customer buys with their likely activity, projects, locations and known purchasing elsewhere. Consider share of wallet, buying frequency, average order, quoted work, lost lines, service use and the strength of contacts. Speak with the customer to test the assumptions. Potential must fit the merchant capability, range, service model and desired margin. Score opportunities simply enough that salespeople and managers can challenge them. A smaller customer with a clear need and good fit may offer more realistic value than a large account already buying most of what the branch can sensibly supply.

Why are some customer accounts not growing?

An account may stop growing because its own demand has changed, competitors have gained share, key relationships have weakened or the merchant offer no longer matches what the customer values. Internal causes can include poor availability, unresolved service issues, slow quotations, narrow contacts, weak follow-up or pricing that is inconsistent rather than simply too high. Review customer and product evidence, then speak directly with the customer. Separate temporary project movement from a longer pattern. Do not assume every account should grow indefinitely. The useful decision is whether there is credible, profitable potential and what action would unlock it. Where there is not, protect the relationship and direct effort towards stronger opportunities.

How do I get branches to win more business locally?

Give each branch a clear local market view and responsibility for developing it. Map existing, dormant, lost and target customers by trade, geography and likely need. Use supplier, colleague and customer knowledge to identify projects and changes, then turn that information into owned actions. Build relationships through useful contact, reliable follow-up, local visibility and service that fits the market. Avoid measuring success only through the number of new accounts opened. Track active customers, first-to-second order conversion, gross profit, product breadth and retention. Regional support can provide data and campaigns, but branch teams need freedom within clear commercial boundaries to act on genuine local opportunities.

How should salespeople prioritise customers?

Prioritise customers using a combination of current value, credible potential, strategic fit, relationship risk and the action required. High turnover alone is not enough. Protect valuable accounts where service or competitor risk is material, develop customers with evidence of profitable potential, recover selected dormant or declining accounts, and limit time spent on low-value opportunities with little fit. Use simple segments and contact expectations, then allow informed judgement when circumstances change. Priorities should guide time, not become a permanent label. Review them as customer behaviour, projects, payment or margin changes. The test is whether sales effort is concentrated where it can protect or create the greatest sustainable value.

How do I know whether a salesperson is genuinely effective?

Judge effectiveness through the quality and durability of the business created, not turnover alone. Review gross profit, customer retention and development, conversion, product mix, payment quality and the reliability of the salesperson pipeline. Examine whether they plan activity, create opportunities, follow up, use pricing authority sensibly and collaborate with branch, operations and credit teams. Adjust for territory and account potential so comparisons remain fair. Short-term sales can be influenced by inherited accounts or market movement. Consistent evidence over time shows whether the salesperson is strengthening customer relationships and commercial value. A useful review combines results, leading activity and observed capability, followed by specific coaching or accountability.

How do I improve conversion without reducing price?

Improve conversion by understanding why the customer has not yet decided. Qualify the need, timing, decision process, competition and commercial fit before investing heavily. Respond quickly with an accurate offer that explains availability, service, technical support and the value of the proposed solution. Make the next step clear and follow up while the opportunity is live. Review losses by reason instead of accepting price as the default explanation. Poor qualification, slow response, unclear value, missing stock or weak follow-through often appear as price resistance. Where price is genuinely the issue, change scope, terms or value before reducing margin. Better conversion comes from relevance, confidence and disciplined progression.

What you may be seeing

Branches wait for enquiries and describe busy counter activity as proactive selling.
Sales reviews focus on turnover and call numbers without examining margin, conversion or customer development.
Discounting is used to restart stalled opportunities before the real reason for delay is understood.
Account plans contain information but few owned actions, customer commitments or review dates.
Sales effort follows familiar customers while dormant, local and higher-potential opportunities receive limited attention.

What good looks like

Proactive merchant selling is focused, commercially controlled and part of the normal management rhythm. Branches understand their local market and salespeople know which customers and opportunities deserve attention. Account plans lead to useful conversations and owned next steps. Managers coach evidence, qualification, value and follow-through rather than demanding more activity without direction. Pricing supports the offer without becoming the default sales tool. Performance measures include margin, conversion, customer development, retention and payment quality as well as turnover. The result is a stronger pipeline of suitable business and customer growth the branch can serve profitably.

What may be happening underneath

Direction: Salespeople have targets but no clear customer, market or opportunity priorities.
Information: Customer value, product gaps, conversion and local potential are difficult to see or not trusted.
Management rhythm: Reviews examine completed sales rather than evidence, next actions and opportunity movement.
Capability: People need stronger skills in questioning, value, account development, qualification and follow-up.
Time and role design: Operational pressure and administration repeatedly displace planned customer-development activity.
Measures and rewards: Turnover and activity are recognised more strongly than margin, cash, retention and sustainable growth.

Questions worth asking

01Which customers need protection, development, recovery or a different commercial approach?
02Where is there evidence of unmet, profitable customer demand rather than hopeful potential?
03What prevents branches and salespeople from completing planned proactive work each week?
04Why are opportunities really being lost, and how often is price assumed rather than proven?
05Do our measures reward the customer behaviour and commercial value we actually want?

Where to go next

Create growth through disciplined customer development rather than price-led activity. BGC sales and customer resources help merchant teams prioritise opportunities, strengthen account management and improve profitable conversion.

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