Monkey WHAT? Monkeysphere (inspired by @SellingAgency)

I’m sure when Shawn Carol Sandy of The Selling Agency brought up her post on the monkeysphere in a recent meeting we were in together… she didn’t know I’d still be thinking about it DAYS later.

Here is what I’m thinking about: if a person can only comfortably maintain 150 stable relationships (total) How can a salesperson believe they’ve got the capacity to grow or even maintain a huge account list?

one look at NUMBERS

“The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to 10 decision makers‚ each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must deconflict with the group.” according to Gartner’s The B2B Buying Journey

Let’s pretend sales aren’t that complex and make it 3: your main point of contact, their boss, and someone on the financial/purchasing side of the business.

If they only know YOU and you ONLY know them… that means you can have 50 accounts at a time in your monkeysphere.

adding & subtracting

Of course most salespeople I work with are also looking to find new business – their NEXT monekysphere account(s)… because some of today’s buying customers, will not be on tomorrow’s list.

Which means we need to have for easy math: 50 accounts at some point in the prospecting qualification/disqualification continuum.

YOUR TIME

So my not so specific, nonscientific math says 100 accounts -> 300 people total are flowing in and out of a salesperson’s personal account list.

That’s not enough you say… I’ll run out of people to call! What will I do all day.

I don’t think you’ll be bored OR run out of people to call, and here is why:

1. as an inside salesperson: the people truly INSIDE your monkeysphere – you end up talking with multiple times each week. Not all of the time but:
   • the accounts and people you’re working on “something” with
   • the back and forth trying to reach each other
   • time spent in scheduled meetings together
2. do your OWN math: think about accounts with MORE than my hypothetical three people – those that have 6 to 10 like Gartner spoke about (yes I do know that means there are some with only one or two as well).
3. remember the ebb and flow: some people / accounts fall off as you disqualify them
   • the account doesn’t buy what you sell OR need what you do
   • a person isn’t actually inside their companies buying decision making or influencing process

Over the next few weeks I’ll be challenging you to look at your account list differently – so buckle up and get a copy to work through!