Greenfield Territories, The Good News and the Reality
Tips for working a new patch where no-one knows your name
A ‘never sold to’ greenfield territory may be just the thing that you are dreaming about, or it could be your biggest nightmare. If it is the former, you are in the right profession as an Enterprise Software Sales Executive. If being handed an untapped territory seems a bit too scary for you, it might be time to think about career options. The upsides of winning in an undeveloped turf can be substantial given that the relative expectations and quota should be low. If you are selling strong technology, it shouldn’t matter whether your patch has been called on yet, or not.
A new territory is an opportunity that is full of potential without any prior sins to apologize for or to unwind. You won’t be fighting anyone internally for control or credit, that will undoubtedly come later if you are successful. Externally, you are likely to see less competition than you usually have, and you will have First-Mover Advantages where you can shape a customer’s buying criteria, placing emphasis on the strengths of your solutions. In an untapped market you will be able to build the brand of your company, and yourself, from the ground up. On the downside, you also may not be on the receiving end of much of your company’s marketing resources or engineering talent. This, however, opens the door for you to shape, influence, and direct the strategic resources specifically for your turf. Just be prepared to personally do a lot of the heavy lifting (or perhaps, all of the lifting in the early going).
Your sales management team is generally concerned about the 30-60-90-day health of their territory, which you will have little to negligible influence over early in your campaign in a greenfield territory. This will mean that they will gladly stay off your back and out of your way. Small wins in a greenfield territory will be treated with greater fanfare as everyone is always hungry to plant a new customer logo. You’ll probably see more aggressive pricing from your company as you look to establish a new beach head while either locking out or displacing a hated competitor. You will have more freedom to customize solutions to meet specific end user needs and develop repeatable sales plays. If you are lucky, your company will have some history of successfully penetrating other greenfield accounts, and you will be able to leverage lessons learned from your peers.
Winning in a greenfield territory can set you up for long term success in your company as you’ll be seen as a groundbreaker who is able to penetrate unproven accounts. Your personal brand should grow exponentially within your company, and perhaps within your industry. Your initial deal wins should be building blocks that you can tap into for as long as you would like, whether it is just for your current job or for the balance of your career. You should be able to stack bigger deal sizes on initial wins beyond incremental upsells as departmental deployments move horizontally within your customer base. If you are motivated outside of cultivating your territory, penetrating new accounts from the jump will build internal credibility with your sales leadership as well as your cross functional teams. You’ll likely also get exposure to your executive management team.
Greenfield Territory Challenges, Strategies and Potential Benefits
Challenge - No brand awareness for you, your company, or its products
Strategy - Launch localized awareness campaigns: sales blitz, webinars, in house events, directed social media (ideally on your prospect’s platform).
Benefit - Builds visibility and credibility with prospects, gets your name on their mind. Build your message from the ground up.
Challenge - Lack of customer references both internally and externally
Strategy - Offer proof-of-concept (POC) or case studies from similar industries, or success-based trials in customer labs or centers of excellence.
Benefit - Reduces perceived risk, builds trust and familiarity. Success in labs usually results in recommendations into active projects.
Challenge - No warm introductions
Strategy - Leverage personal network, partners, and social platforms for strategic referrals. Make cold calls, lots of them.
Benefit - Opens doors faster, increasing response rates, builds your firsthand knowledge base.
Challenge - Undefined buyer pain points
Strategy - Conduct discovery interviews, research industry challenges, and build personas. Ask questions.
Benefit - Creates relevant messaging and value propositions. Gives you a better chance to hit the center of the bullseye first time out.
Challenge - Long sales cycles
Strategy - Prioritize Tier 1 accounts with high urgency and budget; qualify ruthlessly. Look for small wins, then start connecting them.
Benefit - Maximizes ROI of time and shortens time to revenue. Have quick wins to keep management quiet and happy.
Challenge - Lack of local success stories
Strategy - Build quick wins with smaller accounts or departmental deals.
Benefit - Generates momentum and internal support. It is a building process.
Challenge - Limited territory intelligence
Strategy - Use tools like ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and Bombora for data and insights. Talk to peers in and outside your industry or niche.
Benefit - Helps identify targets and improves outbound precision. Lessons learned from people who have already navigated your patch.
Challenge - No installed base (cross-sell)
Strategy - Focus on landing deals with strong expansion potential; emphasize total cost of ownership. Be creative and aggressive with your proposals.
Benefit - Sets up future upsell/cross-sell motion. Position for long term success.
Challenge - Internal resource prioritization
Strategy - Show pipeline potential with data; request dedicated marketing or SE support. Take resources that are offered.
Benefit - Gains internal buy-in and improves execution quality. An opportunity to excel exists for your cross functional partners as well.
Challenge - Quota pressure with slow start
Strategy - Set realistic internal goals and communicate early wins to leadership. Clearly set expectations up front.
Benefit - Curtails wishful thankful by greedy Sales Managers. Demonstrate progress and highlight new customer logos.
Despite the potential positives, a greenfield territory may not be everyone’s particular cup of tea for folks in the enterprise software sales market. Most would like to have a combination of existing and new customers, with a significant upside in terms of expansion (more seats), and product growth opportunities. That said, as opposed to a “brownfield” turf, where you may run into pissed off customers more often than not, an untapped market can offer a clean slate. While working in a greenfield market will probably require more time and greater effort on your part initially, it should pay off in the longer run by establishing a sales strategy that builds a formidable moat around your customer that locks in you and your solutions long term. The length of time it takes to crack new accounts will depend on some factors within your control and some where you shouldn’t even worry about moving the needle. It is important to understand the aspects within your domain and set proper expectations for what ultimate success looks like with your management. If you are lucky, you may get substantial wins done within the year but be prepared to chip away as it may be a process that takes two or three years before the big payoff.
With a greenfield territory you can build your brand recognition from the ground up by controlling the messaging and marketing since you’ll likely have to be more involved in the day-to-day execution. As the first successful mover in a new patch, you will also have the ability to set pricing expectations and create strategic partnerships. Assuming you’ve negotiated a more than fair quota for an unproven patch, there should be a pot of gold waiting for you at the end of your proverbial rainbow. It will be a just reward for putting the effort in to turning cold soil into fertile ground.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and is provided as a commonsense approach based on real life experiences. Any actions you take based on the information in this newsletter are your responsibility.