An organization needs customers to serve.  Without customers the organization has no reason to exist.  The ideal customer:

• Has the problem the organization solves.  There is no point selling a solution for which the prospect has no need.  If a prospect does not need the solution, organization leaders might be tempted to solve a problem other than the one which the organization offers. The organization can do this but it essentially means building yet another organization which drains resources from core activities while adding risk and complexity.

• Finds the problem strategic to solve.  Every prospective customer has many problems.  No customer solves all of its problems at the same time.  Instead, either explicitly or implicitly, they determine which of all their problems are most important to solve and allocate resources to solving them.  Successful organizations sell their solution to prospects for whom it is strategic to solve the problem it addresses.

• Has resources.  If the prospect does not have the scope and scale of operations to support paying a fair price for the solution, or i Continue reading How to decide who to sell to next. →