The bright spot approach starts with a simple question.
“What’s working, and how can we do more of it?”
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet, this obvious question is almost never asked in the real world. Instead, the question we ask is more problem-focused: “What’s broken, and how do we fix it?”
| Genentech example |
| In 2003, the company had just launched a drug called Xolair, which had been regarded as a “miracle drug” for asthma. It had proved effective in preventing asthma attacks for many patients. Yet six months after launch, sales of Xolair remained well below expectations. However, sales in one region outshone the others by a long shot. Two saleswomen who worked the Dallas–Fort Worth area were selling twenty times more Xolair than their peers. It was found that the women were using a fundamentally different kind of sales approach. Rather than selling the health benefits of the drug—which doctors largely understood—they were helping doctors understand how to administer the drug. Xolair was not a pill or an inhaler; it required infusion via an intravenous drip. This technique was unfamiliar to most doctors which caused resistance to the prescribing allergists and pediatricians. The two reps seemed to understand that often there are forces working against someone making a decision – habit and anxiety. They found a way to alleviate one of them which made an outsized difference in adoption. Where are the bright spots in your business? They may be hiding in plain sight that a little investigation can uncover. |
| Here is another post I wrote about a quick and dirty way to get a 16:1 profit ratio by identifying and pursuing your “bright spot” or core customers. |