Selling 9th Edition by Stephen Castleberry,John Tanner

Exercise 8

In January, Kevin Ludlum took over the sales team at TriQual Systems (TQS), a company that serves the cable TV industry. TQS installs cable TV equipment at apartment buildings, dorms, and similar high-intensity multitenant dwellings, then provides technical support service to the tenants.
At lunch on Kevin's first day, CEO Dave Dougherty said, "I want the company to expand significantly, but cash is tight, so hiring more salespeople isn't an option. But keep in mind we have a patented technology that our competitors can't match, so continuing our high growth rate seems likely."
"I think the first thing is to assess where we are with our top accounts," Kevin replied. "We don't have 100 percent penetration with any account, do we?" David shook his head no, then said, "We've not been able to get an exclusive agreement except with ACH; they'll use us in all of their new projects and any refurbishing projects. But elsewhere, each new complex is determined by a bid process."
David began to tick off names and discuss the top accounts. "With the exclusive agreement, ACH will be our largest customer by the end of the year. Next will be The Orchard." The Orchard is a company that owns and operates apartments near colleges and universities across the country. There are currently 32 such complexes, with 20 on the books to be built in the coming year. Of those 32, 14 were acquired, and the rest were built by Orchard; half of those built are served by TQS and the others by two other vendors. Of the 14 acquired sites, all were served by various other vendors, but TQS has expressed an interest in upgrading to new equipment over the next two years. "How quickly they refurbish," said David, "will be determined by how well they are able to build the new units within budget, but I'd like to get an exclusive with them because of the growth. But they seem reluctant to put all their eggs in one basket."
Third on the list was Pinetree Properties, a company that owns 64 properties across the South. "They've got us in five of their newer complexes, all of which serve colleges and universities. Our systems are best suited to the high data demands students put on their Internet cable systems. The company has seven older university properties and plans to refurbish two each year. I think we'll win that, as they really see our benefits in that environment. Where we've struggled with them is in their family properties because they don't think it's worth the price premium to get the higher-quality product."
Young Family was fourth. This family-owned business operates a dozen apartment complexes in Florida, with four in Miami. "Frank Young loves us. He's totally bought into our system of billing and will use us in any new properties they build. Right now, they're looking at two smallish complexes, both in Miami. They put us in the last three properties they built."
Last on the list of top five is The Franklin Group, which owns 32 properties in the Pacific Northwest. "Like Young, they like us a lot, but their growth rate has slowed. We're also in their last three properties, and our best shot there is probably refurbishing the older properties. They should be doing a complete makeover in the next five years, but getting them to make that investment has been tough," said David. Kevin asked why, and David replied that the operations VP was in favour of it but the CFO was not. "Maybe we just need to find some new companies to work with."
What is your sales strategy for each one? What is the order of priority?