The Ultimate Guide to Whitespace Mapping
Whitespace mapping is a powerful tool for Account Management teams to identify and uncover growth opportunities within their existing customer base.
Traditionally involving complex spreadsheets, this guide will explore the pros and cons of whitespace mapping as a process, along with modern approaches that leverage automation and AI to streamline the effort.
By the end, you'll be equipped to unlock the full potential of your customer relationships and drive strategic growth for your company.
What is a Whitespace Map?
A whitespace map visually represents an Account Manager's book of business, highlighting areas where a company can expand its revenue through the sale of products and services. (Source: Designing in the Open)
Think of it as a treasure map for Account Management teams. The jewels and gold coins being the unexplored opportunities (the ‘whitespace’) or even the explored opportunities that haven’t quite closed yet but the interest is there.
Conventionally speaking, at a lot of orgs their whitespace map could look something like this:
😱
A gob-smacking spreadsheet of customer accounts and their product offerings indicating products purchased, opportunities in flight, pilots and no interest.
Oh ya and the unexplored avenues that could lead to an opportunity - hense the ‘whitespace.’
Here's a downloadable template if you want to try it out → see here
So, why bother Whitespace mapping?
Sure hope we didn’t lose you at the unequivocal spreadsheet of doom.
Though mapping accounts this way (albeit ‘old fashioned’) sure does work for a lot of folks even at companies with complicated product offerings and add-ons. With limitations of course.
Before we get into some more dynamic, UX friendly (and frankly, prettier) ways to whitespace into customer accounts, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the practice in general.
Pros
- Targeted Upselling and Cross-selling: Whitespace maps pinpoint areas where your existing customers might benefit from additional features or complementary products within your portfolio. This equips sales teams with valuable insights to craft targeted upselling and cross-selling strategies based on each individual customer & their business needs.
- Optimized Resource Allocation: Account managers can prioritize their efforts by highlighting the most promising opportunities within existing accounts, focusing on activities with the highest potential return on investment (ROI).
- Competitive Advantage: By identifying unmet needs before your competitors, you can position yourself as a trusted advisor and the go-to solution provider for your customers' evolving needs.
- Increased Customer Lifetime Value: By uncovering hidden needs and offering solutions, you increase the overall value your customer gets from your product, leading to a longer and more profitable relationship.
Cons
- Time and Resource Investment: Whitespace maps should always be in a state of flux. Creating and maintaining them takes major time and effort. Gathering data, analyzing customer behaviour/conversation, and translating insights into actionable plans requires dedicated resources. A lot of companies only do this once or twice a year because of that.
- Data Accuracy and Interpretation: The effectiveness of whitespace mapping hinges on the quality and accuracy of the data used. Inaccurate data/information can lead to misleading opportunities or missed chances. Additionally, interpreting the data and identifying true needs requires skilled account management teams who understand their many customer's businesses inside and out.
- Limited Scope: Whitespace mapping primarily focuses on existing products and services. It might not uncover entirely new market opportunities or disruptive product innovations.
- Lives in spreadsheets: This one is self explanatory; nobody likes spreadsheets. Except for maybe your family accountant.
An ever evolving customer landscape..
From our research and discussions with multiple Account Managers, we learned that Whitespace Maps are rarely static.
Over a customer's lifetime, they are in a constant state of flux, buying new products or churning off of something else, and the Map needs to reflect that at all times to give the AM a true picture of where opportunities really exist. (Source: Designing in the Open)
It’s no secret Account Managers juggle hundreds of accounts, each with its own unique context and nuances. There has to be a way to prioritize and plan effectively.
(Source: Unleashing the Power of Whitespace Maps)
If Whitespace maps are to be constantly updated in order to be effective and if time & resources are already spread thin as it is; this is where automation becomes particularly useful so you don’t have to be like her:
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*insert* Glowstick’s AI Driven Dynamic Whitespace Map
Here’s what it looks like at first glance:
Here’s how we differ 👇
The map has all the context in one place.
- Our Whitespace map pulls information from recorded customer meetings and CRM to give you one source of truth for all your accounts
- No more switching between apps, re-watching calls, scouring notebooks for clues, or goose chasing people for context
The map is always up to date automatically.
We keep you instantly in the know for:
- Leads from a customer mentioning an intent or pain
- Qualification evidence & context for CSQLs
- Reminders or insights about existing opportunities
- Products already purchased
- Customers indicating no interest
- BONUS: Incumbent competitors that your customers are using (with renewal dates)
OH, and that TRUE whitespace to go after!
Fun Faqs:
- The map is dynamic. Each cell is completely clickable, instantly pulling up all the information you need to know about the customer, meeting snippet and detected insight
- Users can 1-click create opportunities into CRM → we all know how fun this is the traditional way ;)
- The map is AI Driven → why don’t we let the robots do the homework & fetch the data for us?!
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Our CEO/Co-Founder Masha gives a quick demo of the Whitespace map:
Whitespace Mapping Strategically with Glowstick
- Filtering
The Renewal Date provides crucial information about when a customer will renew their contract. This insight gives Account Managers the bandwidth to strategically plan ongoing deals and tap into existing whitespace. Prioritizing by working back from the renewal date is one way to plan their work effectively.
- Glowscore
So you’ve set up filters, and now your list of accounts went from 100 to 80. That's still A LOT of manual lift on the AMs' part.
🥁 DRUMROLL PLEASE 🥁
Enter the very cool GlowscoreTM️ – a game-changer. Leveraging metrics such as customer health score, pipeline deals, and last customer engagement, to mention a few, the Glowscore guides Account Managers towards specific accounts ripe for upsell or cross-sell conversations.
- MEDDPICC
MEDDPICC (or MEDDIC) is a proven Sales Qualification methodology. With Glowstick's secret AI sauce, we populate these criteria from calls the AM and CSM are having with the customer. This, in turn, empowers Account Managers to move forward with opportunities that exhibit stronger MEDDPICC strength compared to others.
(Source: Designing in the Open - Whitespace Maps)
Curious at how Glowstick’s Dynamic Whitespace Map would look like for your org?
Talk to sales here
