What do sales reps at some of today’s biggest B2B vendors have in common with Fuller Brush men of yore? They both have relied on the foot-in-the-door approach to sales: Establish the relationship by leveraging price and performance advantages over competitors, then expand the business by methodically migrating from one adjacent sales opportunity to the next. That approach may still work if you’re selling home care products door-to-door in the suburbs, but it’s inefficient—and often ineffective—when your customers are located in big enterprises and your goal is to become a long-term strategic partner and solutions provider.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2006 issue of Harvard Business Review.