Blocking Whitespace

When you've determined that there's no possibility of selling a particular solution to a particular account, you may find it useful to 'block' the white-spaced intersection.

This gives a visual indication to users that this particular intersection has been investigated as a whitespace and eliminated.

In the example shown below, the solution 'Opportunity Manager Demo' is blocked for the account 'Ancaster East Coast US'.

The following are two examples of reasons for blocking a whitespace:

• a competitor has a long-term contract in the same space as your solution.

• the solution is not applicable to that particular customer’s needs.

To block a whitespace, do the following:

1. Click the Block option on the whitespace intersection.

2. Enter an explanatory note and click Block.

   

Unblocking an intersection

To unblock an intersection, click Unblockon the relevant intersection.

Tip: The following are some questions to ask yourself with regard to unblocking intersections:

- Is an intersection blocked because of a competitor's contract? You can unblock the intersection if the renewal date is within 12 months (see Market Landscape) and the customer is willing to consider alternative solutions.

- How long since you or a member of your team spoke with a representative of the relevant account? The customer may be unhappy with a competitor's solution - which is reason to unblock an intersection.

- Does the solution make sense for the account? If not, then the intersection should remain blocked. Focus on other solutions for the account.

- If an account is mostly blocked on your opportunity map, you have to consider where growth will come from. Have you discussed with your predecessor on the account team, and your manger, what potential they believe exists with this account?

Why are opportunities displaying in a blocked intersection?

There are two reasons why opportunities can appear in a blocked intersection:

• Blocked intersection on a roll up (when an account is nominated)

• Blocked intersection on a parent account

Blocked intersection on a roll up (when an account is nominated)

If you are planning against a nominated account on the roll up row, you can still indicate that the account is blocked for a particular solution, but values for other accounts in the roll up continue to be displayed.

In this example, Atriedes US Corp is nominated as the account on the roll up row.

If a block is placed on the Atriedes US Corp row (see 1 in the image below), opportunity values for other rows in the roll up (2) continue to be displayed on the roll up row (3). The block on the nominated row (Atriedes US Corp) is indicated by gray shading on the roll up.

Blocked intersection on a parent account

Parent and child accounts (in terms of the Salesforce hierarchy) are automatically grouped in rows in an opportunity map.

The following scenario might occur:

• Plan A includes the parent account, where solution X is blocked.

• Plan B includes the child account, and opportunities are added to the solution X intersection.

• In this event, the blocked intersection in Plan A appears as follows (shaded in gray with the opportunities shown):

  

  Hovering your cursor over the blocked intersection displays the block message.

Note: This scenario might also occur when account plans are configured to allow the import of opportunities belonging to child and grandchild accounts. For more information, see Surfacing Opportunities from the Salesforce Hierarchy on Pipeline Page.