Companies fail every day because of a lack of sales.
It’s been my observation that business people will make any kind of excuse they can think of not prospect for sales and go on sales calls. I’ve heard it all.
Such as:
- I can’t make a sale because I don’t have the right business cards.
- I can’t make a sales call because we need a new brochure.
- You don’t understand, when I sell, I don’t need to make a lot of sales calls. I go for quality over quantity.
- I don’t have time to train and manage my sales staff. They should know what to do.
- Business just comes to me. I don’t need to look for business.
There are a thousand more excuses.
- What excuses do you hear at your company regarding sales?
- What excuses do you make to yourself about sales?
It doesn’t matter if it’s a good or a bad or somewhere in-between economy to make sales. As a CEO, president or business owner, you just have to worker harder, smarter, more creatively and put in longer hours in order to accomplish your sales goals. As a leader, you cannot think you will fail.
This is what it comes down to:
- If you had an accountant who told you they would have liked to finish the accounting but they didn’t have a pencil.
- Or the production crew didn’t go to the warehouse or storage room for supplies and ran out of production materials which stopped the manufacturing of your company’s number one selling product.
- Or the receptionist decided it was more important to go down the hall to the vending machine for a can of soda pop rather than answer the calls coming in requiring her assistance.
You just wouldn’t stand for it, would you?
Well… Would you?
Yet many CEOs, presidents and business owners often seem to buy all the excuses why their sales force doesn’t sell.
Why is that?
Who’s the boss here – you or your sales people?
Every business day be mindful of all the little, and big, things that happen in your business. Don’t set yourself up to fail because you are not active in your business, including sales.
The sales force was hired to prospect and sell whether sales conditions are ideal or whether it is a tough marketplace. There are just no excuses for not selling.
If business is tough:
- Make more calls.
- Connect and/or network with more people.
- Sharpen your sales technique.
- Be at your first call early in the morning.
- Don’t take two hour lunch breaks.
- Don’t quit in the middle of the day.
- Work a full five day work week.
- Do your paperwork at night or on weekends giving you more selling time during the day.
- Plan your sales strategy.
- Keep the company website up-to-date as well as social media.
If company sales are down:
- Hold a weekly sales meeting to discuss in an open forum ways to get sales coming in again. Sales that will bring long term value and be able to develop solid customer relationships over the years.
- Think out of the box.
- Analyze sales – what works, what doesn’t work.
- Spend time with your sales team on sales calls, cold call with them or visit accounts together, so you have perspective and insight as to what it is like out there right now with the customer.
If sales people aren’t selling, the person to hold responsible is the person who runs the company – YOU.
- Know what your sales people are doing
- Have realistic expectations of performance
Remember:
No matter what, sales people are expected to sell that’s why you hired them. No excuses! Only ideas and discussion on how to conduct business more efficiently and with more sales productivity. Be in ACTION!
It doesn’t matter what you sold yesterday, last week or last month. It only matters what you sell TODAY.
Without sales, your company is doomed for failure.
Now go sell something!
To your success!
Business expert and strategist, Howard Lewinter, guides – focuses – advises CEOs, presidents and business owners throughout the United States across a wide range of industries, to MORE success – MORE profit – less stress. Business people trust Howard’s vast business knowledge, practical advice, intuitive insight and objective perspective to solve business problems and issues. Get MORE from your business! Talk business with Howard: 888-738-1855.