Have you ever noticed all the top 10 lists on magazine covers such as the top 10 beaches in the world. Or the top 10 mistakes people make in financial planning? Or even the top 10 best places for retirement? There is only one reason why businesses fail. That reason is: sales.
Businesses often spend more time and focus on other areas of the business than the core of the business which is: Sales.
Companies instead will concentrate on developing their “brand” or image with printed materials and websites. Management gets caught up in having a “process” for everything. Sales people demand more distinctive business cards and are worried about expense accounts.
The one key business strategy CEOs, presidents and business owners can never lose sight of is: sales.
Is your company bringing in enough sales to reach its goals?
When business gets tough CEOs, presidents and business owners often consider laying people off, cutting expenses, maybe even setting a policy on reducing the use of the copier.
But how much time is spent on:
- Looking at the company’s sales cycle and sales methods
- How sales people are trained or how up-to-date the sales team is
- Considering to actually hire additional sales and customer service staff?
Most business people when asked how many sales calls the sales team made don’t have the information easily available. Somehow the sales force has convinced them that filling out a daily report is micro-managing them. How dare the CEO, president or owner of the company ask sales people what they do each day to create business!
Sales people will say things like: ‘I don’t do quantity, I do quality’. Which translates into: ‘I worked 2-3 hours today and spent a great deal of time at the coffee shop with other sales people bragging about our sales triumphs’.
Sales management should be tracking prospect calls, sales calls, and sales results on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. If times are slower than normal at your company it becomes more critical to know what the sales force is doing.
- Hold weekly sales meetings.
- Call sales people during day when they may be in the car between appointments or doing paperwork.
- Make sales people accountable.
The job title is: sales. Not excuses.
- Sales people may have to double, even triple, their sales efforts to reach sales goals
- Read a few books on sales, listen to audio CDs or downloads while in the car
- Attend seminars to sharpen up sales techniques.
Your sales team needs to be professional sales people. The best you can hire.
If you want your sales department to succeed, which in turn means the company succeeds, you need to become the consummate professional sales manager as a CEO, president or business owner. Even if you have a sales manager, you still need to supervise the sales department.
Sales people should be selling the customer. Not selling you on why they aren’t selling.
In sales, there are no excuses.
The company’s very survival depends on what your sales people are doing.
Don’t let your business fail because of lack of sales!
To your success!
Want to increase sales at your business? Talk with Howard! – 888-738-1855 – Howard Lewinter guides – focuses – advises CEOs, presidents and business owners to MORE success – MORE profit – less stress.