Not so many years ago, ‘Sales’ was at the forefront of every business. A company had ‘Sales Targets’ and these were understood at every level from the most junior sales person to the MD. The bigger companies had a Sales Director whose sole mission was to manage the sales people and to achieve the targets which had been set at the beginning of the sales year.
Whether it is a ‘one person’ business, or a ‘company’ with premises and staff, the principles of good effective selling remain the same. With the capabilities of the internet, more leads, and contacts can be made, but good sales techniques remain the same.
In so many medium and small businesses, the company is managed and led by someone who had no specific sales experience. In the early years of so many businesses, there is enough business and margins to get some sales, but when new sales and customers are required, due to tough market conditions or rising costs, there was no basic understanding of the traditional sales process. And the business stops growing.
So many small businesses do not understand the basics of the sales process, whether it is B2C or B2B, many assuming that ‘marketing’ will produce new sales. The sales process includes defining sales targets, defining the specific prospects for the products or services, and creating a marking and sales process to contact these prospects and qualify them as prospects. ( a prospect is one who acknowledges that he has the need for, or interest in, the product or service, and has the authority to order the product or service),
The idea that having a good looking web site and swamping the social media channels with posts, only works for a very small number of companies.
For a business to achieve targetted sales figures, it is essential to have a working business plan, and within that plan, details of the marketing and sales processes and actions.
And to clarify, ‘marketing’ should be used by sales to support the sales process, to achieve business targets.
The author of his article has a successful sales and sales training background at corporate and small business and startup levels.
Startup Assist UK is starting a series of webinars introducing the Principles of Selling. First in on Friday 9th June 12.30 – 1.30 pm. Link to register: https://bit.ly/3IGSDtG All welcome to attend.
For more information on improving your company’s sales process and effectiveness, email info@startupassist.uk
Posted by Startup Assist UK – Providing 1-2-1 support for UK Startup and SME businesses.