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In many cases, the president of the company either is the sales force, or plays sales manager along with the rest of his responsibilities. If you find yourself in this position, it's a tough role. But there are a few things you can do to ensure you don't experience the "waves of sales" -- swings between big revenue one month and a drought the next. There are a few fundamentals that can be executed to improve sales in any situation.
Sales management is the linchpin (or weak link) in any organization. In great organizations, there are great sales leaders who are executing in the following areas:
1. A written marketing plan. The should include at least two activities per month, for a rolling six months.Then execute that plan.
2. If you have a sales team, spend one hour each quarter scheduling dates and times for your sales training meetings. Topics should include sales skills, product and service training, and company operations. Then assign each salesperson the responsibility for accomplishing the training. Read two sales training books a year.
3. Find a partner. No matter what size firm you have, find what I call a "business ecosystem partner" -- another business that sells a non-competing but related product or service in the market segment you serve. Create joint marketing plans, cross-train your sales teams, and seek ways to leverage your customer base.
4. Display your top 10 sales opportunities. Keep your eyes and mind focused on sales. Put a sign up: "What can I do today to sell something?"
5. Recruit for salespeople all the time. Remember, the best salesperson maybe not be looking for a job when you decide to hire. Recruiting is your marketing plan for growth. You should be advertising every 60 days, whether you are hiring or not. (By the way, don't place your ads in a help wanted section.)
6. Find your recipe. As a person who owns 150 cookbooks, I believe there is a recipe for building a business. How many proposals or quotes per month, and per week, do you generate, relative to the number of orders you receive? What is the timeline between proposals and orders? What must a salesperson do to eventually generate a proposal? What other sales activities should you be engaging in? Measure these and then graph them against your sales curve.
7. Know your ABC's. Generally, 65 percent of your profits come from 20 percent of your clients. These are the "A" customers. The Bs make up another 20 percent, and they generate 20 percent of your profits. Together, that means 40 percent of your clients create 85 percent of your business. Analyze these two segments. Determine what characteristics they have in common: Revenue? Number of employees? Type of business? Other factors? Then market to and focus your sales efforts on similar organizations.
8. Public relations. Nurture your local business writers and editors of magazines, newsletters, and industry websites. Build awareness of your organization and services.
9. Build a network. Meet at least one person a week who can improve your market position, introduce you to other prospects ,or teach you something. Join a peer group and improve your overall business acumen.
10. This one is up to you. What are your thoughts and best recommendations?
This list is short, but if you build a balanced plan that addresses these fundamentals and executes on them, you will begin to accelerate your business and find revenue growth will be smooth sailing. If you would like a free white paper: "The Job of Sales Management: The top 40 actions sales leaders must take for predictable revenue" simply go to my web site and download it.
Reach out to Ken HERE Check out Ken Thoreson's website: www.Acumenmanagement.com and his blog www.SalesManagementGuru.com. You can also follow him on twitter: www.Twitter.com/KenThoreson
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