Many great innovators can struggle to get their business ideas off the ground because they fail to reach their intended markets. Similarly, many businesses that work in highly competitive markets can gain an edge by engaging new customers through a robust and imaginative sales strategy.

Whether you operate in a crowded marketplace or provide niche products and services you will always need to generate income through sales activities. Often the businesses that see the highest growth, even in difficult market conditions, are those that really focus on and nurture a strong sales culture.

How can I increase my sales performance?

Many businesses with strong sales performance can attribute their success to a complementary and evenly balanced relationship between the sales and marketing functions. Marketing talks to your prospective customer base; the sales team turn that prospective customer into a key account.

It is important to cultivate a sales culture throughout the business. All members of the team, including those that aren’t actively involved in the sales process, should be sales savvy, to ensure that all potential opportunities are maximised.

What makes a good sales person?

The two key elements to effective sales are:

• Being able to build relationships
• Being able to secure a commitment, i.e. the sale

In order to do both you must know your market, your customers and how your business will provide a valued product or service to them. Effective salespeople need to be very organised, possess good communication skills and the ability to overcome resistance. Whether you are looking to recruit new sales staff or develop an existing team, knowing where to look for support, training and development is important. There are lots of ‘Sales People’ out there, but not quite as many people that can actually sell.

What is a sales strategy?

Having a clear sales strategy is the key to the success of any business. A sales strategy focuses on four key actions:

• exploring what your business needs to achieve through sales activities
• defining the value that prospective customers will take from your products or services
• understanding who your prospective customers are
• planning your approach to enable you to reach your business goals

Avoiding the pitfalls of developing a sales strategy

Your sales strategy should always be challenging but not unrealistic and it’s a good idea to benchmark your strategy by analysing the previous year’s activity. You also need to think realistically; after all, a sales person can only make so many visits or phone calls per week. Always consider factors that could affect your business such as seasonality or declining markets. Although you may need to re-visit your strategy, try to avoid too many re-forecasts as it can often distract you from other critical tasks. Always seek feedback on your sales strategy and do welcome challenges and input from sales teams or other senior members of the business.

The dangers of not having a strategy

The old saying ‘throw enough mud at the wall and hopefully something will stick’ springs to mind. If you refer to Vilfredo Pareto’s 80:20 principles, 80% of unfocussed activity will typically only generate 20% of the desired results. Not having a sales strategy is a little like going on a journey but not knowing what the destination is, not knowing when you’ve reached it, and not having a map or satellite navigation system to guide you there!

A common factor in the success of a high growth business is the ability to sell well.
Generating income is the core objective for your business success and the sales function should be valued and nurtured throughout the company. Without it your business can stagnate or even move into decline.

The Business Growth Hub can help you to access specialist services and assistance designed to help you to develop your sales staff and strategy and to generate income