It’s all about sales so focus on your process and win more business.

It’s all about sales so focus on your process and win more business and why do people buy? In almost all cases, emotion plays a huge part in deciding what and why people buy. Desire for gain or fear of loss are the key drivers and if your sales team members have not been trained in the psychology of why and how people buy, then you are at a serious disadvantage.

Think of what happened in the recent past. Good times always felt like they would last forever…sales-people were in fact “order-takers” and, if you were honest, you’d agree that many sales came without too much effort.

However, there will always come a time when clients might be harder to find. The global financial crisis and its consequences showed that when an economy sours, firms without robust processes tend to founder. Falling sales is a typical sign.Firms can reduce the effect of external conditions by working out where future sales will come from and how to win them. As Wayne Gretsky, the great ice-hockey player once said, “go to where the puck is going to be, not chase it”.

It’s all about sales and understanding the process

Understanding the sales process and applying it is key. Building a sales pipeline lets you track potential clients from the first point of contact through to a completed sale and beyond. A properly developed sales pipeline will define how many sales you aim to close in a month, quarter or year. “What gets measured, gets done” and it is not measured, human nature will allow people off the hook. Looking back at your track record you can then make forecasts about the number of sales and the following revenue and profit you will generate. In other words, it helps you measure performance…and measurement is a critical success factor.

A sales pipeline will reveal interesting facts about the skills of your sales team. A salesperson might be great at finding new customers but terrible at closing the sale; another might take twice as long to close as his or her colleagues. All salespeople need to undergo continuous training to help them improve problem areas. Why not hire someone with complementary skills to your existing team.

There are probably natural “finders” OR “grinders” OR “minders” in your sales team but rarely will you find all three in the one person. So how can you help your sales team? The more information your sales pipeline delivers, the more tightly you can focus on chasing the most profitable sales.

It’s all about sales and monitoring the pipeline

Monitoring the pipeline can enforce discipline in the sales process and find more sales from existing clients, which is often easier than acquiring new ones. Analysing the reasons for losing a sale can help you understand which questions will lead to a win. Studying sales as they progress through a pipeline will show that not all sales are equal.

Larger deals often take as much time to win as smaller ones so don’t forget to also “fish for whales”. Knowledge is king…so knowing the cost of making a sale is important in finding out how much profit you made in each sale. The more information your sales pipeline delivers, the more tightly you can focus on chasing the most profitable sales. Then you can hand your sales team a detailed picture of your ideal client, where to find them and how to convince them to say yes. For more on our sales program please CLICK HERE

What is Strategic Planning Anyway

What is Strategic Planning anyway …Glazed eyes, blank expressions and fluffy answers are often the responses when I ask executives of fairly significant-sized businesses about their strategic plan and whether I could review a copy.

You see most business owners and managers I come across are generally so tied up with day to day operational activities that they simply have little or no time to consider the strategic direction in which their business could and should move. To their credit, the majority of business owners, with the support of their accountants, bankers and other professionals, have a fairly good idea about what’s going on and how to run their activities.

Strategic Planning Business Advisers

But, Mr. Accountant, with all that training and expertise, can you provide any guidance about what I should do about the future? Can you point me in the direction of where we are going to spend the rest of our business lives and careers? Business advisers have key role to play here; so why is it that so many businesses fail to commit any time to such an important aspect? I mean if you were journeying from, say, San Francisco to Washington, had never been on that road before and had no idea where it was, the first thing you’d probably do is ask others…buy a road map and follow logic.

You’d also take a look at the general direction you’d be traveling, the time it was going to take, the stops along the way, where you’d expect to be in one or two hours and so on. Otherwise you could leave San Fran and take any road you wished…and keep driving…forever and ever. Turn right, turn left, reverse, do the odd circle…do what you like in fact and be almost guaranteed of getting lost in the process.

Strategic thinking and strategic planning is not unlike the journey I have just described. It benefits teams and firms by setting out a clear map, a clear directional plan to take the business to the place to where they’ve agreed as their destination.

Make the Decision to Engage in Strategic Planning

Making the decision to engage in a strategic planning process will radically change your firm resulting in significant benefits accruing for all stakeholders. Strategy setting is one of the most powerful management techniques and has the potential to generate significant long term benefits for businesses. It provides clarity and a sense of direction.

Where are you going?What direction will allow you to reach your goals? Do you need help?
At The Discovery Partnership Ltd we help our clients to create and realise long term objectives.

We will help you to facilitate positive change and maximise your potential when you make the decision to engage in Stategic Planning