Strategy
We are all familiar with the phrase - "Fail to Plan - Plan to Fail". If we want our Sales Growth to be driven by what customers buy then we don't need a Sales Action Plan. However if we want our sales team to achieve our company target? Then the company, and the sales person, must map out how they plan to do that with Sales Action Plan's.
If the company is not clear about it's target market, and more importantly how to reach it, then often the sales person is also not. A simple Sales Action Plan can map out the path to both individual and company success.
Client Base
We are always amazed when asked to assist a company's Sales Growth, how many have a "goldmine" of opportunities in a database that they could be working on, now. Do you know:
- Your top tier customers - by revenue, by profit margin?
- When they buy?
- Why they buy from you?
- When their next purchase is, or likely to be?
- Are they reading your emails?
- Are you emailing them?
And a hundred (maybe!) other factors that can influence a client to buy repeatedly from you.
Process
"Do you have all your ducks in a row". Quite a weird phrase but what an important one! It's easy to sell when a customer is buying, which is why Sales Growth happens more in boom times. But ordinarily you can't sell successfully to someone who doesn't need what you have at this time, or does not have a problem for you to solve.
As a salesperson you need to position yourself to be in the "hot" seat when the customer is ready to buy. That is why SALES is hard work! You need to keep track of the process of all your potential sales, both short and long term.
Sales Tools
A "Sales Pipeline" of opportunity is actually a forecast of future Sales Growth but how often does the proverbial hit the fan if sales fail expectations? Too late then, however the information was probably all ready available, but not being collated and in use properly.
Which is why Key Performance Indicators are so important in sales. It's no good bleating when sales fail to meet expectations. Do you know your numbers:
- How many emails produce interest?
- What is a clients future value to you?
- How many phone calls get appointments?
- What is a client's lifetime with you?
- How many appointments get new sales/repeat business?
There's many more (a hundred?). This is what "Sales is a numbers game" means, not the often thought, just see more people to sell more.
"Ducks in a row"
A good Sales manger needs to Train, Coach and Mentor his team but he needs to know his numbers to measure his team's performance and chances of success before failure strikes. Are your processes and tools working for you, non existent or against you? Could your Sales Growth already be in place and just need activating?