Have you ever stopped to consider a prospect’s view of your firm? Their first contact is usually with Sales. So it is of critical importance who is selling your product.
Start ups and those who have been in business awhile have different issues.
In a start up, I’ve heard a few owners/bottle washers say there was no one else to sell. Just the first employee/owner.
We can all sell; we are all born with selling skills, right? Well, as one industry insider reminded me, keep in mind there is a range of selling skills – from nothing to everything.
If you are selling, then how effective are you? Monitor your sales pipeline, which is the four or five stages of leads as they progress from an unqualified lead to a sale. Analyze the pipeline for accomplishments and areas to improve.
If you haven’t sold before, I’d suggest taking a credible course or at the very least reading a book on selling. One of my favorites is Strategic Selling by Robert Miller, et al.
In a longer running company, you will likely have sales managers or representatives. Be sure to assess their impact on the customers. Do customers like the sales rep? Is there respect and rapport? One way to judge this is to go on sales calls, mingle with customers. Always stay close to your customers.
Take a look at the selling skills of your rep. Is s/he able to close sales? Here s/he needs to read the buying signals and ask for the sale. This takes courage, which not all nice folks have. One way to monitor this is taking a look at the number of new sales the rep closes.
In all companies, the selling skills of the people selling the product are critical to success.
For more resources, see the Library topic Business Development.
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Tove Rasmussen, of Partners Creating Wealth, offers business expertise worldwide to help organizations grow, and disadvantaged regions thrive.
Photo credit: Valerie Everett
Tove Rasmussen, MBA, has strong background in growing small and medium-sized companies through developing and implementing effective marketing strategies, developing leaders, and expanding in emerging markets. She is educated in international development & business with strong experience in all facets of business, including over 20 years experience growing companies with up to multi-million dollar budgets.