Boost Sales

The question: "When should a growing company slow down its sales function and focus solely on delivery?"

The answer: 'Never!'

When fast growth is the focus of your company, the only constant is that you will always, and I mean always, need more sales. The good news is you can protect yourself against this uncertainty by filling the sales pipeline at all times, no matter how good things get.

Enlarge the Pipeline

A great way to protect your sales future is to increase the expectations of

The question: "When should a growing society slow down its sales function and focus solely on delivery?"

The answer: “Never!”

When fast growth is the focus of your company, the only constant is that you will always, and I mean always, need more sales. It doesn't matter how full the sales pipeline looks, you need more sales. It doesn't matter that you have no idea how you're going to deliver the order you just took, you need more sales. And it doesn’t matter that you're on the books for the next year, you need more sales.

To understand why you must keep selling in the face of expecting income, I will introduce you to “Murphy’s Law” of Sales which states that “whatever doings can be lost, will be lost!” Customers will inverse their mind, end orders, and in some cases just go out of stage directions altogether.

There are numerous snags that can stop your sale formerly it hits rehearsal receivable and unfortunately most are a better place your control. The good news is you can protect yourself in contact with this uncertainty by filling the sales pipeline at all times, no matter how good things get.

Enlarge the Pipeline

A great way to protect your sales future is to increase the expectations of your sales pipeline. If you think you need to put $1 million in the pipeline try moving that number to $2 million. I’m not suggesting that of a sort million dollars worth of sales are going to magically tread the boards just for you updated your Excel spreadsheet. Instead I’m suggesting that you raise the bar on your projections so that you can metabolize the inevitability of losing sales abreast the way. It’s far outstanding to be over prepared.

Spread the responsibility

Because small companies typically cannot endure to hire several salespeople they often rely upon the founder or else single person to do the job for the entire company. The problem with this advent is that there is too much reliance on one person to feed the entire organization. Sometimes people run into a cold streak, get distracted, or just aren't the right fit at the right time. Any one of these factors can cripple your sales pipeline.

Instead of relying on an individual to bear the company’s entire sales load, spread the responsibility cross-grained all members of the organization. A great way to do this is by giving other people in the stock company an opportunity to participate in the sale process as well. form an opinion others to help prepare presentations, give them responsibility for “up-selling” existing customers and ask them to use their professional networks to identify new opportunities.

When you're hot, stay hot

Another mistake growing companies tend to make is holiday their victories and resting in the spoils of sales. You've just won that huge instruction and now you don't have to sell for six months while you rake in the dough, right? Wrong! The worst thing a facility can do when it's hot is to stop selling.

The confidence and positive energy in arrears a big win is a force you cannot possibly replicate with bonuses, moocher meetings or sales team pep rallies. Harness the positive momentum from big sales to make more phone calls, setup more meetings, and restricted more deals. It’s much easier to call that next ward in step with you’ve made a big sale than when you’re on month three of a cold streak.

Keep your sales team in sales, not delivery

Now your winning sales team is landing customers left and right and it's time to start delivering on the promises they made over those expensive dinners. Since the customer naturally expects the sales team to be in length for the delivery, your top salesman should be lengthways for the ride, right? Wrong again.

The sales team is there to sell, not deliver. And any time that they spend servicing your existing customers is time they aren’t spending finding the next customers. As soon as the shoe salesman becomes the troubleshooter he's doing the wrong job. Get your sales team right back into the field as quickly as possible and let the people in your organization responsible for delivery service your customers.

Watch the Horizon

It’s easy to get distracted today with a big win and all the obligations that come with delivery. All of a sudden you need to worry round about staffing, office space, equipment and of course satisfying that customer you just spent all your time wooing.

While you don’t want to miss delivery, you simply can’t vouchsafe to lose sight of the next sale on the horizon, which means it’s time to pick up the phone, schedule a meeting, and compose that next sale. The only thing more important than your last sale is your next sale!

- Wil

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