Previously sales were relatively easy to come by, businesses worldwide were employing sales people by the day, almost regardless of their skills and knowledge. Companies just wanted to take advantage of the market growth so they went on mass recruitment drives, and because our economies were booming these sales people normally performed sufficiently enough to get sales and keep their jobs.
Today the landscape is very different, the sales people who perform averagely have fallen by the wayside and only the strong ones have survived. Sales people are often seen as a business expense and a cost that is often not justified by the accountants, therefore in harder times sales people and sales support (customer service) are often cut to reduce costs, which is always a big mistake. What companies should do is train and invest in their sales team as they are the only people who can bring the company out of the economic trough.
In this climate:
1. there are fewer customers
2. customers are ordering fewer units, and
3. customers want to pay less per unit
All of these factors result in less new business opportunities and ultimately less revenue in your pocket. So what do you need today to be a successful sales person and survive in these hard times... You need a sales strategy. This sounds simple but it is actually complex and time consuming to develop a strong sales strategy, but you must have one, all companies must have one, if you are a sales person and your company does not have a sales strategy, then develop your own!
There are a number of steps that must be taken in developing a sales strategy and they must be followed in a systematic order. You need to do the following:
- Assess your business - What is it's size, what are its core competences, what markets do you operate in, what are your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, what are your limitations, and so on.
- Know your competitors - Who are they, what do they do, what works for them, who are their customers, and so on...
- Who are you going to target, why, when, how and so on
Working through this process is critical to ensure you work effectively and efficiently as a sales person. You do not want to be spending 12 months winning a customer that only delivers $200,000 to the company bottom line, when you could spend 1 month winning one that delivers $100,000 to the bottom line - not to mention you commission.
Sales people need to think strategically, have a sales plan, engage other stakeholders in the business - only then will they be successful, safe guard their jobs, fast track their careers, add value to the business and earn more money.
