I’ve wanted to address this sales question for years. Up until now, I’ve always lacked the right perspective or “my” answer. But now I found it. No, that’s not a 10…
The most important thing in sales is the ability to continuously execute a given sales process and systematically learn from the results. This opens up opportunities for improvement and, over time, allows businesses to acquire the right customers in a more targeted way.
the job of sales
The lines between marketing, sales, and sales are often blurred. I also wrote another article on this topic. “How are marketing and sales related?” I’m looking specifically for the boundaries of responsibility for small and medium-sized businesses. So let me explain it briefly.
The operational task of marketing, or branding, is to make the company and its services known and to search for potential buyers in the market.
The sales function satisfies this interest. Right now, I’m only thinking about organized sales activities. (In reality, there is also a “logistical element of logistics” that is closely related to sales.) Therefore, it is the salesperson’s job to convert prospects into customers.
For me, sales is a concrete situation where a salesperson (or a technical representative like a website) and a customer come together. In other words, the moment a single prospect becomes a customer.
Remember also about marketing funnels and sales funnels. By the way, in real life it doesn’t matter what you call it. This is a model that requires you to adapt to the situation in order to do your job better.
What matters most to your company
When we look at the role of businesses in our society, we see that every business has a purpose. No, it’s not a benefit to the owner. Customers aren’t coming in and giving the company money, so the return on equity is where it should be. On the contrary, customers have no interest in whether the company is profitable or not.
If you don’t have value for your customers, you won’t survive. (Of course, the material must be used up before going bankrupt.) Pursuing this idea further, companies will need to:
- You must constantly adapt to changing customer requirements and market conditions.
- There is no 100% guaranteed path to success, only what works for you today (and may not be necessary tomorrow).
- As customer requirements, service scope, and markets change, sales must change as well.
Selling as a standardized process
For me, the wisest approach based on the task at hand is to approach sales systematically. In my opinion, that means actually creating a system.
For each target group, you need to find a process to turn prospects into actual customers. Generally, this will always include “similar stations” (though not necessarily in the same order).
This standard exists individually for every company and is the basis for successful sales. My own experience has shown that hard-working salespeople with slightly below-average sales ability are more successful in the long run than lazy salespeople with above-average sales ability. I know this because at the beginning of my professional life, I belonged to his second category…
The role of indicators in sales
Standardized processes allow you to do things that wouldn’t otherwise work.you can measure what works And what isn’t.
Key figures allow you to confirm sales success and monitor whether the achieved level of performance is maintained. This will serve as the basis for future adjustments. You cannot learn through unsystematic sales or “random” distribution…
Adjusting the sales process
Let’s assume you know the following about your sales operations:
- There are three levels: general interest, specific interest in purchasing, and customer.
- On average, 20% of typical prospects are interested in making a specific purchase.
- Typically, 40% of potential buyers will also buy from you.
And now, one morning, I realized that my assignment changed last month. They have deteriorated significantly. You immediately start looking for the cause. Was it a poor performance? Are your marketing channels still working? Are there new competitors with better offers? And so on…
Now let’s say you haven’t determined these key numbers.
You are effectively flying blind. I’m not even sure if I need to adjust the process or if there is a seasonal effect. Of course, you will feel a “dull intuition”. But is it the right basis for successful sales?
The most important thing in business
For me, the most important thing in sales is standardizing processes. Only then will you be able to systematically determine key figures and check whether your operational actions are having the desired effect.
And only after confirming this can you adjust your sales and adapt your company to what is happening in the market.
By the way, you can read more about this in the article “How to promote a small business?” Here you can find out how to create such a sales process in your company.
As always, if you want to change the subject, we recommend selecting “Strategy” first. Our articles “Why is business strategy important?” and “How to become a good strategist?” are fairly short introductions.
Of course, there are also more “practical” topics like “10 things you can do as an entrepreneur during inflation” 😉.
Stay focused, stay lean, and work hard. Remember that there is more to life than work.
Andre