TNJ - February 2001 - Finance 2001 -Improving Your Company Sales

Improving Your Company Sales

When it comes to selling, small business owners would probably get a “D” if they were graded, according to Stephan Schiffman, president of D.E.I. Management Group Inc., a sales training company in New York.

They go into business because they want to run a business, not to sell, he said. But if they don’t sell, their profits will stagnate and they will eventually grind to a halt.

Here are tips from Schiffman and other experts on how to boost company’s sales performance:

Devote 65 percent of your time to selling. This sounds absurd because you spend most of your time running the business. But you don’t have a business if you don’t have customers. So hire somebody to do the production work while you sell and pay his salary with the new income. Partner with someone else who can sell, if you don’t want to. Drop the quality of your product or service by 10 percent, cut out a step or hire a less-expensive employee to do the work—then use your time to find new customers. You may lose a few clients who are sticklers for top quality, he said. But you could double your business.

Empower your sales force to close deals on the spot. “Purchases are always best closed when offered,” said Warren Jacobs, a Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) member in Newark, NJ. If they’re not, “it allows the purchaser time to reflect and change his or her mind.” Empowering your sales staff to close deals on the spot sends a positive message that you have confidence in them.

Always say thanks. “Praising good work goes a long way in building confidence and teamwork in any organization,” said Jacobs. “Nobody wants his efforts to go unappreciated and unmentioned. Don’t buy into that old tired theory that if you compliment a person for good performance, he’ll ask for a raise or a higher reward,” he said. “Always, always compliment your sales executive on orders he or she consummates.”

Work your existing customer base. It’s less costly and more efficient. “Many people make a sale, bill it and go on to the next customer,” said marketing consultant Adrienne Zoble of Adrienne Zoble Associates Inc. in New Jersey. Yet it costs only 15 percent of normal marketing expenses to sell to an existing client or customer. You’ve already done the dog-and-pony show, the initial pitch and promotion that eats up 85 percent of marketing dollars and you’ve made the sale. Thus, “they already know how good you are,” she said.

Call inactive clients. Look up clients you haven’t spoken to in four to six months, urged Zoble. Call and say, “ ‘Hi, I haven’t heard from you for a while and just wanted to know how you’re doing.’” You may be at the bottom of their food chain, meaning they’re not thinking about your company. Your telephone call might push them into action and result in a new order. If you don’t call, you can’t be sure that the client will think of you when he needs something, she said. Or there may be a new person on board who doesn’t know your company.

Start selling. People will try new things at least once, said Schiffman. But will they keep buying? Or disappear when their wants or needs have changed or because they’re a business experiencing a downturn?

It’s critical to drum up new business, Schiffman said. “Don’t worry about the product so much as maintaining sales.”

Write to Iris Taylor at P.O. Box 747, Powhatan, VA, 23139. E-mail her at ILTaylor@aol.com.

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