Sales isn’t about emotion. It’s activity!
My clients’ are like many business owners. They are excited about the service or product they deliver. They dream of being able to deliver that product or service all the time. They become nervous when they don’t have the customers they were hoping for and then they become scared as they realize their biggest problem is sales and marketing. How will they drive revenue so they can create the business they have been dreaming of? They experience real fear, real pain, and a complete lack of knowledge about what they should be doing next. Sometimes they talk to friends who are successful, sometimes they read a book, sometimes they hire a coach. Sometimes these are effective, but the current statistics on business failures (the small business association reports over 50% fail in the first 5 years) show that putting an effective and profitable business together is challenging work.
I know that many small business owners are afraid of sales and marketing. They are too slow to get their marketing together, and they mistake marketing material for sales. In the busy life of an entrepreneur, sales and marketing activities are a zero sum game. That means that time given to one takes away time from the other. Both sales and marketing need to be part of an overall business building strategy that is well thought out and effective.
I have also noticed that people internalize sales and marketing pain in a way they don’t with other challenges. I can’t count the times a business owner has said to me, “I don’t know why I am not more successful. Maybe I am supposed to fail.”
WHAT? Are you kidding me? You are failing because you lack the knowledge you need to be successful in sales. You don’t have a plan and you aren’t following through with the activities that will drive business opportunity. OK, so that wasn’t the most supportive coach-like behaviour on my part, but I do not believe that helping people “feel” better is the answer to a sales problem. It is strategic planning in the area of sales. It is creating a marketing and sales strategy that drives business that is tested over time.
I have been working with business owners and entrepreneurs almost since the beginning of my career as a coach and organizational strategist. They hired me because they perceived me to have something they didn’t. They saw me as someone who had been successful in sales and marketing and they craved success in these areas. Sales and marketing aren’t innate skills, they are learn-able skills! Anyone can learn to put sales and marketing strategy in place and then try it out. If it works, keep doing it. If it doesn’t work, try a new strategy.
Put a marketing strategy in place. Follow the strategy through until you are ready to evaluate the strategy and see if it worked. Use your sales strategy to close the business your marketing is bringing in. That is what marketing and sales are all about.
Of course, it may make sense to get some help with all of this. If you would like to speak with me about your sales strategy, I would love to talk with you. To schedule a time for your free sales strategy session, click here. Type “free session” in the big box.
I look forward to learning about you and your business!
Melanie Parish
Organizational Strategist and Coach
