Is It Time to Re-Think the Sales Approach?

Sales, sales, sales. Everybody wants more sales and some manage to get more sales than others. The secret sauce is … that there probably isn’t a secret sauce. By that I mean there are many ways to increase your business, not just one surefire thing. For example, just when you think that pounding the phone and getting in front of people is old school and ineffective, I run into a sales team that thrives by doing this. Then the next day I see a sales team that relies on content marketing and inbound lead generation to drive leads into a sales team that is ready to answer questions and close deals. Two ends of the spectrum.

Here are a few of the issues and questions that sales leaders face every day:

1. It’s hard to find good sales reps, experienced or not that want to be in this business.
2. What should the role of todays’ sales rep be? What activities do they need to focus on to be relevant today?
3. What are you looking for – transactions or accounts?
4. What should the role of lead generation and outbound marketing be to drive sales?
5. Does dialing for dollars still work?
6. How can the team concept of lead gen, inside account managers and account closers work for your business?
7. How do you cover the sales cost for all of this, and how do you use sales compensation to help drive the effort?
8. Understand the changing ways that clients want to interact with sales – both from a new business perspective as well as client retention. How do your clients buy and how does that effect the roles of the print rep?

These are real issues, issues that drive the decisions of sales leaders as they try to build their business. Recruiting sales people is one of the top issues I hear leaders discuss and it’s frustrating for most. In the Here’s How to Find Your Next Hire, I wrote about the value of making your company the employer of choice. That’s just one area that you should review and make sure you’ve done as much as you can. I’ll tackle some of these other issues in upcoming posts. Good luck and keep at it.

Mike Philie can help validate what’s working and what may need to change in your business. Changing the trajectory of a business is difficult to do while simultaneously operating the core competencies. Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry by providing direct and realistic assessments, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach. Learn more at www.philiegroup.com, LinkedIn or email at mphilie@philiegroup.com.