Do any of these sound familiar?

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"Sales aren't where they should be, but I'm not sure which direction to go. . ."

"How can I generate more sales from existing customers?"

"How can I generate more new customers?"

"I don't have the right people. . ."

"We tried that and it doesn't work, now what?"

"I don't have enough money to grow as fast as I want. . ."

 
"SALES AREN'T WHERE THEY SHOULD BE, BUT I'M NOT SURE WHICH DIRECTION TO GO. . ."
You need to take a step back and do some homework. You probably have several ideas regarding what needs to be done to crank sales back up. However, you don't have the time or money to try everything. Doing some homework will help point you in the right direction.  

"Homework" in this case is going out and talking with your customers, and in some cases, prospects. My experience is that when an owner starts to feel like his or her sales should be higher but aren't sure how to change things, their marketing is starting to wear out

That is, their marketing is falling out of sync with their target market. When's the last time you changed your positioning? Message? Distribution channel? If it's been a while for any or all of those elements, your marketing may be aimed at where your customers were, not where they now are.  

How to do your homework? Sit down either in person or on the telephone and ask your customers questions. About them. Don't ask how you can sell more to them. Ask about them. Remember, they don't care about you, they care about them. In doing so you will get clues to how you can be of more service to them and how you can sell more to them.  

Ask:

• What's going on in their market, with their customers? What kind of pressures or opportunities are they faced with?
   

• What are they doing about all that? What are their plans or focus for this year? Downsizing? On a growth spurt?
   

• Is anything happening specifically around how they use your product or service?
   

• How can a vendor like you help them right now?
   

• What criteria did they use when selecting you as their vendor?
   

• How would they expect to hear or learn about a new vendor such as you?
   

• What is important to them, right now, about your product or service?
   

• How would they suggest you let more people like themselves know about your company?

Best case, your customers will tell you how to change your current marketing approach. Worst case, they will give you clues that will suggest what changes can be made. Ask. Listen. You will be pleasantly surprised with what you learn and the changes you can make.


"HOW CAN I GENERATE MORE SALES FROM EXISTING CUSTOMERS?"
ADD TO YOUR PRODUCT LINE. Expand the types of products you sell. Sell janitorial services? Add plant care. Sell office supplies? Add office furniture or printing (broker for other printers, you don't have to become a printer). Sell time management training? Add management or computer training. Add service and repair to your offering. Add leasing or rental.  

SELL TO DIFFERENT AREAS INSIDE THE COMPANY. Where else inside the company do they use your products? Ask for an introduction from your current contacts.  

DO YOUR HOMEWORK. If you could read the business plans of your customers, from cover to cover, you would know exactly how you could help them reach their objectives. And as a result, sell them more.  

If you could sit with the presidents of your customers for two hours and ask lots of questions like" What are your biggest problems?"," What are your priority projects for improving the company?"," What are this year's goals and objectives?"

you would know exactly how you could help them reach their objectives. And as a result, sell them more.  

You probably can't read their business plans, but you probably can sit with at least some presidents. If not, sit down with somebody in the company who knows what's going on. Ask questions about them. Don't ask how you can be of more service, how you can sell more to them or how you you you you. Ask about them. Remember, they don't care about you, they care about them. In doing so you will get clues to how you can be of more service to them and how you can sell more to them.  

Are they squeezed for cash and focusing on trimming expenses this year? How can you help them do that? Trim the inventory of your products on hand but order more often? Reduce the number of vendors supplying your product, order more from you and gain volume discounts? Sign a long-term contract for your services so that you may lower your hourly rate? Are they on a growth binge? What else can you sell them so they don't have to spend time sourcing other vendors? How can you take time or responsibility off their shoulders, making their jobs easier?  

Ask.  Listen.  If you can solve problems for them you can sell to them.  Be creative with your solutions and watch what happens.


"HOW CAN I GENERATE MORE NEW CUSTOMERS?"
To generate more new customers you need to increase the number of prospects you contact and the number of times you contact them. While that may sound too simplistic to be valuable, it may be the most important piece of advice on this site.  

Yes, the message must be right and the methods you use need to be right. But too often, in businesses where sales are flat they are not contacting enough prospects and/or they are not contacting them often enough. With direct mail, for example, I've seen mailings fail when 500 or 1,000 companies are sent to, and succeed (make a profit) when nothing changes but the quantity (sending to 5,000). By increasing the quantity you increase the probability of hitting companies with a need for your product at the time they receive the mailing.  

You can also increase the probability of hitting companies with a need for your product at the time they receive the mailing by sending to them more often. You are proof of this. Think back to the last time you made an important purchase for your company. Let's say you bought a more powerful server this week. If a company selling servers would have mailed to you six months ago you may have thrown the information out. Maybe thrown it out three months ago or even two months ago. You see my point. Things change. Plus, many people often need to see something from you several times before they become comfortable enough to respond.  

Change nothing else you do but contact more prospects more often and your business will grow.  


"I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE. . ."
I am NOT a human relations expert by training or experience. I have, however, seen many, many situations where owners complain about their people's lack of initiative or skill or the lack of results they produce. With good reason. If this sounds familiar for you, I will tell you what I tell those owners. First, who hired these people and can you fire that person? Generally, that person is you, and you probably don't want to fire yourself. So, that leaves some options: change the way you hire people; change the way you train people (or for most owners, start training people); change the way you delegate and manage people; or all three. I'm very good at marketing. I'm a lousy manager. I had to change all three. Most of the time, the problem is not the people, it's the owner. Most owners are owners because they're a terrific engineer or lawyer or whatever or they have more drive than most or they're a terrific salesperson - not because they are a great manager. My best advice is to find someone who can give you objectivity regarding what's going on with you and your people. I have used Hunter Stuart (www.coach-stuart.com) and Charles Schaul (www.sixpillars.com) and can recommend both.  

Finding good people and helping them do more and more for you is the only way you're going to start getting the monkeys off your back and stop working 60 hours a week. For many people (like me) it is the toughest thing you can do. And also the best thing you can do for your business.


"WE TRIED ________________ AND IT DOESN'T WORK, NOW WHAT?" (FILL IN BLANK WITH DIRECT MAIL, ADVERTISING, TRADE SHOWS, WHATEVER).
Too many owners try a form of marketing, it doesn't work, and they pronounce "That doesn't work for us" and never try it again. A more accurate statement is "That doesn't work the way we did it" . Typically, parts of what you did were right and parts were wrong. The goal is to change what didn't work and try again.  

I hear literally dozens of times each year Direct mail doesn't work from owners of every size and type of company. When I ask them to show me the mailing, who they send to, how many they sent, how often they sent and what the offer was I invariably get the good, the bad and the ugly (things they did right, things that can be improved and things that completely assured the failure of the mailing from the start). I've seen $100,000 software systems look like they're not worth $1,000 because of the design and writing in the mailing piece. I've seen a frame shop send to every home in a zip code when 60% of their sales come from people who just moved in. I've seen far too many companies send to 500 prospects when 5,000 would have given them the results they needed. I've seen owners disappointed with a new product mailing when people need multiple exposures to a new product or new idea before they're comfortable enough to take some kind of action. And I've seen mailings asking the recipient to place an order when much more time and information is needed to make a decision.  

In each case, everything else about the mailing could be right, but by doing the one thing wrong, the mailing failed to make money. Marketing is process. Assess all the elements of what you do, fix what's broken, and try it again.


"I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO GROW AS FAST AS I WANT. . ." TOUGH. I've never met an owner yet who feels he or she has enough cash to do everything he or she wants to do. Ever. So, get used to it, get over it. Focus on spending what money you do have on the things what will do you the most good.  

YOU CAN FIND MONEY IN SOME OF THE STRANGEST PLACES. I won't talk about banks here - if you're reading this you either can't get a loan or your credit line is fully drawn down. I won't talk about relatives. You don't want Uncle Harry's money because he will inevitably have a friend or nephew who would be perfect for your business (who isn't perfect for your business).  

Can you reduce your inventory without hurting sales? A 30% reduction in a $500,000 inventory translates into $150,000 cash. Especially if the inventory isn't turning. Get rid of it! Even if you have to take a paper loss, get the cash out of it. If retailers sat on their inventory as long as some owners I've seen, they'd be out of business.  

Can you reduce your overhead? Challenge your assumptions about what you can and cannot do and what you need and don't need. Do you need all the space you're in, all the people you have, all the equipment you operate? Your landlord may have a smaller space you can move to (extend the term of your lease to make up the difference) or rent some of your space to a vendor.  

Do you have any proprietary knowledge or patented/trademarked products you can license? Should you partnership with another person or company who/that can bring money to the table? Can you negotiate net 10 or COD terms with your customers (that's not so silly, what can you offer that would make paying you quicker more attractive?)?

When was the last time your marketing had a Check-Up?