However good your product, service or company reputation is, the quote, “Nothing happens until we sell something!” usually applies. Not only do sales pay the bills and salaries, they create profit to invest for future growth and return on investment for owners/investors. So, sales are critically important to business survival, let alone success, especially in the context of rising costs and diminishing profitability. However, some concerning trends have been noticed. 

In some companies, sales activity has diminished; in particular, there seems to be an over-reliance on expensive marketing which isn’t producing what many would regard as a regular supply of quality leads. In some cases, it’s almost as if the most critical part of selling has been outsourced and it’s now “SER” – someone else’s responsibility – leaving the company watching costs rise whilst waiting for an enquiry to arrive. 

In other companies, sales is something that’s been shared out amongst a few key people who, in truth, have little desire or intent to spend much time selling compared to doing their “proper job” and are only re-active at best. Success is often patchy recognising that the depth of sales understanding and skill will be limited unless it is someone’s full-time profession.  

With the end of the year approaching fast, it’s certainly time for at least a sales review, if not a change. On the basis that most companies would prefer to be in charge of their own destiny, you might find the following 10 questions helpful in starting to pinpoint areas of concern and potential improvement:   

1. Who is actually responsible (and accountable) for selling what to whom, where, how and by when?
2. Is ownership, responsibility and accountability clear? 
3. Have the specifics of personal sales activities and results been discussed, agreed and confirmed? 
4. Are both sales activity and results being monitored and recorded at least monthly?
5. Is informal, supportive coaching being provided to those who are underperforming?
6. Who is in control of the sales process when an opportunity arises – you or your prospect/customer?
7. Is your sales pipeline as full as you would like and are those opportunities realistic?
8. Has the person in charge of sales ever been formally trained in sales management?
9. Have those responsible for sales ever been provided with the “tools to do the job” through formal sales training?
10. Do they receive the equivalent of an “Annual MOT & Service” to keep them tuned up?

So, how could Auricas help you? Based on over 40 years’ experience and expertise in helping companies to produce a measurable increase in sales performance, Auricas can offer opinion, advice, ideas and options through our training and consultancy services. We work at three levels and would be delighted to provide you with more information:

• Strategic – Helping to ensure a common understanding and agreement to what do we want to sell (and why), to whom, where, by when and, in particular, how will we do that? 
• Execution – Helping to identify and increase the necessary sales activities required to improve the chance of sales success and helping to identify those willing and able to do what the job of selling requires?
• Management – Helping to guide/mentor the key person in a company who has overall responsibility for sales in what’s necessary to help ensure those executing sales activities are performing to the required standards and producing the required results.      

We are also prepared to conduct a limited number of initial sales team analyses free of charge and obligation. This could help you to identify opportunities for improvement and to see if there is a good fit between your needs and our expertise. Please take advantage and get in touch by email: info@auricas.com