Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Added for You - What to Do When You Hit the Invisible Sales Revenue Ceiling
This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a dear friend. His business wasn’t generating all the income he needed. He’s exhausted all savings, started depleting credit card reserves and badly needed money to pay this month’s mortgage... Ouch! I wish I knew sooner...Whether it’s pride or just human nature that keeps professionals from asking for help sooner, it’s just plain silly to keep “toughing it out” when there are so many strategies for generating new business fast.You see, there is
They failed to develop practices and processes that allow an individual to identify, train to and measure their own competencies and performance m
An effective framework for differentiating a business’s value should start with a powerful positioning statement: a memorable, impactful, concise sentence that tells people what you do, how you are different and what value you will provide to them. If your salespeople are not able to deliver this top-line sales pitch - and have the recipient understand it in the time it takes to go up two flights on an elevator - it is not effective and needs to be redeveloped.In the instance where the elevator gets stuck
If you have, then you know how frustrating it can feel
You may even spike above this ceiling periodically. But, like water seeking its own level, your revenue results seek a sub-par level.
I once walked into a situation much like this. I assumed the position of Vice President in a relatively young company. I was immediately tasked with making the changes needed to solve the revenue problem.
The company, after nearly 2 years of business-to-business selling of their service, had met only 40% of their revenue expectations.
Finance told me they were "behind" projections and needed to catch up. And the executive team wanted to know how long it would take. And the CEO said we didn't have much time.
In this case, corporate had created a unique and valuable position in the marketplace. They had a sustainable competitive advantage. The service application worked, the product was needed and their offering was dramatically different from its competitors. Their Strategic Positioning was in place and healthy.
So why the invisible ceiling?
Sales leadership had failed to understand their meaningful business metrics. This was the primary reason, as it is in most cases. They had not isolated the essential competencies and components. Therefore, their people couldn't self-compete to reach and maintain revenue goals.
They failed to develop practices and processes that allow an individual to identify, train to and measure their own competencies and performance me
Each and every time it runs!That’s the easy answer. After all, it’s your money and your business at stake. You should be learning from every campaign. Here are some basic questions:(1) How many customers did you reach?(2) Why did they pick your business?(3) What was in the ad that made them call or come in?(4) What media did the best job?That last question is the result of proper tracking. It’s like going to school. You are given exams to test your kn
The company, after nearly 2 years of business-to-business selling of their service, had met only 40% of their revenue expectations.
Finance told me they were "behind" projections and needed to catch up. And the executive team wanted to know how long it would take. And the CEO said we didn't have much time.
In this case, corporate had created a unique and valuable position in the marketplace. They had a sustainable competitive advantage. The service application worked, the product was needed and their offering was dramatically different from its competitors. Their Strategic Positioning was in place and healthy.
So why the invisible ceiling?
Sales leadership had failed to understand their meaningful business metrics. This was the primary reason, as it is in most cases. They had not isolated the essential competencies and components. Therefore, their people couldn't self-compete to reach and maintain revenue goals.
They failed to develop practices and processes that allow an individual to identify, train to and measure their own competencies and performance m
You have a unique advantage, an edge no one else has. When you put that unique advantage to work for you -- when you take the time to develop it as you would strengthen a muscle -- you get something that reduces perceived risk and triples your chances for success.That something is called Informed Confidence.In fact, research in progress by the SBA Office of Advocacy (http://www.sba.gov/advo/) shows that confidence is the number one success factor when starting any new venture. But confidence alon
In this case, corporate had created a unique and valuable position in the marketplace. They had a sustainable competitive advantage. The service application worked, the product was needed and their offering was dramatically different from its competitors. Their Strategic Positioning was in place and healthy.
So why the invisible ceiling?
Sales leadership had failed to understand their meaningful business metrics. This was the primary reason, as it is in most cases. They had not isolated the essential competencies and components. Therefore, their people couldn't self-compete to reach and maintain revenue goals.
They failed to develop practices and processes that allow an individual to identify, train to and measure their own competencies and performance m
Are you not frustrated when you see your materials being ignored and trashed? Isn’t it frustrating that what you had exerted had ended up this way. Well for sure this is a business downfall, if all of your exerted efforts had been ignored and trashed out. So why not think of a good strategy that will make you stand out and noticed.One of the greatest ideas of being noticed is choosing the right and appropriate tool for you. Make use of postcards for your marketing and business promotions. With the postcard
So why the invisible ceiling?
Sales leadership had failed to understand their meaningful business metrics. This was the primary reason, as it is in most cases. They had not isolated the essential competencies and components. Therefore, their people couldn't self-compete to reach and maintain revenue goals.
They failed to develop practices and processes that allow an individual to identify, train to and measure their own competencies and performance m
One of the reasons direct mail works is the personal aspect. It’s ostensibly a letter from you to your prospect. Because of this, the more personal you make it, the better your response will be.If you’re mailing to 100,000 people, putting your prospect’s name on your letter is about as personal you can get. But there are times when you can – and should – send out highly personal letters to individual prospects.Say you sell gardening supplies, and driving to work one day you notice a home with a love
They failed to develop practices and processes that allow an individual to identify, train to and measure their own competencies and performance metrics.
In other words, they attempted to shortcut the "Blocking and Tackling" process to routinely meet revenue goals.
When you hit a revenue "ceiling," you have to go into diagnostic mode.
Ask the critical questions:
Which one of your Key Performance Indicators is causing you to fall short?
There may be several, but only one is the main culprit. As an example, the company I mentioned was fundamentally fine in turning first appointments into proposals. And they were maintaining an "average" closing ratio. Their sales cycle was within acceptable benchmarks.
Both competencies had room for improvement, but they were not the "smoking gun" at the scene of the crime. So what was the one culprit in this case?
What if I told you they were only generating 2 new appointments per week per sales rep?
Their average revenue per sale at this level of activity, when related to other competency and performance numbers, produces a 40% return.
Anyone can understand that something has to change operationally to grow the revenue. And what one item jumps off the page? In this case, as in many others, activity is the path of least resistance. They just needed to be taught how to generate routine opportunities in the least amount of
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.added4u.com/article/38646/added4u-What-to-Do-When-You-Hit-the-Invisible-Sales-Revenue-Ceiling.html">What to Do When You Hit the Invisible Sales Revenue Ceiling</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.added4u.com/article/38646/added4u-What-to-Do-When-You-Hit-the-Invisible-Sales-Revenue-Ceiling.html]What to Do When You Hit the Invisible Sales Revenue Ceiling[/url]
Related Articles:
Getting Into Marketing Momentum ... The Accelerated Way
Direct Mail Marketing and the Golden Glimpse: How to Get Your Offer Noticed
Bookmark it:
|