6 Proven Steps to Increase Small Business Sales

Very few things in life intentionally remain the same. Our world, we as human beings within that world are dynamic 24/7. Even when we are asleep our bodies are in motion from the sub-conscious thoughts to the slow beating of our hearts to the shifting of our bodies.

 The status quo for many is a false sense of non-movement. These folks hold onto what they believe is working, the status quo, only to be left behind in the wave of change or even drowned in an unexpected Tsunami.

Sales is all about motion and changing the status quo. After many years in sales, I realize there are six proven steps to increase sales. The first three steps happen first and before jumping into the second three steps of marketing, selling and keeping.

Step One - Assess

Assessing sales begins within the strategic thinking plan. Here is where time is invested to understand not only the marketplace, but the internal capacity of the business including the individual salesperson given over 70% of all U.S. businesses are non-employed (single owner entrepreneurs).

So what requires assessment? The answer is everything that can possibly impact the ability to increase sales. Yes, everything sounds like a lot. However unless you know where you stand, you are potentially on moving or shaking ground and not the solid ground required to win and increase sales.

The strategic thinking plan covers the operations of your business as well as the market place. This is when you invest the time to determine:

• Market segments and opportunities
• Product or service competitive analysis
• Organizational competitive analysis
• Market trend analysis
• Internal structure and functions
• Internal resources
• Internal SLOT (strengths, limitations, opportunities and threats)
• Identify ideal potential customer or customers

After the completing the strategic plan which is 98% based upon assessing the current situation, you as the small business owner or sales professional must assess yourself. There are many informal, self-assessments in the marketplace and these can be your first step in self-realization.

Additionally formal psychometric assessments are worth the investment such as:

• The Attribute Index is based on the works of Dr. Robert Hartman. This assessment identifies 78 key attributes or talents and is one of the most valid assessments in the marketplace.
• The DISC Index is based on the works of Dr.William Marston. In this assessment, 4 behavioral dimensions are uncovered. For those in sales, this is an excellent assessment to understand as it provides possible insight into the current sales lead.
• The Values Index is the result of the works of Dr. Spranger and Allport. Their work created a powerful tool to determine what motivates people.
• Emotional Intelligence comes from the work of Dr. Howard Gardner and Daniel Goleman among others. Research continues to demonstrate those with higher emotional intelligence are better leaders. In sales since people buy on emotions first, knowing one’s emotional intelligence can provide a significant competitive advantage.

If the mid-size to small business is reviewing its strategic plan, then this would be the time to engage in an organizational assessment. Peter Drucker said “Culture would eat strategy for breakfast.” In today’s world, I would add “for lunch, dinner and all snacks in between.” One such organization assessment is D.I.AL.O.G. This tool embraces Baldrige criteria and can also support closing performance gaps through the business as well as misalignment.

Step Two - Clarify

From the completed assessments, the mid-size to small business is able to clarify what needs to be done. Possibly through clarification priorities will change and should change. At this time, the small business will be able to clarify:

• Critical goal categories
• Key assumptions
• Marketing plan
• Sales plan
• Management (operations) plan
• Financial plan
• Budget or profit and loss forecast
• Innovation plan
• Customer loyalty plan
• Dashboard of key performance indicators
• Strategic plan recap

At this time it is imperative to have clarity about consistent goal planning, setting and achievement. From my own 18 years of experience in working with large to small businesses, consistent goal setting is where the breakdown happens.

Many in leadership roles presume their people know how to consistently set and achieve their goals. This is not the case. We only have to see some economic statistics such as small business failure rate, employee turnover, personal debt, obesity, college debt along with lack post-secondary degree completion to recognize consistent professional and personal goal achievement is not happening.

To achieve goals is dependent upon a process. The challenge is many people may know about SMART goals, but they side stop the process out of ignorance or just being in a hurry. What is missing in most goal setting efforts is the emotionalization to achieve or not achieve the goal.

Human beings are emotional creatures. By bringing into the goal setting process the emotions, the desires to achieve the goal inspires the person more than just writing down the action steps.

Another part within that goal setting process is gaining clarity around all the known and potential barriers keeping the individual from successful goal achievement. The goal setting process is really the application of critical thinking skills.

Step Three - Execute

Now is the time to execute all those actions gained from the assessing and clarifying what is needed to be done to increase sales and gain strategic, sustainable business growth. Here is where the final three steps happen – the Sales Process. Of course, assessing, clarifying and executing are embedded within each of these three steps.

Step Four - Market

When we market our businesses, the purpose is rather simple:

• To attract attention
• To begin to build a relationship

From this simple purpose, the goal of marketing is also two-fold:

• To make a friend
• To secure a first time appointment (you initiate the contact) or have the new friend contact you or walk into your store

For many years, those in sales held three mistaken beliefs:

• Marketing was selling
• Advertising was marketing.
• Marketing was separate from the overall sales process

These beliefs cascaded down the Big Business Mountain to the Mid-Size and Small Business Mountains. Social media has uprooted those beliefs as well as formal business to business networking groups along with referral marketing.  

Step Five - Sell

This step only happens after you are speaking with a potential ideal customer. If the marketing has been executed well, you should be speaking with a qualified ideal customer.

What happens as other noted sales experts have written is in many instances salespeople in their desire to increase sales waste a lot of time with tire-kickers, sales leads without decision making authority or who lack allocated budgets.

Ideal customers are those customers where a business has continued success based upon both:

• Demographics (the common statistics or shared characteristics)
• Psychographics (the why behind the buying decision)

Referral marketing is so successful because of the psychographics. People would rather buy from someone who is already known and trusted by one of their friends or colleagues.

For many years, these were the qualifying factors for salespeople:

• Decision maker
• Want or a need
• Money (Budget)

From my father who was a professional salesperson, I learned about urgency as the fourth criterion. Some salespeople who are knowledgeable about the marketplace and trends (as noted within the strategic plan) can build and intensify the urgency.

Now after over 40 years of sales experience, I also believe commitment to take action is the fifth sales qualifying criterion. Even if you have a decision maker, a want or a need, a budget and some urgency to take action, if there is no commitment to take action it has hard to earn the sale. This is why I believe during the sales conversations there requires an ongoing connection to emotionalizing the want or need along with all the “what ifs” if a decision to take action is not made.

I believe in simplicity and this works for the majority of sales earned by mid-size to small businesses where there is only one decision maker and possibly one center of influence. Complex sales with multiple decision makers are a somewhat different animal. There are plenty of resources if this type of sales lead lands at your footsteps.

Step Six - Keeping

With the majority of U.S. businesses being under 20 employees (97.7%), salespeople are now also responsible for keeping customers. These small firms do not have the financial wherewithal to maintain dedicated customer service departments. Salespeople are customer service people because research continues to show the cost of keeping a client is far less than acquiring a new one.

Additionally within this sixth step, there is an incredible opportunity to increase sales. After the sale is delivered and the salesperson verifies all went well, he or she can return at a later date and ask for three referrals. Depending upon the relationship between the salesperson and the client, this asking may happen when meeting with the customer to ensure all is well.

What never ceases to amaze me is the number of small businesses who never ever ask for sales referrals. Probably the first reason is they just don’t think about asking and the second reason may be because they do not know how to ask.

If the salesperson has not been in contact with the customer, then asking for a sales referral might be the wrong tactic at that time. By employing education based marketing with an emphasis on nurturing and keeping existing customers, asking for sales referrals becomes far easier and better yet reaffirms the business ethics of the asking salesperson.

Remember people buy from people they know and trust.

Yes you can ace and win more sales when employing these six steps. The key as in any endeavor is to be consistent. Now the choice is are you willing to unlock each step with the right key to increase sales?

If you enjoyed this posting, please share using the social media buttons at the top and share your thoughts or comments below.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S., is THE people and process problem solver. Her task is to support you in bridging the gap between today’s results and tomorrow’s goals. She can be reached at 219.508.2859 central time.  Follow her on Twitter or check out her profile on LinkedIn.