By C.J. McClanahan
ReachMore Strategies
Relying on the Sales Force to do all of the Selling
Many business owners are under the perception that they are not salespeople. They believe that as long as they have a talented sales team they no longer need to concentrate on “selling” their product or service. Nothing could be further from the truth.
No matter how large or successful a company becomes, its most visible and important salesperson is always the business owner. If the owner can’t sell his goods or services to others, even in the most difficult of times, how can he expect his sales staff to hit their numbers? The business owner sets the tone for the rest of the company. If he clearly believes that his company has the best product or service, and effectively articulates this belief, he will inspire his team to achieve more and grow. However, if he is unfamiliar with the value proposition and only serves as the “manager” of day-to-day operations, his sales staff will not have confidence in their product or service. This ultimately leads to poor sales and increased turnover.
Who is your company’s best salesperson? Could they outperform anyone in the industry? What if they could?
Spending too much (or too little) on Advertising
What is your advertising budget? The answers I typically hear from business owners include “the same as last year” or “I have no idea – we don’t have a budget.”
The answer I am looking for is “It depends.” What I mean by “it depends” is that, as a small business owner you should not view your advertising costs as an expense. Instead you should view the money spent on advertising as an investment, and like any investment you should carefully analyze your return after each program is completed.
Consider the following example: You sell high end electronics and the average net profit on your products is 25 percent. You decide to place a ½ page advertisement in your local Sunday Newspaper at a cost of $5,000. You sell an additional $25,000 worth of products as a direct result of the advertisement.
The net profit on this increase in business was $6,250 ($25,000 x 25%). As a result, the net profit on this advertisement was $1,250. Based upon this analysis, it is clear that this advertisement was a good investment.
How much money do you spend on advertising each year?
What is you most profitable advertising strategy?
How much money are you wasting on unprofitable advertising campaigns?
C.J. McClanahan
ReachMore Strategies
317 576-8492
cjm@goreachmore.com
