Reload About It

Wasted Sales Opportunities Costing Business

Over the last few months, we have been seeing a number of clients with extremely good traditional and digital marketing activities wasting their sales conversion opportunities by not having a proactive sales team at the helm to close the deal.

Not that the sales people are doing a bad job, its more about communication and information flow within the different areas of the business.

Could it be that the sales team haven’t been informed of the marketing strategies or campaigns at hand? Are they trained in strategic ways of handling multiple leads? Do they have all the resources needed to close a sale? Do they know who your target markets are?

All these questions should be asked by the CEO/MD and Marketing team prior to kicking off any marketing campaign. Without a strong sales process, CRM (customer relationship management) system, call tracking, closing strategies and so forth, a firm runs the risk of wasting serious money on lead generation, time and growth opportunities through poor sales execution.

Prior to any campaign, make sure all your sales staff understand and know exactly what to do with “hot”, “warm” and “cold” leads that might come through. Ensure they understand what the key messages are of the campaign and who the target markets are, so that they can adjust their pitches and presentations accordingly.

Finally, provide ongoing feedback during the campaign and sales cycles to ensure they are constantly improving. If the first 50 leads don’t come off, don’t sit on your hands hoping it will get better by itself with the next 50.

Contact Reload for any advice on sales and marketing strategies or process re-engineering of the sales team.

Business Planning: The Difference for SMEs

Often we get asked what actually makes up and goes into a business plan.

Most people understand the basics of a business plan and the process, however often expensive consultants try to “make one size fits all” as their mantra by rolling out templates or telling their clients they should read a book and all will be OK.

Unfortunately this doesn’t work for a business plan as every business and organisation is different in size, staff numbers, marketing budgets and growth strategies.

We have seen some of the smallest start up’s being the most growth focused and cash ready businesses around, willing to push the boundaries and take a risk.

Then we also see (in the majority I might add) businesses that are stable and supporting staff costs and marketing budgets already. They are sometimes wary of fast risky growth and make sure they plan out what they do next.

For every client though, we are focused on outcomes and results. Throughout the business planning process, we ensure that we provide a personalised and structured business plan service, with the very best business consulting and business advice delivered at all times.

Business planning outcomes will often include:

• A clear business plan, vision and mission
• Outstanding profitability and more growth
• More sales and leads with better customer retention incorporating thorough research
• Greater cost reduction
• Scalable and robust IT systems specifically for their needs
• Exceptional marketing techniques, strategies and campaigns
• A greater understanding of their unique “points of difference”
• Any other business help and business advice

Without these, your business plan may not be the investment it should be.