Which Half of Your Sales or Management Effort is Working?

John Wanamaker once said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half!"

This is, of course, the reason frequency is such an important element of marketing. It is also an important element of selling and of sales management. We must be diligent in our efforts to maintain a proactive and persistent posture when selling, and we must do the same when engaged in sales management - which many believe is simply a "higher level of selling."

If we fail to interact with our customers, pospects or sales people with sufficient frequency, and if we fail to reaffirm the value associated with our products, services and our orgnaizations as well as our personal value, then we will most likely fail as sales people or sales managers.

What Are You (Really) Selling?

It is every sales person’s job to distinguish his or her products and services from those offered by the competition. And in a business world crowded with competitive offerings, an attempt to accomplish this by selling features and price most often fails.

BMW makes cars, but they talk about (sell) performance and prestige! Volvo sells safety. What are you selling?

Facing the challenges of buyers who focus on price or who "commoditize" our products and services is difficult. Success can only be achieved by selling benefits and solutions.

Proactive Business Development

Over the past several years we have found that many people are more comfortable taking a reactive approach to business development. While it is clearly easier and preferable if prospects come to us, either by referral, word of mouth or as a result of advertisments, it is also difficult to manage a process in which we take a primarily reactive role.

It is best, therefore, to become proactive in at least some portion of your business development effort. You'll be happy you did, especially if the referrals or responses to your ads begin to diminish!