Sales Focus

The winning businesses in most industries have a SALES focus.  They are strong at finding, securing and keeping customers.

If your business had one thing you focused on and did well, what is it?

The sum of its parts

_{What part of your business is going the worst?  Chances are that function is just not YOUR strength.}  

_{Find someone who is great at it and hire them.}

It’s about you

The longer I’m in business, the more I realize that your business is all about your personal growth and development.  Do you have it all together?  How good are you with people?  How good of a learner are you?  Can you fight distraction and focus on the most important things each day?  Are you disciplined?  Are your personal values ones others will follow?  How do you behave in a crisis?  How good of a communicator are you? How bad do you want it?  Do you STILL have it all together?  Do you abuse your situational power as the boss?  Do you waste it?

It’s all about the person who is calling the shots and making decisions each day.  

When you grow, your business grows.

Look closer

You own the business.  You’re there everyday.  You think you know what is going on because you walk by desks and see the financials.  But what’s on those financials is a result of the small things;  the things you can’t see unless you look close – very close.

Look at how your people are engaging customers, the work, and each other, look at the transactions and processes that are repeated every day, every hour, and every minute.  

Slow down, get in there, and observe closely.  Ask why, study it, and look outside your business to learn about how others do it.  Then when you finally take action to make improvements (or have others do it), it’s likley to be the right decision.

To see it, get away

Many business owners are so involved in their business – physically, mentally, and emotionally, that it’s difficult to get any different perspective on it.  To see it, you have to step back and away.  See comparison businesses, view yours from a bit of a distance, and ask questions you have never asked before.

A view from 5000 feet up isn’t the same as the view up close.

“Full Time”

When you’re an ambitious business owner, you work “Full Time”.  That means always.  Day and night you’re working; it’s in your mind wherever you are.  There’s no shutting it off.

But to think clearly, we have to get away from it at intervals, to restore our minds and bodies.  Change your scenery, your schedule and the people you talk to from time to time.  When you return you will likely make better decisions – and enjoy it more.

Your salesperson’s mindset

Your company’s sales are dependent upon the attitude of your salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect.

If your salepeople have no idea why on God’s green earth anyone would ever consider not buying right now, then you’re on the right track.

If not, you have work to do.

Breaking Even

How much do you have to sell to break even now?

Fixed costs (overhead) divided by gross margin as a %.  

Example – If it costs you $50,000 a month for rent, loan payments, office salaries, utilities , insurance, etc. and your gross margin on sales is 40%, then $50,000/.4= $125,000 a month.  So if you sold and delivered $125,000, and collected all the money, you make zero.  

What’s your break-even now?

Making more money when you’re closed

If your overhead is too high for your sales volume, you’re losing money.

If your gross margins are too low, by selling more you are just going bankrupt faster.

What are your gross margins on your sales? (Sale price less material, labor and sales commission)

How much is your overhead?  (How much would you have to pay each month if you didn’t sell anything at all?) 

There’s worse than broke

The guy out on the street with nothing may be financially better off than you are.  There’s worse than broke – there’s being in debt.

We must learn how to run our business financially so it produces more money than it consumes.

Right?