How does a salesperson or business owner develop more business?

I am asked repeatedly: “How does a Salesperson or business owner get business?

Selling in the 1980s vs. Selling Today

The world has changed, and we need to adapt as business owners and salespeople to get more business for our companies.

I was not provided any sales training from the company I worked in my first sales position.

I thought the salesmen in the company were not organized and had no daily discipline for sales and selling.

By that, I mean that they were waiting for the phone to ring and for customers or potential customers to call in.

Sometimes they would go out and prospect but for the most part they sat in the office waiting for the phone to ring.

This at the time was not bad.

There were companies and individuals who were looking for our services and they would call in.

This was the oilfield business, and the customer base was small and fraternal.

Marketing Plan

Our company had a sort of marketing plan to get leads.

A marketing group had been hired to make industry ads in magazines that were effective.

The oilfield business and many businesses had industry magazines to keep people informed of the essential needs of the industry and what was happening and so on.

Our company had a great product and we advertised with pretty girls standing next to our product. A very good idea and it did produce results.

There were mail-in cards in the magazines to request information about the company and the products.

Every time the magazine was published, we would receive 10 to 15 cards in the mail.

However, there was no organized capture method, and the salesmen would or maybe would not call on the potential clients.

The salespeople did attend trade shows with products and gathered leads from the people visiting the trade show.

Again, the salespeople had the latitude of gathering lead information, and following up was their responsibility. This was a hit-and-miss proposition.

The leads were gathered and brought back to the office and there was no formal process to review analyze and call on the potential prospects.

This became a great learning experience for me in sales and selling.

So in the time mid-1980 the company had a salesforce of several people and four methods of getting customers;

·?????Magazine mail-in leads

·?????Trade shows

·?????Phone soliciting – Prospecting

·?????Potential referrals from existing customers

One day I was called into the president’s office and told I was being given territory and needed to take the mail-in leads from that territory and bring in business.

After getting over the shock of not wanting to be a salesman and then accepting the only job available to me, I decided to be a salesperson. My starting territory was Denver, Colorado.

Sales Training

I asked what type of sales training was available and was told no formal training was available.

So sales training of the 1980s, my training consisted of the:

·?????Here is your desk.

·?????Here is your phone.

·?????Here are your business cards.

·?????Here are our brochures.

·?????Here are some mail-in leads.

·?????Go forth and sell – (QUICKLY, bring in business or else)

Many companies still use this formula today.

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I had training in sales with my father many years prior to getting this sales position.

My father had shown me how to prospect and call on customers and get business. (I had not really liked that type of work and decided I didn’t want to be a salesperson.)

However, the early training, which was accidental, because I had traveled periodically with my father, groomed me well for getting into sales and having success.

A process and system that produced Results.

?I developed and built a sales process with goals discipline and results.

The other salespeople in the company didn’t like or want a disciplined process.

My sales started to soar, and I was getting consistent results.

I had great fun during those years and honed my sales process.

Applied the Sales Process to my own Company

When I was fortunate to buy my own company, I implemented my process and defined and refined it for the industry I was then in. Aerospace manufacturing.

I developed a daily point system that if followed proved successful for a salesman and great success for the company.

Sales And Selling Accountability

It was brutal for some salespeople because it was a process of daily work and accountability.

Along with the process, I also provided good state-of-the-art sales training. Our salespeople were the best of the best in a small company.

The big companies with big budgets knew this formula.

Xerox was one of the best. They had big sales goals and big sales budgets and knew that if the salesmen were trained properly and well and they followed a system they would be successful.

The problem, even today is that small companies don’t see or haven’t been trained or exposed to good sales training and then setting up a process.

Excuses for not doing the work were not tolerated.

All my salespeople were on an unlimited plan. There was no cap on salary. I had several making good earnings.

I have helped several business owners create sustainable systems and processes that create new and more sales.

Let me know how you develop your business.