Why are your sales static or in freefall?

There are so many successful businesses that seem to do well and then something clearly changes and they suddenly find they are in difficulties as their sales take a dive. Other companies do well to a certain level and then fail to develop further.

Management seem to be at a loss. They sack the sales reps and bring in new blood. They hold sales meetings to discuss which companies or projects they can target. In extreme situations they restructure. What they often don’t do is find the cause and ask why they are failing to get the sales. This is not always a straightforward question as the answer could be a mixture of several factors.

Many directors seem to think that if they get more sales everything with be fine and all the problems will go away. However, if they fail to solve the issues that are the root cause of their problems then just going out to get more sales could do more harm than good. If a company has a poor reputation for say quality, reliability or customer service then failure to deliver will be amplified if they increase their sales and their reputation will be harmed further as more dissatisfied customers spread the word.

Why are sales falling? This is the key. Why are the sales teams not hitting targets? Are you retaining your customers? There may be external factors that are affecting your sales and if so what are they? You need to find answers and do research to solve your lack of sales issue.  Only when you have identified the problems can you take effective remedial actions. 

If however your sales are static then the methodology is similar but you need to see how you can expand your business. This could be geographically or via new market sectors. You could also explore diversification or partnering. Look at how you sell and can you expand via different methods and other platforms? Examine the possibility of doing some effective marketing. Analyse your product offering to identify further opportunities and product synergy, plus further opportunities to sell more to existing clients.

Just giving your sales team a budget and sales targets will not work if you have not given them the tools, support and the right environment in which they can succeed.

Selling is much easier if you can offer a good product or service and the person selling it believes in what they are telling potential customers. Of course culture is a factor not to be ignored as a happy team will always out perform one that is not shown appreciation or rewarded for doing well.