Increase Sales by Removing the Boulders on the Sales Path to Your Front Door
Increase Sales by Removing the Boulders on the Sales Path to Your Front Door
So many businesses clamor to increase sales. Yet when working with them as an executive coach or sales coach, I notice many boulders (obstacles) that they have placed on the sales path. These boulders really are, in many cases, their (business owners and sales professionals) egos in disguise and turn away so much business.
Boulder Number One: Telephone
Technology allows for automated calling. Call most companies and you will hear a plethora of instructions from entering the extension number to striking a specific key for a specific department. All of this works for the business, but really is a turn off for an existing loyal customer or potential customer. Who has the bigger ego, the business or the loyal customer?
Boulder Number Two: Credit Applications
Receiving payment is necessary. Yet, I have watched businesses demand a completed credit application for a cash transaction because the company needs to get all the information into the computer. Credit applications should be opportunities to expand the business relationship and not limit it before the first transaction happens. Again, this is an ego issue, we the business are right, and you the customer must comply.
Boulder Number Three: Customer Service Department
All sale people are the customer service department. Having a separate department creates an enormous gap between the sales person and business on one side and the customer on the other side. Yes, sales people are busy, but they should be responsible for most communications between the customer and the business. Relegating all communication to a separate department does not build or strength customer loyalty, but rather weakens it. Here is the ego of the sales person who does not have time to deal with the minutia of the sales. I actually had one of my vendors tell me that I asked too many questions. He did not have time to answer questions about delivery or quality or technical issues.
Boulder Number Four: Attitudes
Attitudes can make doing business difficult from the frequently heard “This is the way we have always done it.” to “This is not my job, you need to speak to so and so, let me transfer you.” Everyone in the organization should have an attitude of “Do It.” Customers do not want to hear why something was not done because that is not their problem, but yours. Once again, this is all about the egos of the sales professionals or business owners.
Boulder Number Five: Inconsistency
When businesses lack specific procedures and policies or when someone jumps in to intervene, inconsistency is the result. This is a big boulder because employees forget the previous intervention while the customer never forgets. Here the ego takes over and expects you to deal with what is currently happening and not what transpired in the past.
Boulder Number Six: Communication
Poor communication is a sales killer and ultimately can attribute to the death of any business. Actually, this is not just one boulder, but many as communication is a problem at all levels of any business and between all interactions among stakeholders to shareholders. Big egos probably suffer the most from poor communication because these egos are more focused on telling than listening.
Boulder Number Seven: Self-Leadership
The absence of effective self leadership skills such as decision making to team collaboration present significant sales challenges. When businesses lack strong self leadership skills in all internal customers, sales will suffer.
Great sales people learn to leave their egos at the door and understand that they must be easy to do business with. So if you want to increase sales, remove the boulders and make the sales path to your door easy to walk. Eventually, you will have customers running to your business because your sales path is boulder free.
Increase Sales by Removing the Boulders on the Sales Path to Your Front Door - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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Are you easy to do business with? Are you creating obstacles that prevent your customers from reaching you? Does it not make sense to make the sales path as smooth as possible?
So many businesses clamor to increase sales. Yet when working with them as an executive coach or sales coach, I notice many boulders (obstacles) that they have placed on the sales path. These boulders really are, in many cases, their (business owners and sales professionals) egos in disguise and turn away so much business.
Boulder Number One: Telephone
Technology allows for automated calling. Call most companies and you will hear a plethora of instructions from entering the extension number to striking a specific key for a specific department. All of this works for the business, but really is a turn off for an existing loyal customer or potential customer. Who has the bigger ego, the business or the loyal customer?
Boulder Number Two: Credit Applications
Receiving payment is necessary. Yet, I have watched businesses demand a completed credit application for a cash transaction because the company needs to get all the information into the computer. Credit applications should be opportunities to expand the business relationship and not limit it before the first transaction happens. Again, this is an ego issue, we the business are right, and you the customer must comply.
Boulder Number Three: Customer Service Department
All sale people are the customer service department. Having a separate department creates an enormous gap between the sales person and business on one side and the customer on the other side. Yes, sales people are busy, but they should be responsible for most communications between the customer and the business. Relegating all communication to a separate department does not build or strength customer loyalty, but rather weakens it. Here is the ego of the sales person who does not have time to deal with the minutia of the sales. I actually had one of my vendors tell me that I asked too many questions. He did not have time to answer questions about delivery or quality or technical issues.
Boulder Number Four: Attitudes
Attitudes can make doing business difficult from the frequently heard “This is the way we have always done it.” to “This is not my job, you need to speak to so and so, let me transfer you.” Everyone in the organization should have an attitude of “Do It.” Customers do not want to hear why something was not done because that is not their problem, but yours. Once again, this is all about the egos of the sales professionals or business owners.
Boulder Number Five: Inconsistency
When businesses lack specific procedures and policies or when someone jumps in to intervene, inconsistency is the result. This is a big boulder because employees forget the previous intervention while the customer never forgets. Here the ego takes over and expects you to deal with what is currently happening and not what transpired in the past.
Boulder Number Six: Communication
Poor communication is a sales killer and ultimately can attribute to the death of any business. Actually, this is not just one boulder, but many as communication is a problem at all levels of any business and between all interactions among stakeholders to shareholders. Big egos probably suffer the most from poor communication because these egos are more focused on telling than listening.
Boulder Number Seven: Self-Leadership
The absence of effective self leadership skills such as decision making to team collaboration present significant sales challenges. When businesses lack strong self leadership skills in all internal customers, sales will suffer.
Great sales people learn to leave their egos at the door and understand that they must be easy to do business with. So if you want to increase sales, remove the boulders and make the sales path to your door easy to walk. Eventually, you will have customers running to your business because your sales path is boulder free.
Increase Sales by Removing the Boulders on the Sales Path to Your Front Door - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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