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Business and Sales Growth Secrets for 2009
Written by: Dennis SommerArticle Overview: The jury is still out about our current economy. Some say we will be experiencing a mild recession and others say we are on the brink of a depression. It doesn’t matter where you fall in the debate, one thing is certain, business growth is not as easy as it once was. If you have been reading the news headlines, many CEO’s are focused on cutting costs and laying off employees. This does help short term profitability, however these actions are precisely the wrong strategy to take if you want to grow your company in a bad economy. CEO’s who want to increase sales, profit margins and drive new business growth in 2009 should consider the following top 5 business growth success secrets.
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Business and Sales Growth Secrets for 2009
The jury is still out about our current economy. Some say we will be experiencing a mild recession and others say we are on the brink of a depression. It doesn’t matter where you fall in the debate, one thing is certain, business growth is not as easy as it once was.
If you have been reading the news headlines, many CEO’s are focused on cutting costs and laying off employees. This does help short term profitability, however these actions are precisely the wrong strategy to take if you want to grow your company in a bad economy.
CEO’s who want to increase sales, profit margins and drive new business growth in 2009 should consider the following top 5 business growth success secrets.
1. Focus Marketing Dollars on Value Not Brand
Focusing your time and money on “Brand” marketing may increase name recognition however it doesn’t generate revenue. Showing customers what value your product or service provides will generate top line sales revenue. Spend more on marketing campaigns where the customer can experience your products value.
2. Stop Scaring Your New Prospects Away
Most corporate marketing campaigns, websites, sales collateral and sales processes scare customers away. From a customer’s point of view, your company looks and sounds just like your competitors. To be perceived differently and attract new customers you must stop focusing on your product features, functions, quality, customer service and company awards. You should focus more on how you solve your customers business problems.
3. Catch Amnesia
Forget how great you and your business performed last year. The past is the past. This year it’s a new game. The rules have changed and the players are different. What worked last year, will not return the same results. Re-evaluate your industry, competition, marketing strategy, sales strategy and financial management. Implement proven best practice business growth strategies.
4. Keep Score
Measure and monitor your key business growth indicators weekly. How do you know where to improve if you don’t know how you’re performing. For example, what is your customer conversion ratio, tradeshow ROI, closing ratio, marketing ROI, advertising ROI, sales cycle times, new prospect calls per week, deal size by industry, profit by product line, etc.
5. Work On Your Business, Not In It
CEO’s need to pull themselves out of the day to day issues. When times get tough, CEO’s spend more time in the details of the business. By doing this, CEO’s lose sight of what is most important, focusing on how to improve business performance in a changing competitive environment. Delegate or hire outside expertise to handle the day to day challenges. Focus more on strategic priorities.
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Article Tags: brand marketing, business growth strategies, business problems, company awards, corporate marketing, focus marketing, growth indicators, industry competition, key business, marketing campaigns, marketing strategy, new game, practice business, profit margins, quality customer service, reading the news, sales processes, sales strategy, term profitability, websites sales
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About the Author: Dennis Sommer RSS for Dennis's articles - Visit Dennis's website  Dennis Sommer, CEO or Executive Business Advisers is a highly sought after sales, marketing and business improvement expert. His specialty is helping CEO's and executive teams improve their business performance and growth. Dennis has been advising business leaders for over 25 years. He takes great pride in helping his clients succeed and adding value to their business. His consulting services, coaching and training is focused on the six key areas of business improvement - your business strategy, sales, marketing, operations, financial management and staff. Using his proven, copyrighted business improvement methodology, Dennis will evaluate what you are doing today, develop an extensive list of detailed business improvement recommendations and help you implement the changes needed to dramatically improve your business performance and growth. For additional information: Company: http://www.executivebusinessadvisers.com/ Bio: http://www.dennissommer.com/ Contact Dennis Sommer at 800-627-6512. Click here to visit Dennis's website   15 Critical Leadership Skills You Need Today Improving Business Performance by Creating High Performance Teams 5 Ways to Stimulate Sales Growth and Business Value Business and Sales Growth Secrets for 2009 5 Tweaks to Energize Your Business Improvement and Growth |
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New Small Business Topic
- Hello everyone,
I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section?
Here's a list of what we currently have:
Angel Investors
Branding
Bank Loans
Business Coaching
Business Plan
Franchises (New)
Insurance
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Marketing
Public Relations
Sales
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Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Different Hats
- CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company
Strategic Vision 10
Alliances & Growth Strategies 10
Hiring & Managing People 8
Mentoring 8-9
Strategic Planning for Clients 10
Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty)
Financial Management 9
Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0
Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff)
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Speaking 10 (so I have been told)
Self Promotion 9-10
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Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have)
Great topic Kevin!!
Jude
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz]
I second the request...
My entry
- 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read
- this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody.
2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto.
3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book
Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
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