Business Development or Business Survival
Business Development or Business Survival
First, we have to explore why and how your business shifts into survival mode. Most businesses “find” themselves in survival mode because their sales unexpectedly slow or, worse yet, come to a screeching halt. Your business hasn’t changed and neither has what you’re selling, so why all of a sudden is it so difficult to sell.
The answer to restoring your sales is within your business. The cause of your current poor sales is outside your business. You see when sales suddenly fall off there is a reason for that. The reason is a change in the market created by a change in your buyers needs.
That’s why it’s so important to not just monitor what’s happening in the world outside your business, but to track and test exactly what’s going on in your business and why. When you effectively test and track you can predict these seemingly sudden changes before they happen.
Of course, when you can predict a change you can also adapt for the change. This empowers you to smoothly transition into a new sales increase.
External changes demand internal changes. If you don’t adapt the way you do business or what you are selling to better fit the changes external to your business you lose. You suffer sudden sales drops and then you have to scramble to recover.
Because you haven’t tested and tracked during the change you don’t fully understand what is happening or why it’s happening. This tends to force you to shoot from the hip and make gut reaction decisions. Rarely will a reactive approach produce the desired results a proactive approach can.
You’ve probably heard the expression, “If you find yourself in a hole stop digging”. Well, it’s still good advice.
Doing more of what isn’t working isn’t going to make it work. The only thing that will work to increase your sales is the same plan of attack you’d use if you wanted to develop business in a completely new market. The changes that went unnoticed before the current sales decline have, in effect, created a new market.
So before you can crank up those sales you’re going to need to make sure you know:
Business Development or Business Survival - To learn more about this author, visit Cheryl A. Clausen's Website.
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When the economy is strong businesses focus on business development. When the economy is weak those same businesses worry about survival. Why is that? In this article I’d like to share some ideas about what you can do to make sure your business is always growth focused rather than survival focused.
First, we have to explore why and how your business shifts into survival mode. Most businesses “find” themselves in survival mode because their sales unexpectedly slow or, worse yet, come to a screeching halt. Your business hasn’t changed and neither has what you’re selling, so why all of a sudden is it so difficult to sell.
The answer to restoring your sales is within your business. The cause of your current poor sales is outside your business. You see when sales suddenly fall off there is a reason for that. The reason is a change in the market created by a change in your buyers needs.
That’s why it’s so important to not just monitor what’s happening in the world outside your business, but to track and test exactly what’s going on in your business and why. When you effectively test and track you can predict these seemingly sudden changes before they happen.
Of course, when you can predict a change you can also adapt for the change. This empowers you to smoothly transition into a new sales increase.
External changes demand internal changes. If you don’t adapt the way you do business or what you are selling to better fit the changes external to your business you lose. You suffer sudden sales drops and then you have to scramble to recover.
Because you haven’t tested and tracked during the change you don’t fully understand what is happening or why it’s happening. This tends to force you to shoot from the hip and make gut reaction decisions. Rarely will a reactive approach produce the desired results a proactive approach can.
You’ve probably heard the expression, “If you find yourself in a hole stop digging”. Well, it’s still good advice.
Doing more of what isn’t working isn’t going to make it work. The only thing that will work to increase your sales is the same plan of attack you’d use if you wanted to develop business in a completely new market. The changes that went unnoticed before the current sales decline have, in effect, created a new market.
So before you can crank up those sales you’re going to need to make sure you know:
- What the people most likely to buy your stuff are already looking for
- What they need to hear to make a buying decision
- How they perceive getting what they want
Business Development or Business Survival - To learn more about this author, visit Cheryl A. Clausen'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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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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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr'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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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power'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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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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