Build and Sustain a Sales Strategy

14th March 2019

According to research by HubSpot what percentage of salespeople said that finding new prospects is the most challenging part of the job: 1.

67% 2. 35% 3. 42% 4. 28% As a small business owner, you are a salesperson, especially if you are a solopreneur in which case you are the only salesperson. However, there are a lot of frustrations that can get in the way of creating a killer sales strategy that you can use and adapt over time. Understandably, the most important thing you want to be doing is going out and getting sales rather than sitting down and writing your sales strategy. Let's take a look at each frustration with sales strategy and offer solutions. The answer to the quiz above is option c. -I don't have time to make a sales strategy, it takes up too much of my time. Clearly, you want to focus as much time as possible making sales to help your business grow. This requires a plan of action to move forward with a clear focus. Otherwise, you could spend all of your time chasing sales and still not get the results you want. Creating a sales strategy gives you a direction to follow, just as you would follow GPS if you were going somewhere new. Instead of spending a long time on drafting, writing and editing your sales strategy try breaking it down into a smaller document. Use smaller steps to build your sales strategy so that it becomes manageable and purposeful for you as a business owner. -I don't know what I should put in my sales strategy, I've never seen one. As a first-time business owner, a new startup or even an experienced business owner it can be daunting and overwhelming to write a sales strategy on a blank piece of paper. Naturally, when you make a new meal for the first time you would want to follow a recipe the same goes for building your sales strategy. Instead of trying to create your own from scratch use resources to help you, even ask a friend in your business network to help you. A good sales strategy will include different parts, but it doesn't need to be over-complicated. It needs to be a document that you can pick up, use, refer to, etc. It isn't to be written once and then filed away. So, remember to keep it short. Include your sales targets, your ideal customer profile, your sources of lead generation and processes to deal with customer objections -I have one but it's too complex for me to keep using it. Nothing is more off-putting than a document that is too complex to understand, process or action. As you begin writing and building your sales strategy it is easy to get bogged down in the fine details so that it ends up becoming even too complex for you to use. For example, one section on sales targets can very quickly become pages and pages about your sales targets but you can't be expected to remember all these. When you are writing your sales strategy remember to build in the sections that are important for your business. The more relevant you can make your sales strategy the more likely you are to use it to help your business grow. Refer back to the list in the previous paragraph to help you build your own sales strategy. -It's just another strategy, I already have too many. There are strategies for most things in business these days which can be difficult to manage and have a good overview of them all. From social media, to marketing, to business and to sales. Each part of your business needs a defined plan of its own to focus each area very clearly on expectations and outcomes. Rather than just seeing it as another task to do consider the benefits that it will bring. Just as having a business strategy is key so is having a sales strategy. As good as your marketing is, without a sales strategy it can all be for nothing. Knowing what your sales targets are, who your ideal customer is, where you will get leads from and how you will move customers through the sales pipeline is vital to know to help grow your sales. Better to have a strategy than to go out and 'wing it'. Further Reading. You can get more resources over on the Sales Mindset Coach Blog, and why not check out our full range of services and products designed to take your sales to the next level!