By Dan Klein – CEO, Sage Marketing
When we speak with entrepreneurs the conversation usually starts with them saying that they are looking to grow their business. Not a bad way to start, but we usually cover a few important things before we can get to working on that. I’ve framed out a few foundational topics to consider if you are looking to grow your business:
How many clients do you usually get in a year? Let’s say it’s 10. Think about this – what if you landed 20 clients next month? That would be great, right? What would that do to your business? Can your sales team (or you) handle that? How would you onboard them? How would that affect your service for your current clients? Now this may not have been a realistic question, but it’s really important to include as you look at potential growth for your business. In order to build your growth engine, you need to break it first. What parts of your sales process need improvement? Walk step by step through your processes for how you bring in new clients and how you provide support for your current clients to make sure they are scalable. This will avoid multiple problems later on.
Who are your weakest employees? If you think things might not be working now, just wait until you have them speak with your new clients. Many business owners put this off for any number of reasons. You need to have the right players on your team.
High turnover in staff (or clients) is an indication that something bigger is off in your business. Low employee satisfaction is another key indicator. If you are a solo salesperson in a large company you may only have one assistant, if you are out meeting with prospects make sure that the right person is always speaking with your prospects and clients when you’re not there. Who answers the phone at your company? Try calling your business and pretend you’re a prospect, then see if they provide the level of engagement you are looking for.
Who owns sales? Some businesses have sales teams, other business owners are the sales team. Selling your services and providing service to current clients are two separate things. Every entrepreneur juggles between the two, that’s a given. If you want to get solid growth results know who’s doing what so everyone can be held accountable for their results (even you).
What’s the plan? You don’t need a 100-page marketing plan to see your sales dramatically increase. What you do need is to be clear about:
- How many new clients do you want to attract
- Having a clear message that speaks to your targeted audience
- Planning out the steps you are going to take every week to hit your goals
- Developing accountability to help you stay focused
Get some help. Most entrepreneurs are too busy to create their marketing plan, refresh their materials and push out content. Hire someone to do that for you (yes, we do that). Focus on sourcing and meeting the people that might be good clients for you without letting your service suffer. If you want more information on any of this, we’re here to help!