Sales. Every business wants it, some love it, some hate it but whatever you feel about sales in your business you certainly cannot ignore it.
At SalesFriend we meet businesses every day who are simply brilliant at what they do. Whether it be designing bespoke furniture or restoring classic cars, providing printing services or delivering custom sound systems - it continues to surprise us each day how much knowledge and passion there is out there in the world of the small business owner. Ask anyone who runs a business to tell you a little about it and you can be assured of a long story!
Businesses have good times and bad, times of profits and sometimes times of losses - but it's never boring. Despite all the passion, expertise, energy and perseverance we encounter daily, SalesFriend exists because these highly-skilled owners simply have no sales experience.
It's very common indeed for businesses to face huge dilemma's with regard to sales strategy. Take the example of a small business owner I met for a coffee last week; Robert was 52, had worked hard in the city for a large bank and had decided to semi-retire in his mid-forties. By the time he reached 50 he was missing and lacking a challenge in his life and decided to start a business. Robert felt he could provide expertise in offering advice to people who had encountered debt problems and work with providers of financial products to assist these people who were trying to get things back under control.
The idea was sound, particularly in the climate at the time and Robert found that when someone actually found his business then he could be of tremendous help - however, he was simply not getting enough customers. He had considered renting some retail space in the High Street of a local town, he considered employing a telephone sales service to make unsolicited calls to people in the evenings, he even considered having agents "knocking on doors". But he had neither the confidence or the experience to make an informed decision about what was suitable. He called us, we talked for over an hour on the telephone (something I am always happy to do is listen to business owners tell me their problems) and we agreed that there was definitely a benefit in meeting up and talking face-to-face.
A few days later I met Robert at his home for an informal (and completely free) chat. He explained why his business SHOULD be succeeding and he also talked me through all of his ideas to generate more customers. Throughout the conversation it became very clear that Robert was a sincere, considered and honest businessman who simply needed some guidance and support. By his own admittance, he did not know "anything about sales or selling" and was concerned about spending money on sales and marketing without any experience.
Over the next four weeks Robert and I met weekly. The first meeting was to allow me to understand his business and his aspirations for the future, the financial position of the business and the capital available (if any) to get things moving.
Week Two was a review of the market, competitors and the demographics of his local area - this allowed us to understand his potential within the specified area.
During our third meeting I presented Robert with my conclusions and a draft strategy based around everything I had learned during my time with him. Because of the time we had spent talking and understanding his requirements, Robert was instantly comfortable and in complete agreement with our plans. He understood our logic, our thinking and was clearly happy that we had not felt the need to spend even 20% of the budget he had suggested. We were instructed by Robert to put our plan into action.
I cannot tell you EXACTLY what was in the strategy I recommended but I can tell you that Robert was about to turn left when he should have been turning right with regards to his plan. Robert's business did not need sales. It certainly did not need expensive contractors making unsolicited telephone calls into households in the evenings or sharp-suited salesmen knocking on doors looking for new clients. What his business needed was awareness and a reputation - his offering and service was so good, so unique that if people knew about it then he would not be short of clients.
Within four weeks of instructing SalesFriend, Robert's "live" customers had increased from an average of three at any one time in the previous three months to a new average of twenty-six. What had we done for him? We guided him and we listened. We helped him achieve some simple, local marketing and ensured that people knew about his business and we encouraged new clients to refer their friends with similar issues. We established a social media network on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and became very active in some online forums where people discuss their financial issues. Over 90% of our recommendations attracted zero direct cost. With the exception of some printing of leaflets to leave in some key locations the only costs were with us.
I can't tell you what we charged Robert but I can say that he recouped our fee within the next nine client instructions. Now Robert simply subscribes to our telephone and literature support service where I am always at the end of a phone for him if he needs any more help or wants to talk. This package also means that Robert can email me over any new adverts or correspondence he wants me to edit or comment on. We also provide some nice banners each week for his social media network and a PDF electronic newsletter on a quarterly basis.
The result of this fairly common scenario for us is a business that is firmly on the way to achieving its goals but without all the cost burdens that the owner expected to be funding in his quest for sales. The owner has a clear path forward and can concentrate on his business, using his skills to ensure his clients get a fantastic service and SalesFriend is always on hand as and when he needs us or wants us to look after his social media pages while he takes a holiday!
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