There is no comparison between that which
is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying.
~Francis Bacon
I went to a luncheon event recently and sat next to a
delightful man. As you might expect given what I do, I asked how his business
was doing. His reply was that it was okay. Not knowing what he meant by “okay,”
I asked a few more questions to get a better idea. He revealed that his sales
were flat, and I asked why he thought that was. He replied that he did not feel
comfortable selling and he was the firm’s one and only employee.
Another solo entrepreneur I knew was complaining about
shrinking sales. She said that her sales used to be very good, but now they
were falling. When I asked her what she had done when her sales were up, she
said she used to network and go see former clients – something that she was no
longer doing. Now that sales were dropping precipitously, she had become really
concerned.
Being an entrepreneur mandates that you also become a sales
person in so many ways. You are always having to sell yourself and your
business to a whole range of people, not just customers. You have to get
creditors to supply you with goods, to convince a bank to give you a loan and
so much more.
In both of these cases, the entrepreneurs knew they needed
to do more but had temporarily lost their way. In the first case, the
entrepreneur lacked the confidence to go out and sell, and in the second case,
the entrepreneur took her eyes off of the ball.
My advice to the first entrepreneur was to join Toastmasters,
which teaches effective public speaking. I felt it would increase his
confidence about selling.
Sure enough, after six months in Toastmasters, his
confidence began to soar as did his sales. He told me that he now felt
comfortable asking for the sale when he never did before.
My recommendation to the second entrepreneur was to join
Business Networking International (BNI), a super powerful networking
organization with a chapter in just about every city and most countries.
Membership is really effective and reasonably priced.
After joining BNI, her sales started going through the roof
as she now had all the BNI members in her chapter acting as her sales force by recommending
her business.
In both of these cases, the entrepreneurs took their focus
off their sales. Though they each had their own reasons for doing so, the
outcome was the same. Their businesses began to suffer because sales have to be
at the forefront of each and every entrepreneur’s daily activities. There is no
doubt in my mind that both businesses would have failed had they continued on
their former path.
These are two examples involving small entrepreneurs, but
the lesson they demonstrate can be applied to any business. If you do not
commit energy and effort to your sales, your business will struggle.
Now go out and make sure sales make up a significant part of
your daily activities and encourage each of your staff members to do the same.
You can do this!
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