Generate High-Velocity Sales
The CEO of a company whose sales have been flat for the last few quarters recently added a twist to an age-old question, and asked about the fastest way to increase sales. The introduction of speed into the sales equation puts a fresh spin on a mission-critical topic.
There are numerous strategies that can lead to increases in sales over time, but few that are designed to have an immediate impact. The bottom line is the fastest way to increase sales is to acquire new business in bulk. The following six strategies (in no particular order of preference) represent a few options. If implemented correctly, these strategies enable you to jump-start business in an aggressive fashion via various forms of bulk sales acquisitions:
Hire a rainmaker. Not all sales people are created equal, and all are not rainmakers. Rainmakers are the rock stars of the sales world. They not only come with an established book of business, but they also possess the ability to create new business via their well-honed professional network. Rainmakers are not merely experienced sales reps, but rather they represent the top 1 percent of the sales profession. These are seasoned pros that rain significant transactions like they were going out of style. One of the most important things any CEO or entrepreneur can do is recruit rainmakers. While rainmakers won’t come without a tier-one compensation plan and require a significant amount of freedom, they are worth the investment. Real talent produces real results, and I’ll take a proven performer anytime.
Form a strategic partnership. Find companies that sell non-competitive products or services into the same vertical market and form a partnership to mutually increase one another’s distribution. Joint ventures, strategic alliances, corporate partnering, licensing and distribution agreements, and numerous other collaborative business arrangements provide an exceptional opportunity to catalyze sales growth. In addition to rapidly generating a new revenue channel, the formation of key partnerships frequently provides the additional advantage of creating competitive barriers to entry into certain markets or product lines.
Target key accounts. Few things add instant credibility and bulk revenue like being able to say that Apple, Bank of America, Disney or other name brand businesses are counted amongst your clientele. While there is considerable revenue associated with landing the big account, the real value comes in the ripple effect of being able to leverage their brand equity into increasing yours.
Start by profiling and targeting key accounts with recognizable brands that will add value to your business, your revenue and your brand. Develop a sales strategy for winning the business and begin the process of landing key accounts. The sooner you start, the faster you’ll find the power curve in your selling process start to shift in your favor.
Roll up the competition. Find competitive or synergistic businesses and target them as candidates for mergers or acquisitions. Growth by merger and acquisition can rapidly increase marketshare. By targeting businesses that sell into your vertical market, but have a different client mix, both companies can add revenue and better manage risk via diversification.
Develop existing accounts. Cross-sell and up-sell your existing clients to maximize the unrealized revenue potential of your current client base. It is far more cost- and time-effective to increase the revenue from your existing clients than it is to develop new clients. Don’t make the mistake of overlooking the proverbial bird in hand.
Launch an aggressive marketing campaign. The first five items mentioned above require you to drive the results and find the customers, whereas this tactic will drive the customers to you. A well-conceived tactical marketing initiative can drive targeted results in a short time frame. An aggressive combination of PR and digital marketing can create a windfall of new business— sometimes within a matter of days. For these reasons I tend to favor direct marketing campaigns that utilize digital mediums, which are extremely cost-effective, highly targeted, and measurable in real time.
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N2growth, a Portland, Ore.-based strategy and consulting firm, helps small businesses grow their talent, revenue and brand equity. Read more information on N2growth. Mike Myatt is the author of the newly released book Leadership Matters…The CEO Survival Manual.
