All this week we have been supporting different organisations with sales strategies. A common theme is emerging – one of a lack of FOCUS.
Remember the last scene in the 90s TV gameshow The Crystal Maze? (Millennials – Google it). The player had to stand in the middle of a giant perpex crystal in which fans blew silver and gold paper around, and they had to grab as many gold papers as they could. Any silver ones would count against their total.
That’s how many businesses approach sales – standing in the middle of a maelstrom, desperately trying to grab whatever they can and ending up expending a lot of effort for little result.
Our tip of the week is about FOCUS. Grab a pad and take the time to stop and assess who is your target market. (Clue: you can’t put ‘everyone’). What geography? What products or services could you narrow it down to? We provide some services (social media management, for example) that are more suited to certain clients than others (PR and media management). Who are they? Where are they based? Think in terms of where your effort is going to be placed – obviously if someone came to you from outside of that area, or requiring a different product that you can or could provide, you can still say ‘yes’. But when it comes to your outbound effort, your push, how are you going to make sure you are only grabbing those gold bits of paper?
This applies whether you are a small local retailer or a national professional service company. A butcher with a new offer of rare breed pork will need to take the same approach as an accountancy trying to sell tax advice to start up entrepreneurs.
Feel free to get in touch for advice, and have a great weekend!
