Archives for July 2007
New business: Are you getting your fair share?
I saw some figures again the other day that were allegedly from the DTI in 2005 (though I have to admit to trying to verify the source when I first found these same figures two years ago and not getting anywhere). Anyway, they’re still making the rounds, so here they are:
- 47% of new business was generated by word of mouth referral
- 43% was via an initial telephone call*
- Leaving just 10% to all other media combined
*We’re not told whether the initial phone calls were inbound inquiries or outbound introductions (or a mixture of both)
However, if these figures are anywhere near representative of the true picture, a couple of issues come across loud and clear.
You need to be 100% sure that you are
- Not merely passively waiting for referrals and recommendations but actively soliciting them (and know when and how to do so to maximum effect)
- Happy that your telephone communication skills are all that they could and should be
Otherwise youre losing out on an awful lot of potential business that could be yours…
You’re not falling short in either area, are you? Of course you’re not!
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
Can you sell without selling?
I met an IT Engineer Manager at a Customer and Commercial Awareness day we were running for his company. He saw his department’s role primarily as the “face” of the company to their customers and his people as being in a prime postion to increase the company’s sales.
His problem was that he was uncomfortable with the idea of intitiating any kind of “sales” conversation and didn’t feel he could get his team to do anything he wouldn’t take the lead in.
Yet he’s a personable chap who doesn’t come across as a shrinking violet. So we explored his problem a little more and established it was the whole mindset thing of “I’m going to try to sell this guy something” that was wrong.
I asked: “How would you feel about just checking out whether your customers had any IT problems that were affecting their ability to get on and run their businesses as well as they could and should be? How easy would it be to come up with twenty or thirty common issues that had frustrated other customers until you sorted them out for them?”
He’s no dummy yet that simple shift in the perception of what he could help his customers achieve rather than sell them something has enabled him to increase business (which makes his Managing Director happy) and solve previously unacknowledged problems (which makes his customers happy) yet operate well within his personal comfort zone (which makes him happy).
Sometimes all you need is a simple change of perspective… Just be on the alert for ways you can increase business yet stay within your personal comfort zone.
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
