To succeed in business, you need to generate sales. Even if you're selling
something with a hefty price tag, you still have to make multiple sales to be
profitable. While many businesses may have a terrific product or service, that
means little unless you've got a solid action plan for selling.
Some of the women I interviewed employed tried-and-true techniques to get
their companies' sales engine humming. A few took less conventional routes. All
of them had valuable tips to share, so get ready to cut and paste, ladies,
because these tips may very well take you as far as you want to go.
Zero In on the Customers You Want
"Our 'secrets' to garnering new business are a combination of networking through
our existing clients and some very targeted self-promotion," says Mary Ellen
Slone, 60, the CEO of
Meridian Communications, a 32-year-old branding, marketing, PR, advertising
and event company in Lexington, Kentucky.
According to Slone, they aren't shy about telling current clients, "If you
hear of anyone needing our services, please send them our way." And their
clients actually do--often. Like many successful business owners, Slone has done
her homework and then some. She knows which clients can best use her firm's
niche services, like crisis management, and gets her company's name in front of
the local attorneys who handle high-profile cases and corporate bankruptcies.
Slone says they also advertise in venues "where we know our target future
clients will see or hear us: high-end program ads in arts-related publications,
lower-tier underwriting of high-profile charity events, and 'certificates for
services' at charity auctions."
Team Up With Likeminded Entrepreneurs
In Nashville, Tennessee, Hannah Paramore, 47, president of
paramore|redd online
marketing has her sales act down to a science. Her 5-year-old firm is
already generating $2.2 million, and she expects to double her current staff of
13 in 2007.
"It didn't take long for me to realize that we could either fight every other
interactive shop for clients with small budgets or we could be a part of a team
of companies that pitches for $12 million deals. Our partnerships have given us
a seat at the table with larger opportunities much more quickly than we would
have achieved alone," says Paramore. She also networks through her involvement
with Entrepreneurs
Organization.
Hire the Right People
Paramore also realized that having great ideas wouldn't get her too far without
the right people to implement them. And once she changed her mindset about
hiring, sales went off the charts. "The temptation early on is to do all the
work yourself so you don't have to pay other people to do it," says Paramore.
"About 18 months ago, I realized that all we really have to sell is our time and
our expertise. Salaries aren't an expense; they're added capacity."
Don't Cheap Out
Paramore's business relies heavily on its online presence, but she pitches
alongside firms with tangible materials. Not wanting to scrape around for
presentation materials, so she reached out to a design shop. "After months of
strategy and writing, they gave us the budget, and I almost threw up," she says.
"I immediately started marking stuff off the list that we didn't need, but then
I realized I was doing the same thing that so many of our clients have tried to
do in the past--stripping away the strategy to save a few bucks until you no
longer have a strategy. I finally just slid the piece of paper back across the
desk and said, 'OK, do it all, but don't show me that budget again.'" The
resulting collateral piece made a huge difference for her business.
Maximize Your Time
Marika Flatt, 32, has done two things in the past month to raise her sales IQ.
"First, I've trained my husband and co-owner of the company to assist me in
responding to potential client e-mails and phone calls," says Flatt, founder of
PR by the Book LLC, a
media relations firm for authors, publishers and small businesses located
outside of Austin, Texas. With a nationwide playing field, Flatt's 4½-year old
firm is getting more and more inquiries--all of which require swift attention
for maximum sales generation. She also recorded conference calls with potential
clients so her husband, Doug, could get a better feel for the types of questions
that come up.
Sometimes the difference between a ho-hum sales initiative and rip-roaring
one lies in the details. Flatt knew she was spending a tremendous amount of time
responding to the same questions from many different potential clients. The
solution? She prepared a pdf with a list of FAQs. Now Flatt e-mails this
document to potential clients when they first make contact. "The time I do spend
on the phone with potential clients is much more focused and productive now."
Offer Giveaways
"The money other companies spend on print, I allocate to product giveaways,"
says Judith Moore, the fiftysomething founder and CEO of
Charleston Cookie
Company, a 3½-year-old gourmet cookie and brownie firm with clients all
around the Southeast. She sends out press kits with tasting tins of cookies,
networks within the Charleston, South Carolina, area and asks current clients
for referrals. "My primary sales strategy has been to feed cookies to as many
people as I can, because my best form of advertising is a cookie in someone's
mouth," she says.
Ditch the Hard Sell
Two-and-a-half years ago, Lee Deas became an "accidental entrepreneur."
She founded Obviouslee
Marketing, also in Charleston, South Carolina, when her freelancing workload
took off. Now 27, Deas and her partner, Richard Guerzon, 28, attract clients
seeking Southern representation, as well as Charleston-based firms aspiring to
national and international growth. Their secret to sales: don't sell.
"We've never made a sales call. Our best technique is not selling. We use
meetings to get to know the client and make suggestions," says Deas, who also
believes in viewing peers as resources instead of competitors. "In having this
approach, we leave ourselves open to opportunities that were never anticipated
or planned for."
If you're serious about growing your sales, get moving. Put these sales
drivers to work for your company, and let us know what worked. And don't forget
to share your other sales secrets in the comments below.