As a green industry business owner it’s initially more cost effective to try and do things yourself, but there comes a time when you realize you can’t possibly manage the operations, sales, marketing and accounting responsibilities all by yourself. You need help and support with these jobs to build your business and effectively satisfy your customers.
One of the ways to grow your business is by hiring the right salesperson. There are certain critical steps to try and meet to ensure sales success. Below are three ideas to consider:
- Salespeople need to have the power to accomplish the job in front of them. This may mean they need to travel and have an expense account to take care of customers.
- Salespeople need to know how to think outside the box to come up with creative solutions to problems they may encounter with customers or when putting a workable deal together for a client.
- Salespeople need to have support and guidance from top leaders in the company in order to be successful.
YOU HAVE A MARKETING ENGINE THAT WILL GENERATE LEADS
As a green industry business, you’re interested in generating business leads and acquiring more long-term customers.
To accomplish this goal your company needs to:
- Set goals to improve the overall online website experience for current customers and potential customers. This will generate more inquiries and hopefully better-qualified leads.
- Try analytics. They can be very powerful in helping you discover which content is most valuable to your customers and website visitors.
- Have the ability to execute, evaluate and adjust your online advertising to ensure more traffic comes to your website and ultimately increases your customer base as well as your revenue.
IF YOU AREN’T A SALESPERSON, FIND SOMEONE WHO IS
You’ll know when you need to hire a dedicated salesperson. What kind of a person are you looking for? You’re not just hiring a salesperson. You need to find someone who is well rounded, not someone who is just going to close deals at the expense of your business.
Your first salesperson needs to be able to manage accounts, manage projects, and be a strong advocate for your company. You will want to hire someone who can build relationships, not just make numbers. Your short-term sales goals are to close deals, but your long-term sales focus needs to be building a great green industry business reputation that can be sustained over many years.
Your first priority is to find a salesperson that truly fits the culture of your small green industry software business and is committed to living your message. This will help to ensure that they’re working extremely hard to help you build your business.
YOU CAN’T KEEP UP WITH DEMAND
Has your business exploded and you can’t keep up with the demand? How do you handle this challenge? Here are a few ideas to think about:
- Try analyzing your needs and hire experienced employees to match those needs.
- Attempt to hire a management team of young, energetic and strategic talent.
- Sit down and create a matrix to help you figure out where the weak spots are in your organization that makes it a challenge to keep up.
- If you have a University in your area, you may wish to talk to students who would take on these business challenges as a course project or internship. You gain their ideas and they gain practical experience. This may be a low cost option to consider.
Your goal is to guide your small green industry business on a path to sustainable growth.
YOU HAVE THE CAPACITY TO HANDLE NEW SALES
It may be time to consider taking on new sales. Be sure your expectations are realistic. Create a plan for how to handle new sales in your small green Industry business. Analyze how feasible your idea is before you begin. Below are a few ideas to consider:
- Do you need to hire more staff as well as sales employees?
- Do you have enough inventory to cover your anticipated new sales?
- How will new sales impact your finances?
- How much risk is involved in this decision and are you prepared to manage the anticipated challenges?
- Are you relying too heavily on key customers to make these new sales work?
How are you communicating with current and new customers about new sales and who is responsible for this communication?
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