I am often asked, “How much time should my company spend on sales when we already have more business than we can handle”?
When business is good it’s tempting to skimp on sales and marketing. Companies reason that because they are so busy processing orders, they do not have the time (or the need) for ongoing sales and marketing activity. They decrease their advertising budget, spend less time networking, and perhaps even ask the sales and marketing team to help with order fulfillment.
This is a mistake.
At NWI, we encourage our clients to spend 20% of their time prospecting for new business even when times are good.
Think of your sales and marketing efforts like pumping for water using an old-style hand pump (often called pitcher pumps). To start the water flow, you must continuously lift and lower the handle repeatedly and for quite some time. The water will continue to flow as long as you keep pumping.
When you use a hand pump, it takes much more effort to start the water flow than it does to keep it flowing. If you stop pumping, however, the water ceases to flow and you have to start all over again.
It’s the same with sales and marketing. When you slow or stop your efforts, it is much harder to get the sales flowing again. You must keep your sales pipeline full.
Never stop reaching out to prospects, your existing customers, and power partners. It is important to maintain momentum – especially if you are using social and/or digital marketing to generate leads.
From an SEO standpoint, you do not want to lose the footprint that you have established for yourself and your company. When it comes to your online presence, even a small amount of effort is better than no effort.
If time is tight, use automated services or outsource your sales efforts.
There are numerous automated solutions from appointment setting companies to companies like NWI Business Solutions who will write blog articles, post, and even coordinate your ongoing sales efforts. You can also use autoresponders to schedule emails to automatically be sent daily, weekly, monthly, or in response to a particular customer/prospect action.
In this brief article, we have only scratched the surface of the available sales tools and techniques.
The Fox Valley Sales and Marketing Connection, sponsored by NWI Business Solutions, can help you stay up to date on the latest in sales and marketing techniques. Join our network of like-minded professionals for monthly lunch seminars designed to sharpen your sales and marketing knowledge.
Click here to stay up to date on the latest offerings.
“Keep your sales pipeline full by prospecting continuously. Always have more people to see than you have time to see them.” – Brian Tracy
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