Everyday brings with it a new set of challenges and circumstances for us to overcome. We have a choice, daily, to continue doing things the way we have always done them, or to optimize our methods by continuing to learn new ways of getting things done. There is a disconnect that takes place between wanting to get better at something and actually getting better. Many of us find ourselves wanting more, yet continue to do things the way we have always done them. If you are not closing more sales for the company, your processes may need to be tweaked, if you cannot recruit better talent for your organization, you need to rethink the way you are positioned in the market, and if you want to make more money this year as compared to the last, you have to think of new ways of doing what you do.

The day we stop learning, we stop caring about our future. We may want the stars, but unless we bring our head down from the clouds and face reality, things will not change. Learning does not take place overnight. We cannot get better at anything by taking a random course for it or reading a particular book. It requires experience, reflection and much study about what we are doing wrong and what we are doing right. Taking our strengths and weaknesses into account can help optimize the way we learn. This will ultimately bring the change we are looking for, if we have the persistence to stick with it.

In his book “outliers” Malcom Gladwell talks about 10,000 minimum hours of experience required for someone to become good at a certain skill. How many hours have you devoted to becoming a better leader, sales person, marketeer or lawyer? What processes do you currently have in place to make sure you continue to get better and reach your goals? We have to start thinking about these factors, today. It is never too later to start, the important thing is to start from somewhere.

How do you learn about your skill on a regular basis? Would really like to hear your comments and suggestions.

When I started my first venture, I remember internal processes being a complicated mess. I am not a very detail oriented person and this worsened the condition further. Over the last couple of years I have learnt from experience and my peers and mentors, the importance of having well oiled internal processes to enable the organization to function smoothly and efficiently. One of the most important internal process that needs to be optimized for a startup is it’s sales process. This process can be summed up briefly in the following major components:

1. Setting up lead generation processes.

2. Qualifying and processing leads.

3. Presentations and proposal development.

4. Closing the deal.

5. Keeping relationships with clients active.

If each step is defined clearly, and everyone in the organization knows what they are responsible for, expect higher conversion rates and faster processing times. The first step of the process is extremely important to keep the cycle moving regularly. In the past I have neglected lead generation processes, this leads to decreased activity and ultimately brings the entire organization down with it. Concentrate your efforts on ways to generate leads on a regular basis through a variety of methods. Some popular methods that we use are:

1. Offer case studies or downloadable material on your website that prospects can download by providing personal details. The other method is to offer material without the sign-up process on your website and include details about your services within the document.

2. Use social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin to connect with your target customers. Through these services, one can become an authority regarding a particular niche and provide insight and advice to prospects.

3. Start a blog or a newsletter where you provide prospects with high quality information. Through this method, develop a close relationship with your target market and occasionally pitch your services through this platform.

These are some strategies that you could implement to start generating higher quality leads. It is important to organize all the strategies you use, and ensure they are constantly updated and tweaked to get better results. Most strategies talked about in this post involve ways to become an authority figure in a particular niche. This is the fastest way to create a level of trust between the prospect and your organization. Once trust and a level of comfort is developed, the sales cycle starts to move faster and that is when the other 4 processes that I spoke about come into play. I will be talking about them shortly.

What does your sales process look like? What lead generation strategies have worked for you and why? Look forward to getting your feedback and comments.

Over dinner with some entrepreneurs last night, we spoke about how crazy our lives become sometimes. Our work has a tendency to absorb us so completely that we can go for weeks even months at a stretch without making contact with anyone else outside our work circle. I guess the same rationale can be applied to stressful jobs that are heavily time consuming. The topic gravitated towards a hard reality, our relationships with family and friends tend to get strained during this high intensity period, which often has the potential to stretch over a long period of time. We find ourselves completely detached, and lose perspective of the really important factors in our life. I have linked to the ‘Jar story’ a couple of times in prior posts, I don’t think we can read that story enough!

One of the things I am slowly discovering on my journey as an entrepreneur is, that you have to keep ties with your friends and family in place, they provide you with a ground reality check about the direction your life is taking. This inner circle will ultimately provide you with a needed level of satisfaction and a sense of achievement when you finally reach your goals and objectives. Striking out on one’s own and making it to the top of the mountain is something I have seen many people achieve. However, most of them feel the one thing they would have done differently on their way up would have been to have the important people in their lives a lot closer to them.

During our conversation last night, it was clearly apparent that many people on the table, myself included, have been neglecting to understand the importance of family and friends. I think it is quite common in today’s nuclear family age where we tend to become increasingly isolated from the very beginning, when we are taught to look out for ourselves and not be dependent on anyone. This often manifests itself into more severe conditions as we grow older. To handle this issue I have started sending out gratitude notes on a regular basis, this has helped bring me closer to those I choose to be so with. In the end it does come down to personal preferences and priorities. I tend to believe , based on what I have heard and read, that losing out on developing a strong inner circle does critically handicap you at a later stage in life.

What are your opinions on inner circles? How do you make your inner circle stronger? Would like to hear your feedback and suggestions.

I was discussing sales strategy and short term quarterly goals with my team today. We have enjoyed a steady growth in the past year, and I was discussing this years target growth figures. We have a set of processes that handle lead generation, prospect qualification and deal closing. The stance that is usually taken to enhance sales figures, is to increase front end efforts in getting more leads, and qualifying prospects at a faster pace. This strategy has proved to yield less than spectacular long term results and instead of widening our scope of reach we decided to put more time and effort into enhancing our current relationships with clients. This is an area that has a lot of room for development, it is however often neglected as there is constant pressure from management to get new sales, and boost numbers on a quarterly basis.

This strategy may result in better sales figures for a period of time, but also results in unsustainable growth as the number of leads generated becomes thinner. Instead of putting time and effort into developing new customers it is wise to segment a large part of the sales team’s time in developing and nurturing relationships with current customers. This can be done in a variety of ways that include, feedback interviews, surveys (regarding product/service quality, customer service, pricing), referrals, understanding the client’s business better and a host of other activities that can help you serve the client better. Taking a hard selling approach with the sole focus of hitting quotas and quarterly figures leads to sacrificing the bigger picture, and makes it difficult to retain customers in the long run.

Given that it costs many times more to acquire a new customer than to service an existing one, it is a shame that many companies, both big and small put most of their sale efforts into the acquisition of new customers whilst neglecting existing ones. In times of recession it becomes even more important to understand your customer’s needs and situation. This will enable you to find ways to assist them with pressing pain points and help develop a much deeper relationship. Once you are entrenched, it is essential to consistently service your client and nurture the relationship to a level where the client becomes your sales ambassador and word of mouth about your product/service spreads even further.

How much of your effort is put into acquiring new customers rather than servicing existing ones? How are you renewing relationships with your clients on a regular basis? What strategies do you use to retain your customers? Look forward to your feedback and comments.