Top 5 Sales Strategy Planning Tips
Posted by Adam Thorp
Getting your
sales strategy planning started these days can be easier said than done. The global financial crisis has changed how we do business. The ‘New Normal' is a term used to define a new and fundamental business model that is emerging as a result.
Sales Strategy Planning Tips:
Tip 1: DON'T tide over the storm
Unfortunately, reduced growth and conservation of scarce capital is the New Normal, with the good times still being a long way off. You risk having to lay off more people to cut costs, in the not too distant future, as new revenue is hard to find. You also risk losing the few and precious top sales people as morale plummets further. The top sales people (i.e. the rain-makers) generally contribute the lion's share of new business. Losing a top sales executive typically compounds this issue. Instead, we recommend taking a specific course of action to turn around the fortunes to win new business and improve morale.
Tip 2: Less is more
"Work smarter, not harder" has never been a more appropriate motto, as highlighted in Huthwaite's ground breaking research, which demonstrated that the focus should be on the "skill, and not the activity" when combating selling in a down-market.
Tip 3: DON'T cut price and then skimp on service delivery
Reducing your price is another typical strategy that is floated by many executives to stimulate demand. Cutting prices by skimping on service delivery isn't likely to thrill the client or ensure loyalty. Value: is something the customer is prepared to pay for. It appears that in the ‘New Normal' the key issue is not really price - the issue is risk. Hence, companies should build a strategy to focus delivering safety when implementing any strategy.
Tip 4: More promotions and campaigns
Another strategy that takes shape in the current environment is to increase advertising and promotional budgets. Advertising can be an effective strategy for countering the
New Normal if executed well. With the internet having a dramatic shift in viewer habits and an increasingly fragmented audience, the cost of some advertising mediums such as Television have become more affordable.
Tip 5: New clients are expensive. Retain and cross-sell to your existing clients.
It is generally acknowledged that the approximate cost for acquiring a new client is 5 to 8 times more than retaining a current relationship. By applying this in the New Normal environment it is logical to assume that, to increase market share, we need to cross-sell new products or services to existing clients. Clients will also benefit from a lower cost of engagement, with greater economies of scale, by using new capabilities from existing suppliers they already trust.
The above tips are simply a few Sales Strategy Planning techniques than could be implemented. Have you tried any of the above? Let us know what you think below.