How To Jump-Start Revenues For Any Company

Marketing

How To Jump-Start Revenues For Any Company
by Mr. Rick Wemmers



Having worked with CEOs in more than 50 different industries, the factors affecting a company’s sales growth have become very clear. While some factors are beyond control,  far too many are the result of just dull, lazy management.

For the CEO who really wants to jump-start sales, start thinking way outside your box. Reconsider all parts of your sales process.  Here are some suggested steps:

Step #1 – Commit To A 12-month Sales Goal That "Hurts."

This is the toughest step. There will be many reasons and much rationale for keeping it relatively low. But for this procedure to work, you must set the sales goal high. A different but even better way is to get your employees to set the goal. However, this takes a very special CEO effort to make sure the "fear factor" is eliminated from employees’ mindset when asked to do this.

Step # 2 – Learn What You Aren’t Being Told!

It’s hard to jump-start sales if all you have is the same old customer and market insights. You must get new information. So what does this mean?

Take a close look at your competition. What are they doing today to get sales that you aren’t? Call a few of their customers and ask what they like most about doing business with that company. (It helps if you hear the tone of their responses. But if you just can’t bring yourself to make cold calls, and just listen, then hire a professional.)

Gather fresh, objective insights about what your employees and customers REALLY think about your company, product and service. This cannot be gathered by company management. Employees, customers just don’t want to talk about negatives and will avoid it in virtually all cases. These same people however will talk to a professional researcher and tell them what they REALLY think and feel about issues. This may sound strange, but thousands of research hours have proven it works.

So, bite the bullet, put your ego aside and hire a professional to gather this important information. Properly gathered it will yield actionable information well beyond  your expectations. 

Step # 3 - Rally the Troops!

With the "new" information in hand, assemble all those who affect the revenues of your company. Look beyond the obvious – the sales department. Maybe you have product development, customer service or sales support staffs?

Meet and give an accurate picture of company sales for the past 12 months.  Share your new information about customers, prospects and the industry. Then state the sales goal you believe can be achieved in a specific time period. For example, "We are going to increase sales to an annualized growth rate of 25% in the next six months."

Now ask all of them for their help and their new ideas of how the company can best achieve this goal. If your group in less than 20, ask them to go to their desks with the fresh information and write down their thoughts. Set a follow-up meeting for a week later.

If you have a larger number of employees, divide into groups and assign different, but specific, tasks to each group. For example, maybe one group may focus on customer/prospect communications, while another focuses on employee productivity and another product improvements. Set an early date for the next meeting.

IF your employees say they don’t know how to do what you ask, suggest they start with a "brain storming session." Each group meets, allowing members to express his/her ideas of how best to accomplish the assigned goal. The group lists the ideas and submits them.

Step # 4 – Demand Your Customer’s Attention!

Take the top 3 ideas from Step # 3 and ask employees for the biggest, boldest ways to implement each idea. In other words, what actions can the company take to guarantee that the target audience of the idea will be "bowled over" with the announcement?

For example, instead of sending out a new product press release, have it demonstrated on a national network TV show. Or instead of a product demonstration at a prospect’s office, fly decision makers to a current customer using what you’re trying to sell them. Or if you are selling carpet, cover a major city thoroughfare with it. Make it a newsworthy, memorable event!

The secret of my 4-Step procedure is simple:

Set and commit to a sales goal high enough to demand serious and immediate attention

Require NEW insights about customer, business and market

Leverage employee assets further

Take bold, attention-getting sales actions

Does this procedure work? Absolutely, IF you follow all the steps!

It motivated 400 people to stand in 100-degree heat for a bank opening and deposit $6 million.

It brought worldwide TV coverage for a hotel announcing an Easter Brunch!

It motivated 2,108 people stealing cable movie service to turn themselves in and start paying for it.

It jumped sales for a software company from $3 million to $17 million in 12 months.

Don’t set mediocre sales goals. Jump-start your sales revenues!


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Rick Wemmers has 25 years experience consulting CEOs with companies in over 50 different industries. His consulting group www.wemmers.com focuses on creating unusual revenue-building ideas. Client companies include: Coca-Cola, Georgia-Pacific, Johnson & J