As a consultant, it’s funny how you experience common themes from time to time amongst your client base. 
Recently, I have repeatedly found myself saying “drop your tools, and start selling”. At first I thought the trend had something to do with the economic state of some industries, however, upon reflection it became very obvious that businesses with a high focus and positive culture toward selling continued to grow, regardless of the economic conditions, whilst the ‘production’ orientated business owners continually blamed staff, banks, customers, suppliers and anyone else that could for the lack of business success and growth. Any good consultant will tell you there’s no magic bullet, but you have to start somewhere.
Linked to this discussion is the reality that not everyone can sell, or at least sell well. There is a simple solution for those of you that face this challenge, and that is; it’s a temporary job until you find someone else to do it. Fill those shoes for now, create some systems, processes and policies, then go find the right person for the job. In the meantime, you have shifted the focus of your business toward selling and not operational issues. Saying that, in my experience it’s very rare a business owner can find someone as passionate as themselves about what they do (sell in that business), and it’s that passion that drives sales success.
So the next time you hear or speak to someone about a booming business, think about some of the key success factors that have contributed to that business. Is it because they are “really good” at what they do or sell?, or is it because they are driven by sales and growth?……..I’m yet to meet a business owner that confesses to making bad quality products or providing low value services, lets face it, we all think our products and services are exceptionally valuable and of great quality. So if that’s the case, why can’t we sell more? One possible reason is, you may not be focusing enough (or any) attention on creating a business with a sales culture!
Rob Verri, is founder director of Melbourne based Business Advisory Accounting firm Modern Business Group, who believes that strong businesses always begin with strong fundamentals. Rob is an expert speaker at our upcoming events, book now for the opportunity to meet Rob.