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Sales & Marketing Running a business is about establishing a process By Brad Massey Most business owners I run into have a gift, or a certain skill that makes them an asset in their industry. But as most quickly learn, building a business is about more than being an expert in your industry or doing what you want to do. It is also about running a business--and that includes sales, operations, financial and other appropriate disciplines. To fill in these gaps, many business owners try things they don’t have experience in such as advertising or hiring sales people only to see these things flop, or underperform. “When I started my first business, almost 20 years ago” said Pete Monfre, president of Clarity Marketing Support, an Austin-based business development firm, “I was solely focused on my ability to do the work – I didn't think about all of the other skills I was lacking in terms of running a business.” The first step is to start thinking about your business as a set of processes, and get assistance in areas where you are deficient. Things that can be done systematically, that can be measured, evaluated, changed and measured again. “If I wanted to stay in business, I had to learn to sell,” said Monfre. “That was a tough pill to swallow given my extensive background in marketing. Now after working with a sales coach, not only have I developed my own process for sales, but I integrated that process into my marketing consulting practice helping my clients bridge the gap between sales and marketing.” There’s a lot of advice out there and it’s not all equal. So it’s no surprise that many entrepreneurs become skeptical and hesitant to act. Constant improvement in the process is the foundation to moving your business from the owner that does everything to an owner that builds an on-going operation to sustain and support himself and his employees. Brad Massey is the owner of the Sandler Sales Institute in Austin, Texas. www.massey.sandler.com. If you want your business to succeed, you will have to develop a system and process for each function of your business. Often, sales is a good place to start. If you do not sell something, no accounting is needed, no operational issues to resolve, and no customer service problems to address. “A good plan should describe what your business will look like over the next three to five years. I should have an activity based, measurable component that will lead to a goal established in conjunction with your key people.” - Brad Masse “The end game is not the actual plan. The real purpose is to go through the process of planning to structure the decision-making process and make the decisions that will propel your business forward. The written plan is simply a way of documenting this process and can be used to stay on track” - Pete Monfre, owner www.claritymarketingsupport.com |
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