4 Reasons You’re Not Making Any Sales

If you’re a current or aspiring small business owner, you probably already know one of the biggest challenges you’ll face is how to keep in balance.

Most business put more emphasis on getting new business instead of spending their time, and money, where it could generate better results…serving existing clients. Next to small business sales functions, customer service functions are vital to the overall success of your business and should be given appropriate emphasis. Poor customer service can cost you as much business as having a sales person who’s no good trying to close deals. Both can damage your reputation and any potential for future growth.

When small businesses don’t properly serve the clients and those clients go elsewhere, management may assume they weren’t good sales in the first place. But usually, that’s not the case. Where do customers go who don’t stay with your business once they’ve made an initial purchase?

Most just buy from someone else. Amazingly, a large number of salespeople who don’t make the sale assume that most potential customers never made a purchasing decision at all. You’d be a fool to think that, though. The sad truth is that because of this belief, they don’t institute a proper follow-up strategy!

If they would’ve followed-up, they might have discovered that the prospective client probably bought from someone else. They either found a product or service that they liked better or a more persuasive sales professional.

Another thing that happens to people who don’t do business with you is that the contact person or purchasing agent is replaced. In most businesses, the salespeople change quite pretty often. Every time there’s a new person charged with making the buying decisions you need to start over with gaining his or her confidence and continued business. Switch up your small business sales routine, and keep in touch with your contact where they go.

That’s why it is important to watch every business in your territory for changes in decision-makers. When they change in a company whose business you don’t already have, you can start fresh in your attempts to get their business. Remember, even if the competition serves them now, that salesperson will be waging the same battle you are to win continued business.

The third reason people don’t do business with you is that you have lost them to the competition. I hope you will be mature enough to say, “If I lost the business, I got beat because of skill and talent. I’m going to increase my skill level so it won’t happen again.” Realize that if you lose to the competition, it’s usually because they outperformed you. That’s when you need to set a goal to get better at this game of selling.

The last reason potential customers don’t buy from you is you because they no longer need your type of product. If they’ve literally changed their way of doing business and your company doesn’t have a product to satisfy their needs, you’re going to lose the business.

Accept it gracefully and move on to someone else you can serve. Your attitude at a time like that can earn you future sales for your small business should their needs change.