small business sales<\/a> grew.\u00a0He made more money. Became more successful.\u00a0He thought it would last forever.<\/p>\nThen he hit a plateau. His sales – and income – leveled off.<\/p>\n
Why He lost his focus. Instead of looking for new customers\u00a0Tom spent all of his time ‘servicing’ his existing ones. He got\u00a0bogged down in paperwork and lots of administrative things.<\/p>\n
He found himself spending hours each day in unproductive meetings.<\/p>\n
He had stopped doing the things that had made\u00a0him a success in the first place:<\/p>\n
* Prospecting.<\/p>\n
* Networking.<\/p>\n
* Working the phone.<\/p>\n
* Seeing new people.<\/p>\n
* Creating new opportunities.<\/p>\n
He rested on his laurels – and his previous successes – and coasted.\u00a0This worked for a while. In Tom’s case for the better part of ten years.<\/p>\n
Tom had a couple of wonderful accounts. They gave him a lot of\u00a0business. He sat on them. He enjoyed those repeat sales. The\u00a0handful of referrals that came to him made everything seem easy.<\/p>\n
But in the 11th or 12th years something started to happen.\u00a0His business began to fall apart.<\/p>\n
It started slowly. Subtly. Tom never noticed it. But there was attrition.\u00a0First one account left. Than a second. Then a third.<\/p>\n
Tom didn’t pay it any attention. The drop in income was offset\u00a0by some miscellaneous new accounts and the repeat business\u00a0from his great accounts. Nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n
One morning the phone rang. Tom had lost\u00a0one of his ‘great’ accounts.<\/p>\n
The company had been acquired and all software purchases\u00a0would be handled out of the corporate offices.<\/p>\n
All of a sudden it hit him. His income was about to drop by 30 to\u00a050 percent. There was nothing in the pipeline and it’s been so long\u00a0since he’s looked for new business that he didn’t remember how to do it.<\/p>\n
Tom was devastated and overwhelmed by panic.<\/p>\n
He called me and asked me to teach him how to sell again.\u00a0During our conversations it became apparent that Tom never\u00a0realized how vulnerable he had become because he relied\u00a0on a handful of large accounts for his sales.<\/p>\n
He wasn’t aware of the four reasons you can lose a good account\u00a0that have nothing to do with the quality of work you do.\u00a0You can lose a key customer because<\/p>\n
1. The company closed the division or plant.<\/p>\n
2. The company was acquired.<\/p>\n
3. The company went out of business<\/p>\n
4. The contact person – with whom a long-term relationship\u00a0has developed – has left. Maybe he took another job. Got\u00a0promoted. Was downsized. Or retired and moved to\u00a0Arizona. Whatever.\u00a0Now there’s a new person sitting at the old friend’s desk\u00a0and she’s going to put the account out for bid.<\/p>\n
How do you protect yourself from this dilemma How do you\u00a0make sure that what happened to Tom doesn’t happen to you?<\/p>\n
You don’t take anything for granted. Assume that\u00a0every sale is your last one.<\/p>\n
This forces you to continually look for new\u00a0business and new customers.<\/p>\n
It keeps you hungry. It keeps you on your toes.<\/p>\n
Wake up hungry. Think to yourself, “I’m unemployed.\u00a0I’m broke. I don’t have any customers.” Which is the way\u00a0you felt when you started in your career.<\/p>\n
Stay focused. Stay motivated.<\/p>\n
Then go out and look for new customers.<\/p>\n
Here are the five activities I encouraged Tom to\u00a0focus on each and every day:<\/p>\n
1. Prospect.\u00a0Look for new people who need your product or service.<\/p>\n
2. Network.\u00a0Get out of your office and give yourself the\u00a0opportunity to meet new people.<\/p>\n
3. Get On The Telephone.\u00a0The single biggest reason salespeople aren’t as successful as\u00a0they could be is that they don’t follow up on their business\u00a0opportunities. They never pick up the phone and make the call.<\/p>\n
If you want help with your telephone techniques\u00a0I’ve two training manuals that will help you create\u00a0more opportunities and generate more business:<\/p>\n
4. Search For Problems.\u00a0When you’re meeting with a prospect ask\u00a0great questions. Search for problems.<\/p>\n
5. Clean Up Your Database.\u00a0Get rid of the dead weight in your database. Get rid of the\u00a0people you’ve called on forever who have never bought.<\/p>\n
Get rid of the people who asked you to send them\u00a0something and never returned your phone calls.<\/p>\n
Much to Tom’s delight and surprise once he changed his focus\u00a0from doing miscellaneous paperwork and administrative work\u00a0to looking for new customers, he found them.<\/p>\n
Within a few months Tom had created a number of new sales\u00a0opportunities that he expects to close within the next 60 to 90 days.\u00a0His goal is to replace his lost income by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Treat every sale as if it were your last one and your\u00a0business will grow beyond your wildest dreams.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Sales89.jpg\" "\\"Sales89\\"")
we\u00a0should assume that it’s only a single transaction. That there\u00a0will be no repeat business.<\/p>\n