It’s time to take action. Here are 10 essentials that will help your business. COLIN BENJAMIN
By Colin Benjamin
Many business managers are writing down their inventories and profit expectations because they know that investors are aware that this has been a tough year. Next financial year will then start with a low base, as consumer confidence starts its climb back.
Banks on the other hand are looking very closely at their clients to see whether they have begun to keep their incoming cash at normal levels and their expenditure at abnormally low rates. At the first sign of new expenditures these banking types start to sweat and at last show some signs of interest in business prospects.
So here are some suggestions for increasing sales and generating that revenue stream required to keep lines of credit open for the end of the recession we don’t want to mention:
1/ Go through your ledger and find the top sales items and check that you have actually been paid for each of them. Now is the time to follow up those customers and send them a Chrissie card and thank them for their support over the year.
2/ Any outstanding accounts justify a personal call from one of your top sales team (or you and your business partners) to talk about their business plans and only at the end ask if they could assist you by completing payments before the end of the year
3/ Identify the pattern of purchases of these items in previous good times and send out a special offer (not a discount) to them suggesting that it may be appropriate to start planning to restock or restore business developments now that there are new consumers coming back into the market.
4/ At the same time it is important to break down the sales prospects on the basis of the level of risk that is represent as it is essential to maintain good control of risks, billing patterns, revenue collection and bad debt supervision.
5/ Have a sales meeting with your whole team at least once a fortnight so that everyone is aware of the items that make the greatest contribution to the survival of the business and encourage everyone to cross-sell related merchandise and services.
6/ Draw up a sales flow chart that ensures what works and what can cost sales performance, including following up on customer inquiries, prompt attention to orders, inventory management and thank you notes to customers who are vital contributors to the business success.
7/ Go through advertising and promotion material and break it down into three categories – will this bring new business, reinforce repeat business or merely build brand recognition and then apply the rule that the first attention is on repeat business, the second is on new business and brand promotions can wait until next financial year.
8/ Focus sales and marketing efforts on main stream lines that directly impact upon customers lifestyles, and business development activities so that you aim to build a customer relationship and not just another one-time purchase.
9/ Make sure that all staff take a little extra time with credit card payments, using the time taken to ring up the order to make sure that the signature on the card matches and asking for cash when a card proffered has been maxed out.
10/ Ensure that you keep your bank manager aware of the efforts that you are making to keep the business growing and keep your family aware that now is not the time to go out and spend as they are vital members of the sales team for the next few months.
Remember, we have only seen the international causes of the credit crunch. As people lose their jobs and become concerned about job prospects, they will need more reassurance from your sales team, and more information that will show the benefits of making a decision now.
Dr Colin Benjamin is Entrepreneurship and Strategic Thinking Consultant at Marshall Place Associates, which offers a range of strategic thinking tools that open up possibilities for individuals and organisations committed to applying the processes of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Contact: CEO Dr Jane Shelton.
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