Key strategies for organic sales growth
By Bob Dale and Gordon Griffiths
It’s been a difficult year for many companies, with a decline in sales reported by businesses from across Canada. There are fewer jobs to quote and the work that is available is often for lower quantities or fewer pages than previous requests. Some businesses plan for reduced work from customers as a normal business practice. For example, if you want to increase your sales by 5 percent next year, you need to identify and win at least 10-15 percent of new business.
There are a few ways printers can try to gain sales, such as hiring new salespeople. The risk is that customers’ work often does not transfer to the new firm, or there is another reason for the person to leave their job. Buying or merging with a company is another option, but successful deals are difficult without support.
Internal and external review
However, using a professional approach to organic sales growth is often overlooked. Here are some suggestions to evaluate your current sales approach. To start, conduct a SWOT analysis—evaluate your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This will highlight areas that are working well—and you can promote—as well as identify areas that need attention.
A competitive review is important. Know where your company fits into the marketplace with capabilities, quality, equipment, efficiency, pricing, reputation and brand. This exercise may help you understand if you can attract new salespeople with existing accounts.
If you want to increase your sales by 5 percent next year, you need to identify and win at least 10-15 percent of new business.
Dig deep and conduct an internal review and include customer satisfaction (on-time delivery, rework, errors, etc.). If you have unsatisfied customers, then understand why and determine corrective action that’s required to remedy the situation. It’s not always an internal problem, as some customers provide incomplete or inaccurate job instructions, but this needs to be fixed.
How is your customer concentration? Do you have a customer whose work represents a high percentage of sales? It’s hard to identify, but this needs to be addressed.
Profitability by account, product line, and market should also be evaluated. We have one client who ‘fired’ a large customer since their work was not profitable. While their overall sales decreased, their margins increased significantly. It’s tough but necessary in some instances.
What about new opportunities? It can be customer groups in similar business to your target clients. What about similar client groups in different geographic locations? Expand your markets both ways.
Also, are you spending enough time on prospecting and new business development? Is your team motivated to bring in new sales or are they satisfied servicing current accounts? What would motivate them to bring in new customers? Could you design and offer an incentive program to reward those who bring in new opportunities?
Is your sales leadership effective and supporting the team’s efforts and activity, or are they working as sales reps themselves? How do you balance managing accounts and team effort successfully?
The benefits of conducting this review include:
1. Identify growth opportunities:
A thorough diagnosis can reveal untapped market segments, potential new products, and business expansion possibilities.
2. Optimize resource allocation:
Highlighting inefficiencies or waste within the company enables you to better utilize your resources, thus leading to cost savings.
3. Improve decision-making:
An analysis provides a clear understanding of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, and market position, enabling more informed and strategic decisions.
4. Enhance risk management:
Early identification of potential problems, such as declining profitability or inefficiencies, allows you to take corrective measures.
5. Strengthen competitive position:
By evaluating market trends and competition, the business can anticipate threats and adjust strategies to maintain a strong market presence.
6. Facilitate customer retention:
A diagnosis can reveal opportunities to improve customer relationships and loyalty, potentially leading to increased sales and profitability.
7. Continuous improvement:
Encourage ongoing skill development and adaptation to new technologies and trends, keeping your business competitive and innovative.
8. Business sustainability:
By providing a clear vision of the company’s overall health, a diagnosis contributes to long-term viability and success.
This review is likely the best way to build strong customer relationships now, and for the future. Good luck!
This article first appeared in PrintAction September/October 2024
Bob Dale is vice-president of Connecting for Results. Gordon Griffiths is CEO and president of Connecting for Results. They can be reached at info@connectingforresults.com
At Connecting for Results, we help companies as if they were our own. We provide organizations, buyers, individuals, associations, and schools within the graphic communications industry with solutions, enabling all parties to achieve their goals and maximize results.
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