How are you doing with sales at the moment?

Looking over my last 15 years in business, and economic flows notwithstanding, there have been times where lead generation and sales were a real grind and there have been times when they come easily, as if magically on autopilot. I’ve been thinking about this recently. What is different in those times that sales just come? What is it that creates that environment, when people just come looking for you?

In taking an honest review of these periods in my businesses, I think the answer simply comes down to one thing. VALUE. The times when sales where coming thick and fast, regardless of or in spite of my efforts, were the times where I was providing real value to my clients over and above what others in my industry were providing; where I had a clear understanding of the value I was providing; and where I was communicating that value in a clear and effective manner. When I have gotten these things lined up, people just came.

I’ll break this down a little bit as there are three parts to it.

Offering Real Value

Today in most industries there is pretty intense competition. Most businesses competing by and large offer the same things with minor differentiators around price, service levels, availability etc. Most businesses in each industry though do not offer a clear and massive difference in value to the rest of the industry. When this happens, sales becomes a slog as you are convincing people to start using you and to stay with you, when by and large they can get most of what you offer from the next business in the street.

So honestly taking a look at what you are doing, is there something you have that clearly creates value for your clients over and above your competitors? If not, maybe spend some time looking at your industry. Ask your clients what is lacking. Find some holes in what is being provided today and fill them. This is exactly what Uber is doing. Become the disruptor in your industry.

Clearly Understanding What That Value Is

The value you are delivering your clients should be ideally, something you are doing deliberately. It may be a side product of something else, but if you do not understand what it is, its possible down the track that you stop doing it – then things will get tough.

If you have given the thought to what you are doing as I suggested in the previous paragraphs, the likelihood is that this will be a deliberate effort for you. One suggestion I have is to ensure you continue to focus on this value, you can make it one of your key monthly reporting items. What is your revenue, or profit per [Value Item] delivered. You may even want to evolve your reporting so this is the core metric you are measuring.

Communicate Value Clearly, Simply, Consistently

Can you explain your clear value differentiator over the rest of your industry in a clear, simple manner? Some ways to think about. Can you explain it consistently in a:

• 20 second elevator pitch
• 1 minute infomercial
• 10 minute presentation

If you can explain your value expertly, consistently and in a way that is easy to understand in these three type of presentations, you will be pretty close to getting there. The reason this is important is when you can and do do this, it becomes very easy for other people to pass on the message to others who are looking for your value. Your network will do much of your sales work for you.

All you need to do from here is start the communication. So put your concise message consistently in all communications about your business. This includes:

• When meeting people
• Networking events
• On your website
• On your business card
• Whenever you get the chance to present to forums
• Social Media
• In your print adverts
• In other advertising and marketing activities

In summary when comparing those easy, successful sales periods with the times where sales was a grind, the true difference to me was in the real value I was providing. The three points above capture the different elements of what has made this value work for my business, translating it into an avalanche of sales. I hope this helps you with your business.