Your Company’s Successful Growth and Exit Strategy Quite Possibly Depends on This Simple Sales Concept. This “Concept” Was Probably the Single Most Important Strategy to Help Me, Help a Start-Up Entrepreneur Grow a B2B Business from Zero to Over $13,000,000 in Sales in 3 Years!
Below Are The (7) Keys to Build an Automated, Hands-Free, Business-Growth Selling Machine
I know the “STOP HIRING SALESPEOPLE” headline might be blasphemous in many business circles, but I do see this simple and conventional wisdom sales strategy as a non-starter and fails more times than it is successful.
Let me explain.
In late 2018, an entrepreneur in the construction business asked me to help him create commercial windows startup company. His existing General Contractor customers were complaining about the product and service they were receiving from the big-brands windows manufacturers in the industry. After completing my analysis and seeing the big upside sales potential, I agreed to head up the sales side of the business and create a system that would be repeatable and deliver sales for years to come. The owner’s job was to manage the production, delivery, and the cash flow side of the equation.
My name is Bill Mooney and I’ve helped companies grow their businesses through creative and measurable sales strategies. My wife and I are also part of a venture capital group out of South Carolina.
My Goal for This Blog Series is to Help You Think Outside the Conventional Wisdom Sales Strategy Box and Begin Your Journey to Creating an Automated Selling Machine. Eventually This Will Help Your Company’s Value and Fulfill Your Exit Strategy
My first question for this business owner was “What Business do You Want to Be In?”
His answer?
“Commercial Windows Manufacturer.”
That is how most people I have consulted with in the past answer that question. Most focus on the product or service they are selling… but my approach is a little different.
My response to this business owner?
“I believe we were starting a sales, marketing, and customer-service business.”
A business that happens to be selling and manufacturing commercial windows.
It’s a different mindset for sure.
A mindset that focuses on creating a repeatable selling machine that works while we are sleeping. A selling machine where we can add in the leads and spit out qualified relationship customers and not high-maintenance transactional buyers. A selling machine that can be scaled with minimal human resources and happy customers.
Why minimal human resources?
It’s not that I’m against salespeople, good ones pay off in droves.
The problem is the 80-20 rule where 20% of the salespeople generate the vast number of sales.
In fact, I can argue it’s probably a 90-10 rule in most businesses. Ten percent of the salespeople generate almost all the sales. You will spend most of your time managing the remaining 90% of the employees.
So, how many salespeople do you need to hire, train, manage, and eventually let go to find the top 10%?
Probably a ton.
You then become a human resource company instead of a sales company.
My Message is… Set Up a Proven Sales and Lead Machine Where You Need Less Closers to Get Better Results! Put those resources towards operational and customer service employees!
I’ll admit, I didn’t know anything about the commercial windows business while committing to this startup.
But I do know people.
I do understand their fears and frustrations.
I can craft a message that resonates with those target buyers.
I can generate quality sales. In fact, I brought in one of the top three contractors in the country as a client.
Only question then became can the owner deliver after we close the sales.
YOU CAN CREATE A SELLING MACHINE!
Is your business set up to service a flood of quality sales?
Who This Article Series Is Written For… and Who Won’t Get Anything Out of This Strategic Article Series…
I would say if your company is killing it with sales and have an abundance of repeat customers, kudos to you. Probably no reason to keep reading.
If your company’s sales and profits are where they need to be so you can execute your exit strategy and sell your business for a huge profit, GREAT JOB! There is no reason to follow this series.
If you are like most of the business owners I consult with and need to improve their sales process, this series is written for you. This simple machine-building sales strategy flat-out works. It works for the folks who will put in the effort to make it happen.
The Big Mistake
As I mentioned earlier, going through the 80-20 or 90-10 fiasco to generate sales causes a lot of sleepless nights.
The 80-20 salesperson strategy can take years and dozens of hires and fires to refine and eventually get you to the sales number you need.
(R)Evolution
What I’ve seen over the years is the inability of business owners to adapt and change with the times and how people react.
I’ve named my website www.BizGrowthRevolution.com for a reason.
To grow your business, you need to evolve. You need a revolution. To successfully evolve, you need to:
- Evolve from something simple to something more productive
- Have the ability and desire to change
- Adapt to changing times
- Have the ability and ego to acknowledge imperfections in your system
- And to EMERGE STRONGER!
Is it time for your sales evolution and revolution?
The Revolution Solution
Create a lead and sales automated machine spitting out relationship buyers week after week, all year long.
We’ve all seen attractive sales and marketing funnel graphics over the years. Yes, it seems like a graphic designers dream to create these, but I will tell you they work if you put in the work to design and manage the flow from some key metrics. Managing to these critical metrics learned along the way is the key to success in my mind. There were two key metrics I discovered along the way. As I developed those, I built the team around the needs to fill those metrics. More content going to more leads lead to more sales. It’s as simple as that!
Below is an image of the basic sales machine structure I created to generate $13,000,000 in sales in three years. A machine where I was the only sales closer. We didn’t really need more “salespeople”…. I could handle all those calls. We needed more support people to process the sales I did close. This article series will dive deep into each section of the selling machine building strategy.
Because of the metrics and direct-response marketing I created, we only needed two additional employees to make the process happen. Someone to find and create more “leads” and someone to manage the process to product after I secured the contract.
Think about that….
One salesperson. A “lead” manager. An operations/Customer-service manager. This team generated $13,000,000 in sales in about three years…. Even during the “Covid” era.
In the beginning, the owner wanted to hire 5 to 10 salespeople to “grow” sales.
I was able to put together a system with far fewer people and these people were fully invested in the system.
I will go into more detail with these successful strategies in this article series.
- Attract Traffic
- In this article we will discuss who your target is and should be
- Crafting the right message for this audience
- Where are they and how to attract them
- What makes you different
- Attracting with your benefits and not features
- Growing your herd is the end result goal and key to longevity and profits
- Capture Leads
- Lead magnets
- CRM System
- Sources
- Key Metrics
- Nurture Prospects
- Building Relationships and Trust
- Relationship Buyers vs Transactional Buyers
- Segmenting your herd
- Message for each segment
- Convert Sales
- Selling on purpose
- Tracking success rate and other metrics
- Making adjustments
- Overcoming obstacles
- Delivery and Satisfy
- One of the biggest opportunities to grow your market share. Most of your competitors probably stink at this aspect
- This must be a company cultural thing
- Upsell Customers
- Who is the best “next” customer? Your existing customers
- Create creative upsells
- Premium products and/or services
- Bundling
- Get Referrals
- Benefits of a formal referral program
- Ideas on structuring a referral program
- Administering a referral program
- Affiliate sales
I’d suggest you grab a note pad and look at this graphic. Start taking notes on each category how well you are doing in these categories right now. As you read the additional articles, make notes and start to put your plan together.
Look for my next article discussing “Attract Traffic”…. Its where we start your journey to building your automated sales machine and quite possibly never to have to make another cold sales call and grow your sales while you are sleeping.
Until next time,
Bill Mooney