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Few companies are content with the level of business they attract. Most that I speak to talk of their need to attract new customers, to grow sales, to turn around the sales department or reverse declining revenues.

Many companies that I work with have tried to bring about these changes internally, but the "new regime" fails to deliver and it's often at this point that I am called in.

The question that I am asked is "How can I use my sales department to retain existing customers and attract new customers?" This document gives the background to the answer I often give.

Your people are the answer...

A sales department is a strage place where most forms of life can be observed from time to time. However the one thing that is certain is that the salespeople within the team are vital to the success of the company.

This article looks at the people issues involved in running a sales team and offers 5 simlple actions that will allow your salespeople to be the best they can be.

Give your business competitive advantage through its people

Do you believe that this is possible? Can investing time, energy and money in your people produce your company better financial results?

Well the evidence is out there and the answer is YES! One study shows that the companies that are rated best to work for by their people outperform their competitors by almost 100%! If you accept this, then what to do about it?

The answer is not a simple one line statement, but involves a review of a companies values and how it deal with its staff. I have prepared a detailed review of the evidence and explanation of how you can improve your company performance by investing your your people.

The figures are well known; only 20% retention of training material after 3 months is the industry norm. Put another way you are wasting 80% of you investment in training!

But the training is not the problem; the problem is that the people attending the training course do not apply what they have learned and so forget it. But it is possible to help staff to retain and apply what they have learned. I call it "training mplementation".

Training Implementation is all about helping an individual to absorb what they have learned and then to apply it in the workplace. I use a coaching model for this, but many other approaches work equally well.

We've been coaching in many companies helping their staff to implement the training they have received. Anecdotal evedence suggests that we are acheiving an 80% retention rate after 3 months! That is, we are making training 4 times more effective!

When you are working you are either working in your business (for example, chairing meetings, selling, raising money, etc) pretty much as any other employee; or you are working on your business. This is the remit of the Director or owner of a business and this work is about defining what the business’ goals are, how the business needs to change over the next year, what you want our of the business and so on.

Can you see the difference?

The first role is the job of all the employees all the time. The second role is for the select few people whose responsibility it is to take the business forward.

My question to you is “where do you spend your time?” Do you work in your business or on it?

Few companies accurately measure the lifetime value of a customer. This information could drive many decisions within your company and provide clarity to all sales and marketing activity.

To calculate the average lifetime value of a customer analyse your customer base as follows:

1) What is the average net profit from a customer order? Measure net profit in the way that best suits you.

2) How many times each year does the average customer buy?

3) How many years does the average customer stay with you?

Multiply the net profit by the number of orders per year by the number of years. This gives you the average lifetime value of a customer to your business. Say this figure is £5000. This means that every time you land a new customer, it’s worth £5000 in future profit to your company.

How can you use this information? What decisions would you take differently if you knew precisely how much acquiring one customer for your business was worth?

Find your pen and fill out on the six blank lines below your six most important things that you need to do today:

1. ___________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________

6. ___________________________________________

Start off doing number one until it is finished or you can do no more then move on to number two, then number three and so on. The reasoning behind this is that these are the six most important things that you must do today. If you do not do them this way, then you were not going to do them any other way and at the very least you have made a start on the most important things in your life.