Make More Money Without Wasting a Cent!

Times are tough - there's no doubt about it!

If you are going to thrive in this tough economic climate, changes will need to happen within your business.  No longer can you just open your doors and expect people to arrive with a full wallet and an intention to spend their cash.

Savvy business owners are realising that we have some time to go before things pick up and times get easier and they are reassessing their assets and looking for ways to make what they already have, work harder and smarter than ever before.

With this in mind, most business owners would agree that one of their major assets (and expenses) is often their staff.  The question is "how can we make our staff more profitable for our business with spending any more money?"

Too often when times get tough, the first thing business owners stop is investing in training and growth strategies for their key asset when in actual fact this is when business owners should be looking for every means available to make more income from what they already have.

The way to do this is to invest in keeping your staff well trained and up to date in the very things that will increase your bottom line.  One of the best and most inexpensive ways you can achieve this is through effective sales training.  This kind of training will not only pay for itself many times over but it will help your staff to add substantial dollars to your bottom line without costing you one cent more in wages.

Sales affect all parts of your business.  Every time a potential customer rings your business to make an enquiry, you need to be selling yourself to them to convert that enquiry into a real customer.  Every time a customer has a service within your business, you need to be selling yourself to ensure that they not only return for that service in the future but also purchase other services you have on offer. Every time a customer has a service within your business you need to be thinking about how you can sell this customer the products that they need to maintain their results.

Selling is part of every business and you and your staff need to get the right mindset with regard to what selling is really all about and how to go about doing it in a positive manner that not only increases your dollars but builds long term relationships with your customers.

Let's face it; unless your staff are dedicated sales people, chances are their attitude to selling is pretty ho hum at the very best.  As a matter of fact, in most of the businesses I work with, the staff tends to think of selling as a slimy, if not outright evil pastime which should be avoided at all costs. These are staff that have never undergone quality sales training that teaches them how to actually help their clients by understanding the problems that they have and offering the right products or services that help the client overcome those problems.  Australian consumers are renowned for not speaking up when  they are unhappy.  When your business does nothing to solve their problems, they simply move on to another business looking for their solution and that is the last you will ever see them.  Most times you won't even know that they are no longer your customers until it is too late to do anything about it.  This is what happens when we don't have the skills to solve the problems of our customers and in many cases those skills revolve around being able to identify and sell the right products or services that the customers are needing to solve their problem and make them happy.

Selling requires a positive and proactive mindset and is simply a set of techniques that anyone can learn.  Everyone can learn how to sell!  I believe what really matters is achieving the right mindset in your staff so that they not only need to sell but WANT to sell to your customers. Unfortunately, most of our staff are not "born salespeople" and benefit hugely by learning how to go about it in a way in which they are comfortable.

Selling is vital to the health of your business and if you have staff who view selling as an unwanted part of their job, you need to get some real help to overcome this negative mindset otherwise nothing will change in the long term. Short term solutions such as incentive payments and pep talks will not provide you with the long term solution you are looking to achieve. 

For businesses in the personal services arena, retailing should make up about 40% of their total income.  In most cases that I have seen, it is usually under the 10% mark.  This is a recipe for disaster for any business and yet so easy to remedy.  Research has also shown that when your customers purchase just one product from your business they are 30% more like to return for further services. Push this number up to 3 products and the likelihood of your client returning shoots up to an amazing 90%.  Who wouldn't want a 90% retention rate of customers in their business?

Take a look at your business today and if you can see there is room for improvement in your bottom line, think about getting the training your staff needs to make your cash register start jumping with joy!

If you are interested in getting your staff to start selling with enthusiasm, check out my website for a workshop that can help you to get started on increasing your profitability straight away.

There is only one thing worse than training your staff and having them leave and that is NOT training them and having them STAY!

As a business development coach, I specialise in working with small and solo businesses owners and their key staff to keep them motivated, on track and profitable across all areas of their business.

I am always pleased to hear from readers of Making Change Happen with feedback, reflections, suggestions or differing points of view.  I am also happy to offer customised, in-house adaptations of any of my material for your team or business.

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 Pam can be contacted on:

Phone: 0431 975515  or 0755 296 467.

Email: ask@pamstellema.com.au

Website: www.pamstellema.com.au.

An important message

While every effort has been made to provide valuable, useful information in this Newsletter, I and any related suppliers or associated companies, accept no responsibility or any form of liability from reliance upon or use of its contents. Any suggestions should be considered carefully within your own particular circumstances, as they are intended as general information only.