Do you run a mid-sized organization and have you faced a situation where growth is stagnating despite good product/service offerings?
What do you do in such a situation?
Invest on sales/marketing initiatives
Introspect and change as needed
Prioritise or Pivot on product or service offerings
Look holistically if you have the right organization to enable growth
All of the above
The obvious answer is (e). Without a complete 360 degree perspective, it would always be a challenge to bring in business growth. In a series of four posts starting with this one, we'll share our experience on various aspects that drive overall business growth.
Walking down the street - Its HOT!! If only sales was as easy as writing this post!!! In talking to clients, prospects and other business owners in our network, we came across a pattern of thinking. Many mid-sized organizations (some start-ups, some are well established in their domains) seem to have a preference to leverage their business partners for growth. More often than not, Partners complement your service offerings and help provide a complete solution to clients. For e.g. Wealth Managers of a Bank will sell a risk cover offered by an Insurance company to offer a wholistic financial solution. However, he/she is not in the market to actively sell only the Insurance Product. The incentive for a Partner to actively sell your service or solution is high when the Partnership is only for sales. E.g. Distribution of FMCG products. Based on our interactions, many mid-sized companies are challenged for growth despite having great products/services, primarily, (and many times admittedly) due to a lack of sales investment from the Founders/CEOs. As many start-ups have realised, no one can sell better than the business owner. The passion and energy is often contagious. However, faced with challenges to grow, many companies seek "outside intervention" for sales through Partnerships which may not have a win-win theme. Regardless of the size of the company, its extremely important for CEOs/Founders to hit the streets, pound the markets and interact with prospects and clients. There is no easy alternative. Once the targets for the year are set, put a budget for customer acquisition and set aside "feet on the street" time. The rewards will certainly be there to reap. We can vouch for that from experiences of our own and that of the clients we advise. As they say, when you don't meet your sales target, drive like crazy - not just to expense your mileage, but to acquire clients!! Happy Selling!!