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Running a business without a sales strategy is like sailing through a storm blindfolded. Such a strategy gives your business a clear path to making profits and how you can make the most sales. However, not all sales strategies are cut from the same gem, and you can wind up with one that simply does not work. It’s not easy to tell whether or not your methods are going to fail early on, but the symptoms manifest over time. Naturally, you will want to catch them as soon as they show up so you can think of reworking your strategy or create a new one from scratch.
1. YOUR SALES AND MARKETING DO NOT LINE UP
You know your sales strategy is doomed to fail the first time you notice that your sales team cannot deliver on the promises that your company has made in its marketing. In other words, your business is telling your customers one thing and ends up giving them something else. This inconsistency is an excellent recipe for flailing sales and dissatisfied customers, so you will need a new sales strategy that maintains consistency between your sales and marketing departments.
2. YOU ARE SELLING TO THE WRONG MARKET
When your strategy directs you to a market where you may not make a lot of profit, it is time to rethink the way you do things. Maybe you are looking to sell to a very broad market, thinking that your product will address the needs of many different buyers. Alternatively, you may be trying to do business in a declining market that is heading towards obsolescence due to recent trends. That said, you will need to switch to a strategy that lets you focus on a niche that is very likely to see growth in the future and where your product or service can perform best.
3. YOU ARE NOT CONSISTENTLY MAKING SALES
What can make a bad sales strategy more evident than inconsistent sales? When you are not able to keep up with the demand, hit sales quotas, or get to company decision-makers that you can make deals with, you are very obviously doing things wrong. This can hurt your profits down the road in multiple ways. You may end up with customers who are not satisfied with their buying experience, flip-flopping revenues, and an organisation-wide decline in sales confidence resulting in sales representatives hesitating to sell your product. Consistent sales should be the focus of your new strategy.
KEEP YOUR SALES STRATEGY EVOLVING
In business, it is important to keep evolving if you are to stay in the game. You do not stick to just a single track that you think might lead you to success. Evaluate your methods constantly and consistently so you can make adjustments where needed, or figure out that the whole thing doesn’t work and try a different approach.
