Sales and Marketing Lee Rust, Owner, Florida Corporate Finance
Future FRSA Convention and Expo Dates For planning purposes, please note these future Convention and Expo dates:
2021 – July 21-23
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center Kissimmee
2022 – July 20-22
FRSA’s 100th Anniversary The Ocean Center, Daytona Beach
2023 – July 12-14
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center Kissimmee
2024 – June 5-7
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center Kissimmee
2025 – June 4-6
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center Kissimmee
2026 – June 10-12
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center Kissimmee www.FloridaRoof.com
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FLORIDA ROOFING | July 2020
You might be amazed at how many of my client’s companies have but a single sales technique. They answer the telephone. Someone calls to say they want to buy a widget or a certain service and the response is, “Oh yes, we make those,” or, “Oh yes, we do that.” Their only active sales work is to rely on their reputation, their past relationships and the “word-of-mouth” system of sales. While those might suffice to maintain a modest level of revenues, they won’t contribute much to growth, adequate market penetration or an operation of significant size. Many company owners know little of sales and marketing techniques. The reason is simple: most entrepreneurs are better versed in the products they manufacture or the services they provide than how to sell those products or services. They gained their experience making things or doing things and, in many cases, not in selling those things. Once your company is established, however, any owner or principal operating executive should turn their attention to sales and marketing. Although the words “sales and marketing” are most frequently presented as a single subject, marketing is quite different from sales. For any company owner or executive who wants their operation to be more than a source of personal compensation, they should understand both as well as how both functions can be applied to the growth of the company. Let’s look first at sales.
Selling
To understand how to sell a product or service, start by examining the purchasing decision. List all of the factors that most influence a customer’s decision to buy and then rank those factors by most to least important. Those factors might include quality, design, performance, utility, simplicity, technological advancement, price, size, weight, delivery time, inventory control, customer training, after sales service, the distance from you to your customer, your company’s reputation and your company’s relationship with the customer. Once you have a good feel for what causes a customer to choose your product or service over those of your competitors, you can then concentrate on both improving those factors that are the most important and on presenting them to your potential customers. Next, study all possible channels into the markets that use your products or services. Determine how those products or services can be most cost