One of the most important aspects of sales, is to take a dynamic approach. In the current economic context, market conditions are changing frequently and not do only do you sales team need to be aware of the changes, their sales pitch must be informed by them. In this post, we look at how to get the most out of your sales team by communicating with them.
- Review Targets
‘In our sector ‘, says Martin Wallwork, CEO of holiday4u.net, ‘ the market is constantly changing due to seasonality and competitor activity, therefore, it would be ridiculous for me to keep the same targets for our sales guys throughout the year”
In general, targets are there to focus and motivate your sales team. Set them to high and they will have the direct opposite effect. However, set them to low and you will end up paying out a fortune in commission and damaging your profit margins. “In our company” comments Wallwork, “we have a meeting at the beginning of each month, to set targets informed by what both I and the sales team think are achievable.”
- Take the Time to Talk
Like any employee, salespeople need to feel appreciated and recognised for their performance and hard work – especially in the current economic context where deals are tough to get and morale is low.
Also, if you do want to reward one of your team do it in person and preferably in front of the whole department. Not only will this increase the motivation of the individual in question, it will also energise the rest of your team.
- Listen to Your Team
We have mentioned on a number of occasions, the importance of providing platforms for your customers to give their feedback on your product or service, from the point of company formation. However, it is also important that it works the other way and you get feedback from your sales people about you customers.
Not only will this help inform future sales and marketing activity, it will also provide you with an insight on how each sales person approaches their job differently and from that you can establish how best to incentivise them.

Starting the company formation process is a notoriously stressful time. As a consequence, many important elements of getting your business off to the best possible start are overlooked. Therefore, before you begin any promotional activity, it is important you take some time out to establish objectives, budgets and most importantly, strategy.
While there is no definitive rule on how you should plan how you are going to market your business, it is a good idea to establish where you would like your company to be in three years time in comparison to where you think it would be if you did not execute a marketing strategy.
Marketing consultant James Pollock suggests integrating a marketing strategy into your business plan from the moment you decide to form your company. He comments; “Ultimately, when you form your company it is likely that you will engage in some marketing activity, even if the budget is not vast. Planning it from the moment of incorporation will allow you to establish where you are now and how you want any form of marketing activity to help you get to where you want to be.”
Before you begin planning your strategy, have a look at our tips below. Keep in mind that planning and scheduling will help you be consistent in your marketing approach and, ultimately, help you reach your goals.

-Establish clear objectives
-Define you target customer and identify their demographic profile
-Decide on your brand identity and key messages
-Research what marketing platforms you want to use
-Establish a budget
-Decide how you are going to measure results
Marketing is a vital part of any successful business, if you don’t decide to utilise it and gain a share of voice, it is most likely that your competitors will.
Monday, 24 August 2009 11:04:08 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Yesterday, in the Companies Made Simple office, I overhead a colleague discussing Apple’s hero product – the i phone. Said colleague was such an evangelical brand ambassador, that she went as far as to state; “The i phone will completely change your life.” Not only did this get me thinking about the role a consumer plays in creating your company’s image, but also how important it is to ensure that your brand is a part of collective consumer conversation from the point of company formation.
We’ve heard it on hundreds of occasions – design and create an amazing product and your customers will talk passionately about it across a number of platforms. While this is the case for the i-phone, for many small businesses the theory falls short.

Unfortunately, most of your consumers aren’t discussing their experience of your brand on various blogs and social networks, they are passive, quietly buying your product, keeping their opinions to themselves and not playing any part in constructing your brands image or reputation.
Have a look at our top three tips on how you can change this;
1. Think about why your customer buys your product.

What differentiates your brand from all the others? What unique features does it have that excites them?

2. Tell them you care about what they think.

This is a mistake many small businesses make, they assume that if their customers have something to say they will find a way of doing it, this is simply not the case. Conduct a customer survey asking what they feel about your brand and how it can be improved – offer a prize draw and tell them about how you are going act on the results.

3. Provide platforms for your customers to talk to you.

Embrace social media; create a blog with links to your Twitter and Facebook page and don’t just use the platforms for promotion. use them as a way of having a conversation with your customers.