Some business leaders aggressively pursue every sale believing them to be the ultimate key to corporate success. Sales, however, represent far more than just dollars and cents. In fact, the revenue generated through a sale is just the beginning of the overall financial impact on the business.
Sales say a lot about a company and profoundly impact its culture, reputation, and goals achievement. And while every business must sell a critical mass of products and services to survive and flourish, to whom, what, and how it sells greatly affects long-term success.
Hi there! This article is available for free. Simply register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided client by clicking here.
Already a client? Login to access this article.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/NoToSales.jpg282425StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-03-29 06:51:592015-10-02 21:03:09Marketing and Sales – Some Sales Are Simply Not Worth Making
Just as a well-developed organizational performance measurement system helps align an organization to the efficient achievement of its goals, a misaligned performance measurement system diverts focus and resources toward non-value-adding activities. Over time, existing projects finish and new initiatives begin; requiring performance measures within the system be changed. While these alterations are intended to support continued, effective business operation, they are often performed without a holistic view of the system and may have unintended adverse impacts. Therefore, it is prudent to conduct a holistic performance measurement system evaluation with frequency that is regular enough to minimize the damage misalignment can cause without being so frequent as to become overly burdensome.
Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.
Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library
Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).
I’m celebrating my twentieth year of writing about sales, networking, loyalty, trust, attitude, leadership, business social media, and personal development.
My core of information transformed into a body of work that includes 11 books – all bestsellers. I did it while you were watching TV. I chose to write instead of watch.
Last week was the second part of the celebration talking about the evolution of the selling process and how it will affect you and your sales for the next twenty. This is the third and final part. If you missed the first two, you can get all three parts at Gitomer.com, by entering the word ‘twenty’ in the GitBit box.
Here’s the conclusion of what’s now and what’s next:
19. UNDERSTAND CREATIVITY. Most people say they’re creative, but they have never read a book on the science of it. That might be a good intention for the remainder of 2012. Start with anything by Michael Michalko.
20. CONVERT LEADS TO SALES. This is as challenging as any sales activity in the cycle. Sales have been dangling in the wind for years. Decisions are finally picking up speed. Now is the time to stay in consistent, ‘value-based’ follow-up mode. Stay on track and sales will follow.
21. YOUR ATTITUDE. You have COMPLETE control and choice as to the way you dedicate yourself to the way you think. As you emerge from the economic depression of the past four years, it is IMPERATIVE that your attitude (both at home and at work) is set on YES! This one element will enhance everyone’s communication, morale, service, and sales.
22. EARN TRUST. You don’t ask for trust. You can’t force trust. You EARN trust. How are you earning it?
23. EARN SALES. You don’t ask for sales. You can’t force sales. You EARN sales. Still asking? Still trying to “close?”
24. EARN LOYALTY. You don’t ask for loyalty. You can’t force loyalty. You EARN loyalty. Loyalty comes from service and value received. Where’s your value?
25. EARN REFERRALS. You don’t ask for referrals. You can’t force referrals. You EARN referrals. Referrals are not just leads, they’re report cards.
26. EARN TESTIMONIALS. You don’t ask for testimonials. You don’t force testimonials. You EARN testimonials. Testimonials are your ONLY valid proof.
27. DIFFERENTIATE IN THE MIND OF THE CUSTOMER. Differentiating is the key to winning on value over price. Your branded emails can differentiate you from the others. Go to www.aceofsales.com, subscribe, and you will immediately begin to genuinely differentiate.
28. TAKE ACTION. Put away the remote. I know you take action during the workday – it’s before and after the workday that I’m talking about. Allocate 30 minutes in the morning and one hour in the evening to improving one of these imperatives each day.
29. CONSISTENCY OF ACTIONS. Get up earlier every day, and do something for YOU. Exercise. Read. Think. Write. Every day. That’s been one of my ‘obvious’ 20-year secrets.
30. NEXT-LEVEL ACHIEVEMENT. Study your business, your market, your competition, your customers, and yourself. When you do, what’s next for you will become obvious.
31. FAMILY SUPPORT. Nothing and no one is more important. You need their support. They need yours. Best advice: Give genuine support, and yours will follow.
32. WRITE EVERY DAY. Writing leads to wealth. Not money, wealth. Every penny I have earned since March 23, 1992, I can trace back to something I wrote. But MUCH MORE than money, I have gained reputation, recognition, and rewards that have enhanced my success all the way to fulfillment. And I promise that writing every day will do the same for you.
32.5 CELEBRATE. OFTEN. Please do not wait to celebrate. Life’s short. Celebrate every thing, every sale, every victory, every day. And don’t be cheap about it.
TAKE ACTION NOW, NOT TOMORROW: Go back over the entire list of 32.5 imperatives and rate yourself 1-10 on how well you stack up against each element that I have presented. That will give you the most realistic picture of where you are vs. where you need to be. And it will give you a clearer vision or where you’re going. All you need to do is make a plan of ‘how.’
Dedicate an hour a day to you. In 20 years, you’ll be an instant success. I’m proof.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/JeffreyGitomer.jpg218156StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-03-26 06:32:382016-08-07 21:21:07Elements from the past twenty years you can use for the next twenty!
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856 – 1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.png00StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-03-24 06:46:272016-08-08 16:03:34Leadership Inspirations – Fear of Mistakes
Built to Sell by John Warrillow highlights the many factors preventing business owners from successfully transitioning away from their companies and how to resolve this situation. All too often, business founders embed themselves within the operational fabric of the company they create; setting it up for failure upon they departure. In his business novel, John defines the business characteristics and operating environment owners must establish in order to later remove themselves from the organization without its subsequent collapse. These include:
offering products and services employees or technologies can deliver in the owner’s absence
specializing in doing one thing better than anyone else
creating a stream of recurring revenue because customers need to repurchase often
Benefits of Using this Reference
StrategyDriven Contributors like Built to Sell because of its actionable insights presented in a easy-to-consume business novel format. Furthermore, we believe John’s principles of creating a successful business apply to enterprises of all sizes, whether public or private.
StrategyDriven Contributors have long warned against the practice of employing ‘working managers.’ (See StrategyDriven Warning Flag – Working Managers.) We feel management is the work of managers and that to focus on other tasks, particularly those that should be performed by subordinates, dilutes the manager’s ability to effectively manage; diminishing overall organizational performance and doing a disservice to both the manager and his/her staff. John’s book, Built to Sell, presents in principle the actions necessary for every manager to remove him/herself from the day-to-day work of the business so to allow him/her to manage. Subsequently, the manager can be replaced. In John’s book, the owner-manager can sell and transition away from the company without its failing. In a corporate setting, the manager can transition via promotion/transfer and the remaining organization continue to operate successfully.
We believe the principles presented in Built to Sell are broadly applicable and the book to be an invaluable read for managers at every organizational level. For its quality and actionable insights, Built to Sell is a StrategyDriven recommended read.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.png00StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2012-03-22 06:16:452015-09-17 21:57:51Recommended Resource – Built to Sell
A VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS | Call or text now for a FREE consultation: +1 (770) 765-3692 | 
Some business leaders aggressively pursue every sale believing them to be the ultimate key to corporate success. Sales, however, represent far more than just dollars and cents. In fact, the revenue generated through a sale is just the beginning of the overall financial impact on the business.
Just as a well-developed organizational performance measurement system helps align an organization to the efficient achievement of its goals, a misaligned performance measurement system diverts focus and resources toward non-value-adding activities. Over time, existing projects finish and new initiatives begin; requiring performance measures within the system be changed. While these alterations are intended to support continued, effective business operation, they are often performed without a holistic view of the system and may have unintended adverse impacts. Therefore, it is prudent to conduct a holistic performance measurement system evaluation with frequency that is regular enough to minimize the damage misalignment can cause without being so frequent as to become overly burdensome.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, 
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
Business Programs