It’s an all too common story. Many start-ups and entrepreneurs take care of what they perceive to be the most mission critical elements of their business first and simply overlook what might be the most critical element of all!

Lawyer? Check.

CPA? Check.

Marketing? Check.

The fist pumping begins and there’s a feeling of “OK we are all ready to set the world on fire with our incredible product or service. Yes we are.”

But starting and growing a business isn’t a case of if you build it they will come. Not by a long shot. You might build it, insure it, have contracts for it but you may not have customers. And at the end of the day you don’t have a business if you don’t have customers!

We all know that marketing helps you to establish credibility and visibility in the marketplace. Your prospects have to know you, see you, believe in your brand promise and then the sales will come. Or will they?

Unless you are a “click to buy” online business there is a strong need for human interaction to play a role in the sales process. And while we are on this very subject…sales process…is very much needed regardless of whether or not you are an online business or have a more “traditional” model.

Sales “bounces” on the foundation that marketing has established but it is only at the point of sales / closed business that you will see the revenue come in.

So before you think that you have covered all of the necessary bases consider this:

• Do you have a solid sales process in place that enables you to effectively take all of your leads and prospects and pull them through the sales funnel until they emerge as clients?
• Have you developed a sales touch point program so that you can nurture your networking contacts and referral sources?
• Are you confident in your sales competencies and feel that you have a good handle on how to open a sales dialogue, probe effectively, overcome objections and close?
• Can you efficiently grow your existing clients and be certain that you are not leaving business on the table?

You see all of these things live in the sales silo, not marketing, and without attending to them you will certainly not recognize maximum return on your marketing dollars.

Take care of yourself. Take care of your business and don’t overlook the incredibly important, not to be forgotten and critical to your bottom-line aspect called SALES. And, if you need any questions answered or I can help in any way, just shoot me an email.