There are a lot of similarities between farming and growing a business. One of the key similarities is the importance of proper planning while seeing the big picture. Often, as small business owners, we get overly engrossed in the day-to-day micro-operations of the company and neglect to plant enough seeds and dig enough wells in the macro to get where we want to be.
Unfortunately, by the time many small business owners come to Wildman Web Solutions they are already thirsty, and the only well they have is running dry. This causes an over emphasis on sales, which ironically, is a sure-fire way to slow your sales. Just as the harvest was sown long before it was reaped. Growing your company through increasing sales starts long before the customer ever walks through the door or visits your website.
The process starts with brand. The bridge from the brand to sales is marketing. We will not achieve long term sales growth without proper brand development unless we are selling corvettes for a nickel.
Brand can most simplistically define as reputation. What do you people think and feel when they hear the name of your company? That is your brand. It should be definable in 3 words. Find the 3 words that most accurately describe your business, and then write 30 words underneath each of those 3. Brand takes a long time to develop properly. It is digging wells. The best time to dig a well is when you already have plenty of water. The best time to invest in branding is when you do not need sales. Every company should be reinvesting a portion of their profits today to build their brand as investment for future sales.
Marketing is what connects our brand to sales. When a company has remarkable brand and marketing the sales become the easiest part of the business. Especially when systems have been put in place inside the company geared toward replicating consistency across the marketing bridge. In other words, when the brand and marketing messages align with the customer experience, the sales take care of themselves.
Have you ever encountered a hard sell at McDonald’s? Does the worker behind the counter ever have to convince you to order? Of course not. The branding and sales have already done 99% of the work. The only sales pitch you will ever encounter at McDonald’s is an upsell. “Can I supersize your order?”. That’s it. The hard work has already been done.
If your business’ sales process is centered around convincing customers to buy a product or service, you are fighting an unnecessarily difficult uphill battle. Invest in, fine tune, optimize your brand and marketing, then the sales will come like water rushing up from a spring.
