By Helen Coston
I did an intro call recently with an organisation who are looking for revenue growth.
They're in the media sector with a couple of well-established brands, a 20 year history and a loyal internal team.
But sales have been a little slow in recent years and the purpose of the call was to see if I could help them get back on track.
I liked the business owner immediately: down-to-earth, approachable and hugely passionate. "Everything on paper looks good," he said. "Our team are working hard and we have loyal clients."
Why isn't revenue growth going the way you want it to?
I asked what was getting in the way and this is where the conversation became so interesting because he actually wasn't sure.
So, my first step will be to look at exactly what the reason(s) are.
But, in my experience it's often down to one or more of the following. And if you're looking at revenue growth right now for your organisation, perhaps it's also one of these.
Skills and people
Whether you're a business of one, or running a large team, having the right skills and people in place is essential for growth. Commercial or sales skills is something not everyone finds easy and taking the time to train, develop and nurture these skills will create huge potential across the organisation.
And if you're a business owner, don't overlook the importance of key sales skills! The ability to start conversations, nurture relationships and negotiate rates is part of being a successful business owners.
Tools and processes
This can look like anything from not having the right CRM in place, to not having sound internal processes. Many organisations lose sales because conversations get lost, people aren't followed-up with or the sales process isn't fully managed.
I often find this area can be quite chaotic internally and fairly simple tweaks can make a big difference.
Strategy
In a recent study we put together in the non-profit sector, we found that 50% of respondents do not have a unified commercial strategy or approach across their organisations. In the SME corporate sector this is less of an issue but certainly for companies going through growth it can become a huge challenge to effectively scale without having a strategy that everyone is following. Knowing where growth will come from is absolutely key.
Leadership
Hiring a commercial lead is a challenge for many of my clients as the tone needs to be aligned with the mission, vision and ethos of the company or organisation. A good commercial leader won't just be thinking about sales targets: they'll be thinking about what the best way to achieve the goals are with the resources available and how to evolve the organisation's culture and approach. (At least that's how I like to work!!)
Opportunities
Are enough opportunities being created within the organisations? New clients/ members/ business if the lifeblood for growth and often there may be a lack of leads or new opportunities coming in to support growth.
Diagnosis
In the company I referred to at the beginning there was a few things going on: first the sales teams' time had become quite stretched with other priorities going on in the business. Second, new business wasn't quite as effective as it could be, with less time being devoted to new client acquisition than was ideal. Finally the sales team was less aware of the sales strategy than the business owner thought, and this could be resolved through some improved internal communication and strategy sessions.
Growth diagnostic
I'm offering some complimentary growth diagnostic sessions right now and they're designed to help organisations to identify the biggest barriers to growth. Over a short call we'll look at these areas and I'll be able to give you a quick picture of what is working well, what needs attention and what would be a priority area. I'll also give 3 practical priorities for you to implement.
Find out more here
