Enterprise

Why weakness in sales is the Achilles heel of many startups

sales

A salesman makes a sales pitch to a potential client. If you don’t have a clear sales plan don’t think of venturing into business. PHOTO | FILE

One thing I have observed in the course of my interaction with entrepreneurs is that before starting a business, majority of them had clear plans on how to produce or procure their products and services.

However, when it comes to marketing and selling, few have the same clarity. In fact, some hang on the simplistic hope that, "if we build it, they will come."

As a result they build strong products and services only to be disappointed that customers still continue to throng the shops of the very competitors they thought were weak on account of their offering.

Weakness in selling is the Achilles heel of many businesses today. The ability to sell goods and services is the lifeblood of every successful business.

Sales competence is a key pillar which every entrepreneur must carefully consider before, not after, starting a business and continuously review it throughout the life of the business.

Simply put, if you don’t have a clear sales plan — which includes developing and equipping your sales team — don’t think of venturing into business.

A sales person is as important to business success as the product or service. If you cannot sell whatever product or service you offer with some degree of consistency, then it does not matter how good your product or service is.

That said, the business of selling cannot be solely left in the hands of employees. As a business owner you must lead your soldiers in the market place. You are salesperson number one.

Most startups’ failure is caused by owners’ neglect of this core function.

Practically all business functions such as production, administration, management and accounting can be delegated with some degree of success. However, the sales function is too important to delegate 100 per cent. Until your business establishes itself as a reputable brand in the market with its own life, you are the face of the business.

In today’s marketplace where buyers are spoilt for choice, clients increasingly buy either from established brands or someone they can trust.

Therefore without a brand, as in the case of a startup, the only unique selling proposition is the person representing a product or service.

In other words the person representing a product or service has a greater influence on the customer’s perception of the value than the product itself.

The responsibility of recruiting and training staff who can exert the right influence on the customer’s perception solely lies on the shoulders of the business owner.

Usually, when you start a new business, the speed of gaining market share largely depends on your ability to hire and train good sales people who will join you in the field.

This is why two or more businesses, say restaurants or retail outlets, started in the same locality with the same catchment and offering similar products will grow at different speed. The difference lies in the employees’ ability to market and sell the founder’s vision.

In the current business climate it is almost impossible to produce a truly unique product or service that has no competitor.

Whatever business or product you venture into today you will be one of several others offering workable solutions which customers may even perceive as similar or comparable. Therefore you cannot count on a product alone to be the differentiator.

When products are functionally similar or comparable as they are today, the critical differentiator is the human aspect.

Therefore staff training and development ought to be given the same attention as the product or service you offer.

Mr Kiunga is a business trainer and the author of The Entrepreneurial Journey: From Employment to Business. [email protected]