The Key to Small Business Growth? Buyer Alignment

Unfortunately for all buyers, each selling organization and their individual sales professionals are unique and often require immense amounts of energy to build a relationship with. This keeps buyers guessing, which in turn keeps the sales organization guessing. It's a constant game being played out across offices across the country.

To help both sides, it may be prudent to go back to root cause of these ambiguity. The only common denominator across all sales organizations and all buying organizations is the dollar sign. Surprise! Buyers and sellers are concerned about the same thing! The buying organization wants more revenue through decreased revenue; the selling organization wants more revenue through sales. The bottom line-- we all want more revenue.

The item that keeps most C-level executives up at night is how to engage in the global marketplace to increase revenue or reduce costs-that's it. All decisions being made today, whether it's compliance to new laws, expansion into new markets, or whether to lay anyone off, can be traced back to these two sides of the dollar sign. The key for many companies is to focus on aligning marketing, sales, and customer service functions to that common dollar sign--but this is easier said than done. What many companies fail to do is to align these systems to the buying organization and their actual buying processes instead of forcing their process onto the buying organization.

This approach can be summarized as:

(1) Know your customer,

(2) Know your product,

(3) Be ready for the customer to buy, and

(4) Stay engaged with the customer after the sale.

Many organizations train their sales professionals, marketing departments, and customer service representatives on their product, but stop there. As a result, they have spent millions of dollars on training with little results. The problem with this approach is quite simple; they have not first asked "what is the process the buying organization uses in relation to these four phases?"

Believe it or not, the occupation that must understand this question absolutely and definitively is the sales profession. This is because the sales profession has the responsibility for converting market demand into revenue for the selling organization by understanding the desire to increase revenue in the selling organization. Sales professionals fill a critical position in any company by spanning boundaries from one organization to the other. The sales organization (sale professionals, and all supporting infrastructure) must build relationships, understand the customer, and articulate how bring value to the lives of their buyers. This in turn helps the subsequent customer. Sound confusing? Try doing it with a CFO of a telecom firm in the morning, a VP of Marketing in an IT software firm at lunch, and a CEO of a fortune 1000 at night!

The question is not "how do project our sales process onto the buyer?" The real question is "how do we facilitate the customer experience?"

As an example, how would your organization sell to the federal government? Would it be easy to do so if your organization had never done it before? The reason why it is difficult to sell to the federal government lies in difficulty of understanding how the federal government procures their goods and services. By understanding how the government buys obviously helps companies understand how to sell. This needs to happen in every industry, with every buying customer. Unfortunately, this crucial understanding is often overlooked, at the expense of driving lop-line growth.

Brian is the Chairman and Founder of the the United Professional Sales Association (UPSA). UPSA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC that has addressed the concerns and challenges of individual sales professionals. Brian has authored the world's first universal selling standards and open-source selling framework for free distribution. This 'Compendium of Professional Selling' containing the commonly accepted and universally functional knowledge that all sales professionals possess. The open-source selling standards have been downloaded in 16 countries by over 300 people. Over 30 people have made contributions.

Because UPSA is not owned by one person or any company, it is a member organization and guardian of the global standard of entry into the sales profession.

Find out about the membership organization and understand the processes and framework of professional selling at the UPSA Website at http://www.upsa-intl.org. Find out more about Brian at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Brian _Lambert

---

Building Marketing Momentum For Your Small Business

The success of your business depends on your ability to... Read More

7 Essentinal Resources for Small Business

So you want to start a business but you don't... Read More

Specialty Advertising in C-Stores

It appears the mini-blimp indoor theme and concept is making... Read More

Motorizing for Profit - The Craftsmen Have Left the Building

In the summer, I can't drive two blocks without seeing... Read More

Employee Induction - Are you Inducting your People - A Practical How To

In today's fast paced marketplace it is easy to neglect... Read More

Small Business 101: Deadly Ignorance

American small business is again in transition. Many employees, now... Read More

How To Plant Seeds of Success With Small Business Ideas

Think of all of your business ideas as tiny seeds... Read More

Justice In Action

During the 1980 presidential campaign, candidate Ronald Reagan vowed, if... Read More

Starting a Pressure Washing Business

Are you thinking of starting a small pressure washer business... Read More

Competition Relations in Auto Detailing

There is significant competition in auto detailing and car washing.... Read More

Challenging the Gospel of Growth -- Must Business Grow to Survive?

A cherished business doctrine is that growth must be a... Read More

Secrets Revealed To Having The Most Professional Staff On The Telephone!

Do you have all the customers your business can use?The... Read More

Franchising Industry Burdened in Over Regulation

There were only an estimated 1800 active franchisors in this... Read More

Small Business Marketing Series ? Choosing a Niche Market

Many smaller businesses choose niche markets for various reasons and... Read More

Who Makes the BEST Business Partner

How do you find the best business partners?Finding a good... Read More

Five Quick Ways to Speed Up Cash Flow

At one point or another, almost every business runs short... Read More

Franchise Buyers Lying On Forms

The Federal Trade Commission which governs the franchise industry thru... Read More

Street Wars Between Mobile Car Washers and Mobile Auto Detailers

There is much competition in the mobile auto detailing business.... Read More

Wichita KS; Anything is Possible in Wichita Business

Just when the entire state was kissing Wichita goodbye, economically... Read More

Trailblazer Interview with Diane J. Levin, Partnering Solutions

Today is a Red Letter Day! It's special because today... Read More

Change May Be Your Ace in the Hole

Whether it has been thrust upon you by external market... Read More

Is Your Success Predetermined?

Your on-line success is based on your efforts and yours... Read More

Starting Your Small Business

Where do you find more customers?How do you compete with... Read More

How to Profile a Client

At first glance, this topic may seem a little repetitive,... Read More

Corporate Shells

A corporate shell could be liken to a house that... Read More

Small Business Opportunities Magazine Business

A Small Business Opportunities Magazine is one of the new... Read More

The Role of the Business Model and Strategy for Business

People will always stress that having a well researched business... Read More

Asphalt Paving: Striping Your Parking Lot

As you may already know, asphalt paved parking lots do... Read More

Discover How You Can Start Making Your Small Business Dream Come True

As a teenager I worked for my father's small business.... Read More

To Buy A Fat Pig

What does buying a fat pig have to do with... Read More

Small Businesses with BIG NAMES: Protect Your Trademarks and Reap the Rewards

You're a small business owner with a hot new product... Read More

Do You Own Your Business Or Does It Own You?

What was your aim when you went into business for... Read More

How to Effectively Design Your Business Image

In many industries, image is one of the last things... Read More