December 6, 2011
Visible Companies Sell More
Smal and medium sized businesses can get in touch with more
customers if they plan their sales efforts and if they inform the press when
they have something interesting to tell.
"Yes, we have our sales concept lined up but we really would like us to
sell more. And we would also like that our customers can regularly read about
us in the press. We have many good solutions and products that more people
should know about."
This could be a typical statement from a Managing Director of a small or a medium
sized company. The sales team is in place, but the company's pipeline is not
necessarily filled with orders. Not every sales consultant likes to
systematically contact new customers. Many are inclined to stick to their existing
customers. It's more convenient, and existing customers are easier to talk with.
Even though it may not lead to a large increase in sales. And the press! "Journalists
are quite complicated to deal with."
This is feedback that the two consultants Lars Grandjean of Grandjean
Nordic and Christian Pedersen of Added Value Communication often meet.
When it comes to being visible in the press, only few small companies have
established a plan for their communication and have set targets for how much
they will be mentioned in the media during the coming year.
Sales Manager Lars Grandjean worked with operational, tactical and strategic
sales for Danish and foreign companies, both as an employee and as an
independent consultant.
Communication Adviser, Christian Pedersen has worked with communication and
media, both as an independent consultant and as Communications Director in
Danish and international companies and organizations.
The two consultants have three tips for strengthening, respectively sales and
press efforts:
Lars' three best sales tips are
1. Divide sales in phases and define what areas of sales, you need to improve
to succeed with your sales?
2. Prioritize the sales effort every day - prioritze time slots dedicated for
selling in your calendar.
3. How did you get your latest client? Repeat the process with a similar company
in the same industry. They probably have the same needs as your new customer.
Christian's top three media tips are
1. Do not write a press releases about anything new in your firm. Have a media
plan and stick to the year's strategic goals and themes. Being visible is not a
target in itself. You need have something interesting to tell.
2. Forget the language of advertising and the very flattering terms. It is
important not to exaggerate.
3. Numbers are interesting for the journalist. Numbers can be the basis for
telling good stories.
- We find that many business leaders who want to boost sales, will benefit from
taking advantage of the opportunities by combining sales and media efforts.
With few resources and with a minimum of effort you can get in touch with new
customers, says Lars Grandjean and Christian Pedersen.
For further information please contact Lars Grandjean on telephone + 45 61 60
02 98 and Christian Pedersen on telephone + 45 61 33 69 65.
Photo: Christian Pedersen (left) and Lars Grandjean (right) calls for combining
the sales and media efforts.
Check also our 10 tips for media contact.
