The 4 Biggest Mistakes in Managing Your Sales Funnel |  |
- The 4 Biggest Mistakes in Managing Your Sales Funnel
- People More Likely To Choose a Smartwatch Over Glasses
- Is an Unlimited Vacation Policy a Good Idea or a Recipe for Disaster?
- Dell Customers Complain Their New Laptops Smell … Bad
- Why Many Small Business Owners Don’t Like the President
- Facebook Helps One Man Build a French Fry Empire
| The 4 Biggest Mistakes in Managing Your Sales Funnel Posted: 18 Nov 2013 04:00 PM PST
Many sales people are familiar with the concept of the "sales funnel," with the idea that every sale starts with a large pool of prospects. Then they are eventually narrowed down by the various steps of the sales process (qualification, presentations, proposals, etc.) leading to a much smaller number of customers who actually decide to buy and close the deal. A big part of success in managing your sales leads is developing a better way to understand how you should be managing your sales funnel. Below are a few of the biggest mistakes that small business leaders tend to make in managing their sales funnels – and ideas on how you can get better results. Managing Your Sales Funnel Mistake #1:No Balance Between Lead Generation / Lead ManagementMany companies make the mistake of thinking that they can get better sales results just by constantly engaging in lead generation activities to "dump more leads into the funnel." But lead generation alone is not enough. You also need to focus on your lead management activities:
You can almost always improve your sales results by doing a better job of managing the sales leads you already have. Instead of constantly hunting for more and more sales leads. Mistake #2:Focusing on CRM Technology Instead of Your Sales ProcessMany small businesses make the mistake of investing in expensive customer relationship management (CRM) software but without a clear understanding of how they want to use the CRM software to improve their sales process. CRM technology can be a valuable tool, but it cannot replace a smart strategy for understanding and adjusting your sales activities to line up with your biggest priorities in your sales process. For example, you as a small business leader, need to understand what is happening at every stage of your sales process. Are you failing to generate enough appointments during your initial contacts with new sales leads? Are your sales appointments failing to result in enough follow-up sales presentations? Where in the sales process are you having the most difficulty, and what can you do differently? These are the questions that CRM tools can help you answer. But you can't rely solely on technology to do the hard work of identifying and fixing the problems. Mistake #3:Not Getting Proper Sales TrainingSales training is not just for new hires. Small business owners need motivation, coaching and a clear idea of what they're selling and how to adjust to customers' changing needs and expectations.. Mistake #4:Not Measuring Each Stage of Your Sales FunnelMany organizations focus too much on their final deal closing ratios, and don't pay enough attention to the conversion ratios that lead up to the final negotiations with the buyer. Take a look at all stages of your sales process and measure your success rate at each stage. For example, out of 100 sales leads, how many will agree to an initial appointment? How many of those appointments lead to a more extensive sales presentation? Where in your sales process are the biggest successes and the biggest opportunities to improve? Managing your sales funnel needs to be part of an ongoing effort to see what is happening within your sales process and adjusting along the way. If you have a clear understanding of where your challenges are coming from, which parts of the process need to improve, and constantly coach your sales team to improve their efforts at each stage of your sales funnel, you will start to see a better result in the most important number of all – sales. Sales Funnel Photo via Shutterstock The post The 4 Biggest Mistakes in Managing Your Sales Funnel appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| People More Likely To Choose a Smartwatch Over Glasses Posted: 18 Nov 2013 01:30 PM PST
Sure, it seems these days that Google Glass grabs the headlines. But it turns out more people say they would be likely to choose smartwatches over glasses, when it comes to wearable tech. Perhaps more surprisingly, most said they were unlikely to choose either. Of 417 consumers surveyed, 411 respondents answered questions about wearable technology recently posed by the tech news site JessicaLessin.com. The site’s editors insist the survey is important because of the number of hardware and software developers seeking to enter the market. The information may also be enlightening to small business owners and entrepreneurs when evaluating their future tech investment and when anticipating the kinds of devices on which others will likely be consuming their content. Here’s how the numbers broke down. Most Consumers May Not Use EitherEarly adopters in the survey group clearly favored smartwatches over devices like Google Glass. According to the survey:
In the long term, smart glasses seemed to fair only slightly better. When asked whether they might own a smartwatch in the next 5 years, 62 percent said it was possible. Meanwhile, when asked a similar question about smart glasses, only 41 percent said they could see these devices in their future. Even Tech Savvy Types Prefer WatchesDrilling down a bit, the survey also identified 112 out of more than 400 respondents who identified themselves as “quite” or “extremely” tech savvy, and even in this group, smartwatches were the winner. Here, 38 percent of respondents chose the smartwatches and 17 percent the smart glasses. What This Means to YouIt’s interesting to note that, for now at least, smartwatches are still being used in conjunction with phones. So the increased popularity of smartphones and tablets may also make watches more popular as an accessory. Small business owners and entrepreneurs may want to concentrate on the interaction between these two devices. This will help you better understand how your customers communicate and might possibly communicate as the market evolves. Wearable Tech Photo via Shutterstock The post People More Likely To Choose a Smartwatch Over Glasses appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Is an Unlimited Vacation Policy a Good Idea or a Recipe for Disaster? Posted: 18 Nov 2013 11:00 AM PST
Unlike large corporate companies, startups give you the ability to create a flexible work environment for yourself and your employees. But how do you know when to draw the line, so that no one abuses the perks? In order to find out, we asked a panel of entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:
Here's what YEC community members had to say: 1. Yes “There are situations where it doesn’t make sense. However, with my tech companies, it absolutely does. First, the policy eliminates having to track vacation days. Second, it empowers your employees. Third, it eliminates the need to cram in remaining “use it or lose it” vacation days toward the end of the year. “ ~ John Jackovin, Bawte 2. No “With unlimited vacation, it’s pretty easy for no one to take a vacation. We implemented a minimum vacation of two weeks a year. We’ve had improved success when people have to take vacations.” ~ Wade Foster, Zapier 3. No “Often at multi-national organizations, people tout their accrued vacation like a badge of honor. Each year it becomes apparent that those who dared to not use vacation won. At my company, our policy is to simply not have one. Placing accountability for performance and time management on each individual empowers them to have a more balanced life because each person needs breaks at different times.” ~ Grant Gordon, Solomon Consulting Group 4. Yes “Yes. Work should be measured by the results, not the time that someone is in the office. If a company cannot trust its employees with something as basic as not abusing vacation time then their hiring practices are broken.” ~ Panos Panay, Sonicbids 5. Yes “We tell employees to take three weeks off every year. We don’t have the time or resources to track vacation. If folks take a little more than three weeks, so be it. If they take a little less, there’s no accrual. The point is that we recruit highly motivated and responsible people who buy into our mission, and the policy has yet to be abused. “ ~ Brian Glaister, Cadence Biomedical 6. Yes “We offer unlimited vacation to those who have been with us for two years. By this point, we know they are intrinsically motivated to help grow our business. They know their individual goals, and we trust them to use vacation judiciously. “ ~ Neal Taparia, Imagine Easy Solutions 7. Yes “Absolutely. We have an unlimited vacation policy, and it lets our team know that we respect them, their time and their family lives. We have been smart about hiring intrinsically motivated people who will not abuse the policy, and it’s led to more trust, autonomy and respect across our organization. “ ~ Kelsey Meyer, Contributor Weekly 8. Sometimes “There are plenty of companies with unlimited vacation days, and the employees don’t actually wind up taking any vacation time — that’s a problem. Burnt out employees aren’t going to be as productive. Before you decide on a policy, make sure you know what culture you’re prepared to create in your company. Policies should be secondary.” ~ Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting 9. No “The word “unlimited” opens up the policy to be abused. The old saying goes, ‘If you give people an inch, they’ll take a mile.’ You need structure around this policy in order for it to be enforced properly and ensure your team members are being productive. Organization exists for a reason in business. “ ~ Russ Oja, Seattle Windows and Construction, LLC 10. No “I don’t think “unlimited” is the right word, but we don’t have an official policy. We are an early-stage startup with 16 employees. Every person is key, and there is total transparency in who’s getting their work done and who isn’t. We don’t micromanage. We expect everyone to self-manage and fit in vacations when they need to decompress.” ~ Danny Boice, Speek 11. Sometimes “Our company has under 40 employees, and it is easy for us to give this great perk to employees while still making sure people are held accountable for their work. However, consider the size of your company before you offer an unlimited vacation policy. It may be difficult to manage this policy if your company is upward of 100 people. “ ~ Matt Ehrlichman, Porch Vacation Concept Photo via Shutterstock The post Is an Unlimited Vacation Policy a Good Idea or a Recipe for Disaster? appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Dell Customers Complain Their New Laptops Smell … Bad Posted: 18 Nov 2013 08:00 AM PST
Sometimes customer reaction to a new product or service comes as a complete surprise. That’s something Dell has learned the hard way over the last few months. No sooner did customers start unpacking their brand new Latitude 6430u laptops earlier this year, than some started to complain. There was an odor coming from the computers…a bad one! It’s a smell users have chosen to describe in the most picturesque of terms. For example, after unboxing a new laptop, user Three West took to the official Dell Laptop forum to complain:
Other customers said they were embarrassed to take the computers to work or to meetings with clients because of the stench. After some investigation, Dell said recently that it had discovered a specific manufacturing process was responsible for the smell and had discontinued it. But on Direct2Dell, the official Dell corporate blog, Kevin Dane, executive director of commuter hardware pledged to fix the problem for customers who already had their machines too. In the post, Dane said the company will replace the palm rest assembly on all affected computers, too. (This is apparently the piece from which the unpleasant odor emanates.) Customers are encouraged to call 1-800-456-3355 or visit Dell support for more assistance. Dell’s reaction is a good one for all small business owners to emulate. When you get a complaint, be sure to investigate. Find a way to make things right. It’s the best way to protect your business and brand. Bad Smell Photo via Shutterstock The post Dell Customers Complain Their New Laptops Smell … Bad appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Why Many Small Business Owners Don’t Like the President Posted: 18 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST
A Gallup Organization survey indicates that only 37 percent of business owners approve of President Obama's job performance – 8 percentage points lower than those of all employed Americans. The gap between business owners and the rest of American workers has remained statistically the same since 2009 (see Gallup poll chart above). Why Is It That Small Business Owners Don’t Like the President?DemographicsDemographics are partially responsible. Business owners are older, whiter and more male than the rest of the population, Small Business Administration data show. And older White men tend to think the President is under performing. In a September 30-October 6 Gallup poll, one third of Whites were positive on the President's job performance, as compared to 68 percent of non-Whites. Among people 18 to 29, 45 percent liked how the President was doing, as compared to only 40 percent of those 65 and over. The President's approval rating was 47 percent among women, but only 40 percent among men. IdeologyIdeology also plays a role. Small business owners believe more strongly in the value of free enterprise, and think the government should have less involvement in the economy, than the rest of the electorate. A 2012 Harris Interactive survey (PDF) of 1,322 small business leaders revealed that 84 percent concentrate on a candidate's support for free enterprise. In January of this year, Gallup surveys of small business owners and American adults showed that significantly more small business owners than American adults said that taxes and government regulations were a problem. A 2012 Manta poll showed that small business owners think that the Republicans are better for small business than the Democrats by nearly a two-to-one margin. Because small business owners tend to disagree with Mr. Obama's ideology, they think he isn't doing a very good job. Harmful PoliciesA third reason for small business owners' disapproval of the President is that many of his policies hurt their businesses. Take the president's healthcare law as an example. A Gallup poll conducted this spring revealed that 48 percent of small-business owners think the law is going to adversely affect their businesses, while only 9% think it will help, and 39% think it will have no impact. Lack of ForesightFinally, some small business owners fault the President for failing to anticipate the negative consequences of his policies for small business. Consider, for example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a new agency established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The CFPB has barred lenders from making qualified mortgage loans to borrowers whose debt is more than 43 percent of their income, and requires borrowers to prove they can repay their mortgage loans. For small business owners who borrow against the equity in their homes to finance their businesses, this rule makes accessing credit tougher. Moreover, the focus of lenders on wage-based forms of income documentation makes providing they have the income to repay their loans harder for small company owners. Between demographics, ideology and the intended and unintended consequences of the President’s policies, it appears that small business owners don’t think much of the President's job performance. But since Mr. Obama isn't running for office again, I doubt he is losing much sleep over his performance appraisal from small business owners. The post Why Many Small Business Owners Don’t Like the President appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Facebook Helps One Man Build a French Fry Empire Posted: 18 Nov 2013 03:00 AM PST
As we already know, social media can drive sales. But Toronto entrepreneur Ryan Smolkin didn’t need a study to tell him that. He is living proof of the power of social media, not just to build brands – but to actually grow revenue. Smolkin is the founder of Smoke’s Poutinerie, a growing chain of restaurants selling poutine, a popular Canadian favorite containing French Fries, cheese curds and gravy. The mixture is often served with additional toppings like carmelized onions and bacon. Recipe For SuccessA look at Smolkin’s Facebook and Twitter feeds show this food entrepreneur’s recipe for success. His social feeds share information about his latest restaurant openings, giveaways and other events. There’s also banter with customers and information on visits to local college campuses.  Smolkin told CNN Money recently:
So successful has Smolkin’s social media effort become that fans of his specialty now regularly share their experiences themselves. It is a nonstop word of mouth campaign that continues without even needing his direction.
No Marketing Plan Other Than FacebookSmolkin launched his chain of restaurants in 2008 with what many would have considered a crazy idea at the time. He had no marketing budget, but instead, spent five hours a night on Facebook sending invites to friends from his company’s account. The strategy paid off. Friends came, told friends, and the company’s reputation grew. Today, Smolkin’s chain has 60 restaurants across Canada and projects $28 million in sales by the end of the year. He soon added Twitter to his social media marketing mix as well. What You Can Learn?The key to Smolkin’s success continues to be what he chooses to post and share on social media. Though his Facebook and Twitter account clearly drive sales, they never seem to visibly sell. Rather, he shares news and information he knows will be important to his community, including giving customers directions to his chain’s nearest location. What he won’t do is post coupons and offers, feeling they devalue his product. Social media can be a powerful driving force for revenue if used correctly. Just remember to treat your community well – and they will do the rest. Images: Smoke’s Poutinerie Facebook The post Facebook Helps One Man Build a French Fry Empire appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
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