Sales Strategy for Business Growth

Overview

It is essential that the key players in a business understand how to get the best out of its sales operation and its sales people to ensure that it maximises every sales opportunity.

Sales Strategy for Business Growth will help you to achieve these goals through increasing your sales performance. This book uses practical examples to underpin how to develop the best possible sales strategy and includes ideas from eminent experts to show how this can be achieved. It will help directors and key executives to develop a successful sales strategy and covers those topics that need to be addressed so that plans to achieve sales growth can be implemented.

This book has been written especially for:

• Business owners who may not have had any formal sales or management training and others who may want to review their existing sales strategy or improve its implementation.
• Directors who want to learn more about how members of a sales team work so they can understand the barriers and opportunities which impact on the strategic direction of the company.
• Sales managers who currently manage a sales team and who want to improve their understanding of the economic, sales, marketing planning and behavioural side to management in order to increase sales effectiveness.

The key benefit of reading this book will be better sales performance achieved through improved decision-making. Its unique selling point is that every chapter is supported by evidence from eminent business people.

Contents

Glossary of sales terms

Chapter 1: Responding to changes in the market

• Identifying economic and market influences
• Adapting a company’s sales culture

Chapter 2: Creating a sales and marketing strategy

• Defining your marketing objectives
• Analysing your sales performance
• Effective branding

Chapter 3: Implementing your strategy (with a sales operations plan)

• Evaluating performance
• Short, medium and long-term planning
• Preparing for change

Chapter 4: Getting the best out of a sales CRM system

• Managing sales information effectively
• Combining data and knowledge to create value

Chapter 5: How to improve your decision-making

• Understanding behaviour
• How your management style can improve sales performance

Chapter 6: A strategy to manage different types of people

• Management styles and forms of control
• Overcoming different sales challenges
• Knowing the personality types you manage

Chapter 7: Teamwork and communication

 

• Working as part of a team
• Being assertive
• Communication skills

Chapter 8: Working more productively

• Work/life balance
• Roles and responsibilities

Bibliography

 

Authors

Julian Clay

Julian Clay is a Management Consultant specialising in selling techniques. After a successful career with Kodak, he developed his own consultancy. His expertise lies in understanding the core business challenges faced by companies, as well as having the ability to assess and build on a sales team’s skills. He has written a sales forecasting software programme to help companies manage and win more business opportunities. Julian is also the co-author of The Sales Manager’s Desktop Guide and author of Successful Selling Solutions (both published by Thorogood).

Martin Clay

Martin Clay has an MBA and has worked in a sales environment for over 20 years. This has included key roles at world-class organizations such as Xerox and Panasonic. He was also part of the sales team at Capital Software when it was recognised by The Independent on Sunday awards. This award confirmed Capital Software as one of the United Kingdom’s 50 Fastest Growing Companies. In addition to a successful sales career, Martin writes and delivers business ‘start-up’ training courses. He also teaches Business Studies and Economics and lectures with the Open University Business School.