In the current business climate, most small businesses are in a fight for survival. Sales are harder than ever to achieve, competition is pretty intense and there is pressure from buyers to reduce your prices (and your profits). We all…
Month: July 2013
Top tips for recruiting great people
I have just finished re-reading Harvey Mackay’s excellent book “Swim with the Sharks without being Eaten Alive”. As a result I decided to compare what I consider to be top tips for recruiting great people for small businesses with the…
Posted in Recruitment
Competitor USPs & how to neutralise them
Over the last few days I’ve been looking at USPs (Unique Selling Points) for a small business. It seems increasingly difficult these days to carve out some unique angle that is hard for competitors to copy. Even if a USP…
Posted in Competitor / Market Knowledge
How to produce contracts for use with your suppliers
Much of this blog is devoted to sales and marketing issues from the perspective of small business owners. This post takes a look at some important aspects of the buying process for these small companies. Every growing small business has…
Posted in Contracts / Negotiation
Why sales stall at the last hurdle
Have you ever thought about why prospects will sometimes start to become indecisive just at the end of the buying process? There are, in theory, many reasons why this should occur, but the most common is some form of fear…
Posted in Sales / Business Growth
Learn from new clients, new suppliers and new staff
The other day I was reflecting on how different it is today to set up and grow a small company compared with 15-20 years ago. It is completely different and much of the transformation has been due to technological developments. …
Posted in Competitor / Market Knowledge
Attacking a well-established supplier
It is rare for a small business owner to be selling products/services in a sector where their prospects are looking to buy these items for the first time. At the start of the sales process, these prospects will usually be…
Posted in Sales / Business Growth
3 ways to grow your business
Most small business owners are looking to grow – both their revenues and profits. It is pretty easy to grow revenues at the expense of profits. Getting the two to grow together is far more challenging. In today’s world, if…
Posted in Sales / Business Growth
Focus on your best clients
The Pareto Principle is a great tool that small business owners can use right across their businesses to ensure they are getting the best from their resources – people, equipment and IT. It helps you to focus on what’s important…
Posted in Customer Care