Local Sales Don’t Work Anymore (or so they say)

It’s true, local sales just don’t work anymore.  At least, not in the way that many businesses attempt to do their local sales.  Funny thing , though, jobs are still being referred to businesses by local relationships…..every day….and if you’re not receiving your fair share of those jobs, don’t fool yourself and blame it all on “how the industry has changed”.   People who should be YOUR customers are referring their work to competitors that they know, like, and respect.  Especially when those companies can also show value in using their company over another company.

Local sales is far more than filling candy jars and delivering note pads.    I’ve read that according to a U.S. Census Bureau report, there are 71 insurance covered residential floods per 100,000 people….per month!   That means if you are in an area of 250,000 population, that equates to 2,136 insurance covered residential floods per year.   How many of those are you getting through your “vendor program” and adjuster relationships?   How many of them go to your competitors who do have a local sales program?  How many are referred to your competitor by plumbers and contractors because your competitor has an effective local sales program?

Fact #1—Business owners often focus on operations more than sales.

Fact #2—Sales staff who are not given accountability and focus can be “busy being busy” but not achieving results.

Face #3—Many sales staff lack a formal sales process, do not know the unique values their company offers, and often spend most of their time on the easy/comfortable prospects while ignoring target customers with the greatest potential.

Fact #4—Asking sales staff to sell varying services (such as cross-selling janitorial, disaster restoration, commercial cleaning, etc.) can be confusing unless clear objectives and priorities are outlined and regularly measured.

The good news is, we can make local sales work…and we must…because your competition is getting far too much of that work.  And chances are, your competitor is doing those jobs at better prices than you probably are getting.    Contact Jerry Winkley at jwinkley@business-by-design.biz for an overview of how you can start making sales work…today!    Just one more job can pay for months of training & support!