Built to Grow

Chapter 10Business Development and Sales Strategy

‘Sales is the lifeblood of any business.’

There is a direct correlation between sales and revenue, so in delivering accelerated, sustained and profitable business growth, your Business Development and Sales Strategy is critical.

Sales has the ability to transform your business into a profitable organization capable of fulfilling a gap or previously unmet need in the marketplace. This is the reason why all businesses exist: to serve a customer, in some way.

If operational excellence represents the arteries of the organization, sales is the heartbeat that feeds your business.

Internal Brand Positioning of Sales

Now of course, the word ‘sales’ can carry negative connotations for some people, possibly as a result of ineffective, relentless telemarketers and the wave of ‘mis-selling’ in recent times.

Despite that association, sales is a profession, an art, and a science. It is a part of the business you should embrace and be truly proud of. It demonstrates your positive intentions through a consultative, relational approach to understanding your customers’ needs and aligning the right product and service proposition to meet them.

The ultimate goal of sales is to achieve one of the three bottom line metrics: becoming a provider of choice . . . and the cornerstone to achieve that is: TRUST. As world-renowned sales expert Zig Ziglar so aptly put it: ‘If people like you they’ll listen to you, if they trust you they’ll do business with ...