Business Development For Dummies

Chapter 13

Becoming the Leader of the (Sales) Pack

In This Chapter

Leading your business to sales success

Assembling and leading a team

Driving forward your sales process

Like armies, sports teams and husbands, business departments need leaders with vision, insight, energy and commitment (good personal hygiene doesn’t go amiss either, because you’re unlikely to follow a leader you can’t get within three feet of!).

Sales is no different. Sales is the lifeblood, the driver, of business growth and success, so it has to be a central part of business development. If you don’t know who’s on your prospective customer list, who your next three customers are likely to be or whether to hire or layoff staff, you require good sales leadership. Without it, your plan for the growth of your business is going to be hobbled right out of the starting gate.

But business development is about more than sales and simply winning new business, so this chapter helps you move beyond the typical sales cycle and into genuine business growth. I help you prepare for sales leadership and discuss its day-to-day concerns: put simply, that’s plan and then do. I cover the things you need to think about and aim to ...