Giving Up Too Soon

“Great things are not done by impulse,

but by a series of small things brought together.”

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch painter

Business owners I meet complain they tried coupons and they didn't work, or the bought an ad or hired a sales force and didn't get the results they were expecting.

A couple things are going on:

1.) inconsistency and
2.) unrealistic expectations

It takes time for new initiatives to take hold and your message must be consistent and you have to be invested in it.

What is your business objective? If you cannot write it down in one or two sentences it's too complicated. If it's complicated, your market won't understand it. Once you pare it down to one or two sentences, select the channels - direct sales force, advertising, facebook, linkedin, twitter, youtube, coupons, etc. etc. etc.

Invest in whatever channel you choose and make sure it supports the one or two sentences you've outlined. If it doesn't re-evaluate and start again.

This approach will not fail you.

Be Ready for Your Sales Rep

When you hire a new sales rep it will take them six weeks to six months to start working on proposals. Shorten that cycle by being ready for them.

On the day they start greet them with an active phone line, business cards, email address, lap top, and a cell phone. If you don't do this, they'll be inactive on the payroll for two or three weeks until they get all set up.

You know their start date when you hire them. Use the time they transition to be prepared so they can hit the ground running on day one.