Writers and instructors enjoy making numerical statements. “The ten sales rules you’ll ever need!” “Three things every executive needs to remember.” “The five simple rules to detect fraud.” Sorry fans, but usually these lists fall significantly short in accomplishing their intended objectives. More importantly, it’s somewhat arrogant for a writer to state emphatically their proposed numerical list is all that is required to accomplish whatever. It’s so easy to find the shortcomings in these lists that it ceased being a challenge.
Specifically, I recently read an article in a well-respected business publication (interestingly, I still read full articles, how crazy is that) titled, “The 10 items every entrepreneur must know for success.” Well, if I were a new entrepreneur I would be relieved to know that there were only ten items of concern to ensure my financial success. So, like most unsuspecting readers I diligently read all ten traits for the simple answers to how to be successful. Upon completion, I felt cheated in more ways than one. Without much thought I came up with three more that the author overlooked. What was more unsettling is the glaring omission I find in most of these articles about business success—the lack of discussion about the importance of selling skills and creating a sales plan.
For those of you who regularly read my articles, you know my main theme is, “Nothing happens until something gets sold!” The sales process is one of the most important functions of any business enterprise. Large or small businesses have to sell their product(s) or service(s) if they are to flourish in business, yet few articles place the appropriate emphasis on selling. If selling is not exhaustively mentioned in all the numbers that lead to success I would suggest you discount the information because of its lack of thoroughness.
Whether it’s a sales force of one or many, there needs to be a plan and properly trained salespeople to sell a company’s product(s) or service(s). Not everyone has the ability to sell and more importantly, selling is a discipline that needs to be learned, practiced and periodically changed and updated. So, if the next article you read discusses the importance of the sales function, the chances are the author has given selling its proper place in the numerical success of a business. “Nothing happens until something gets sold!”
