Sales Tips for Entrepreneurs

Written by Tom Barry Monday, December 07 2009

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HLB Gross Collins is making increasing use of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to boost brand awareness, says CEO Beth Salvati.

The 65-employee Atlanta accounting/consulting firm is relatively new to social media, but so far Salvati likes what she sees. She adds that her company "is holding its own" in the downturn, even as many of its clients struggle.

“We’re very cognizant of our clients' situations and are working to provide them with information and minimize fees,” she says. “A lot of them have been with us for 20 years, and we're not going to not take care of them just because their financial situation has changed. We've been using social media to educate both clients and potential clients on solutions to their problems. And these days, people have more problems.”

Salvati expects such efforts to intensify in 2010.

“I’d say we’ll focus even more on getting to those with problems and using social media to [generate] 'warm leads,' " she says. "We'll be more proactive in trying to grow the firm vs. just maintaining it, and there’s a lot of opportunity out there. In a down economy, companies sometimes close their doors and don’t do a lot of things. But we intend to go after the market.”

As HLB Gross Collins goes, so go many businesses – or at least the smart ones. The best way to see your sales dip in 2010 is to keep marketing your company the same way you have in the past. The Old World is print advertising and the standard website. The rapidly evolving New World is social media – LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. – and customer-centric, search-engine-optimized websites.

Yes, even such historically staid sectors as accounting are getting into the act.

“We’re moving into a whole new paradigm – a new way of how customers make their buying decisions –and it’s not going to go back,” says Jill Konrath, SheEO of Sales SheBang, a professional development resource for women in sales. “In going after new accounts, you have to focus your message entirely on the customer’s needs and goals.”

Battered by the steep recession, corporate buyers today have a far different mind-set and take longer to make decisions, Konrath says. Entrepreneurs wanting to sell to them had best realize the game has changed.

“Companies have been downsized so much and are running so lean-and-mean that the decision-makers are overwhelmed,” says the St. Paul, Minn.-based author of Selling to Big Companies. "They have fewer resources and are very risk-averse. And they’re paranoid because they don’t want to lose their job in this economy.”

With decision-making at a crawl, sellers need to generate more prospects for the pipeline, "either through direct sales or marketing efforts," she says.

Less is more
Difficult enough in normal times, direct selling is far more daunting in the current economy.

Call up a prospect and leave the typical voice-mail message – “I represent (insert name) and offer a full range of services in (insert specialty), and I'd love to discuss what we can do for you” – and it’s about as 21st century as commuting to work by horse.

“It’s absolutely worthless,” Konrath says. “Decision makers sit with their finger on the delete button.”

As soon as the caller states company name and specialty, down goes the finger, she says. They already have a vendor who does just that. Why risk a change?

Instead, the pitch should be brief, echo the customer's thinking and spark curiosity, Konrath says. Less is more. Leave ’em wondering.

An effective message might go something like this: “I read that your company’s sales were stagnant in the last quarter. I have some ideas on how to increase your revenue. One of my recent customers realized a 22.8 percent revenue gain in just four months. Here’s my number.”

"Works like a charm if you do it right," Konrath says.

The bigger the company, “the more customized your message should be,” she says. “Plus, there are a number of services that salespeople can use [to develop leads]. Say you’re trying to get into Delta Air Lines. You could use Google Alerts, so that every time Delta issues a press release, you’ll automatically be sent a notice.”