Are You (Your Business) Sales Sufficient?

I have been often asked by business owners and presidents how to create a great business with happy employees, satisfied customers and an admiring community.

A very noble thought. Yet, my first question to them often is "Are You Sales Sufficient?" Because until a business achieves a level of sales sufficiency "all the other stuff" does not matter.

It's like someone who has not secured stable means to feed, clothe and shelter himself yet wants to improve "the quality of his life."

In his ground-breaking work, Abraham Maslow proposed that a human being has three or four levels of needs. Physical (food, clothing and shelter), Emotional (esteem, affiliation etc.) and spiritual (he called it self-actualization).

These needs have a hierarchy. Meaning that if we can't feed, clothe and shelter ourselves, we really won't be motivated to pursue other things like esteem of our colleagues, affiliation or being accepted into a group, or being "self-actualized."

A business's ability to bring consistent, healthy sales with sufficient profit margins is its most basic need. Until this need is satisfied, it's very difficult to focus on other things such as the quality of life for its employees, having customers who are it's raving fans or making the world a better place.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's important to have these things. In fact, I believe that for a long term success, a business must achieve a status above that of a mere subsistence. I am also not saying that a business can't dream or think about such things if it is not Sales Sufficient. All I am saying is that unless and until the Sales Sufficiency is achieved, all the rest won't show up or won't matter if it did because it won't be sustainable.

What does it mean to be "Sales Sufficient?"

A Sales Sufficient business has reached a point where it is EXCEEDING it's sales goals month-after-month, quarter-after-quarter and year-after-year with predictability, consistency, control and confidence.

It also means that it is attracting the kinds of prospects and clients who are its ideal clients and filters out those that don't fit that mold.

And it also means that the salespeople enjoy the process of selling, are self-motivated and look forward to doing what they need to close sales because they are perceived as Trusted Advisers, not Killer Salespeople.

In other words, they have a SYSTEM for attracting prospects and closing sales in ways that help develop a deep emotional bond with clients and prospects as opposed to the "hard selling" techniques taught at Sales Training Seminars.

How do you achieve Sales Sufficiency for YOUR business?

I have written a plenty on the topic on this blog. So feel free to browse. Also check out these two websites: 1) AMBICA Training, 2) Sandler Sales Institute.

If you want to get a jump start on the process though, consider attending out next workshops the subject, Jump Start Your Business Brain. In this workshop, we layout a proven system to help you become sales sufficient.