Some of the best years of my career were working with local businesses and providing needed capital to achieve their growth plans. For 18 years, I worked in commercial lending for a market leader and reviewed over $2 Billion in potential transactions. I witnessed first-hand how small-medium businesses (SMBs) are the heart of our economy and the important place they hold in the communities where they exist.
As the cost of running a business has risen quite considerably (due to taxes, healthcare, regulations, etc.) and technology has made competition as plentiful as ever, I decided to form my own consulting practice to serve those same local businesses and help the communities within which they play a vital part. At about that same time, I ran into the folks at Sales Xceleration and what I heard absolutely stunned me:
Not once did I EVER recall inquiring about these sales infrastructure components as a commercial lender (or even when leading acquisition due diligence efforts). Boy, did we miss the target! We simply took for granted how sales came in and then counted on them doing so in the future! This “aha moment” affected me so much that I promptly redirected my ENTIRE consulting practice to solely building sales strategy, process and execution for SMBs. There are terrific finance, marketing and operational consultants serving SMBs; however sustainable, long-term growth and success will always be dependent upon solid top line growth. This requires diligent sales follow-through and consistent sales leadership and execution. Are you as surprised as I was to learn about the dire need for building a sales infrastructure? I'm willing to bet (and did so by establishing my own consulting business) that we can achieve significant, long-term revenue growth for SMBs by putting in place the sales practices and procedures employed by larger firms. How does your company (or your clients’ companies) stack up? Reach out to me at fredv@v-c-partners.com or (203) 364-7747.
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