How Important Sales Are to an Organization

No matter how good your manufacturing operation is, how cutting-edge your technology is, how tight your financial goals are or how progressive and forward-thinking your management techniques are ...

If you as a business owner are not focused on increasing sales, your company might not be as profitable as you had hoped. Without the sale of goods or services, a business devolves into a pastime or a nonprofit. There are other departments in the company besides the sales force that are in charge of making sales. Everyone needs to be aware of how sales can and do occur at every departmental level; if they don't, they may be missing out on opportunities to advance their company.

Better Business Growth

A great storefront, wonderful products and a fun mascot are great, but without sales, they're merely an expense that leads to an organization's losses. Sales come from a variety of sources, and most business leaders have specific strategies for each marketing channel. For example, an online sales funnel could sell products without a sales representative. However, the efficiency of fulfilling the order is what helps seal the deal. This is important, because sales generate revenues that pay for the storefront, inventory and mascot.

When a business owner can efficiently scale sales up without significantly increasing the costs per sale, then the business grows not only in size, but also in margin and profitability. Using economies of scale, business owners may be able to get discounts for larger inventory numbers, advertising and delivery when scaled up. This means that the business could double its sales but not its expenses, thereby making the company more profitable.

A Positive Corporate Culture

When everyone, including the mascot, realizes their role in the sales process, they are better able to fulfill that role. When people know what's expected of them, they are better able to perform job duties. This is not only a recipe for job success but also for greater job satisfaction. When large numbers of employees are happy, this creates a positive corporate culture. Sales are intimately integrated into this scenario.

For example, the customer service representative usually deals with unhappy customers. It can be a thankless job with little job satisfaction. But if the role is defined as a customer retention specialist and the representative is given the tools to solve problems, he might not only make the client happy by the end of the call but also he might be able to sell another product or to upgrade the existing product. Even though the customer service representative isn't a sales representative, the customer service rep shows how these reps can help keep clients and also sell more products.

Lower Customer Turnover

As already mentioned, good customer service transforms potentially unhappy clients into happy clients. But there is more to client retention than sales retention. Business owners must think about the sales process through the customer experience. If the sales process is positive, the customer experience is generally positive. The sales process starts with advertising and how products and services are positioned in the market. The process is then in the hands of the sales representative; what he says and how he says it, is important. If the process is to remain positive, he can't make inflated claims or be too pushy.

Once the actual sale is made and paid for, the selling doesn't stop. The next step is delivery. This might be as simple as packaging the product nicely and handing it to the customer. It may sound simple, but think about the time you bought gourmet cupcakes and the cashier just tossed them in the bag, the frosting smudging the sides of the bag. Consider personal delivery or shipping with tracking. Have fair return policies that are stated in the sales process. When all these things come together, even if a customer returns an item here or there, customers appreciate the service and they stay for life.