Sales | The Barefoot Spirit

5 Tips to Sell More This Year

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 16:33:14 +0000

Want to sell more this year?

Of course, you do! Without sales, you don’t need production or even marketing. In fact, your whole company is supported by sales.

We like to say, “Regardless of what their organization chart says, all companies only have only two divisions, sales and sales support.” In other words, if you’re not in sales, you’re in sales support. You are there to support sales.

So, how can you improve sales this year? Here are our top five tips to do just that.

1) Believe in your product

Sales is frustrating more times than not. The sales cycle always take a lot longer than you expect. Meanwhile, you’ve got bills hungry for bucks. It can get downright discouraging.

What keeps you going? A deep belief in your product and the benefits it will provide your customers.

But it’s not enough for you to believe in your product. Your whole sales support staff has to believe as well. It’s not only what keeps them going — it’s what keeps your people engaged in the sales process. It’s what encourages them to come up with solutions to sales challenges. Everyone they talk to will know they believe in your product.

To read the complete article, please visit The Business Journals

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Entrepreneur – Outsource Everything but Accounting, Quality Control and Sales

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 17:06:53 +0000

It’s no secret that most startups are undercapitalized. They need every penny just to stay in business long enough to produce a positive cash flow. Even those that have achieved seed financing usually find out in short order that they need a much longer runway to give sales a chance to take off.

Most investors want to see some revenue before they will take a risk on you. So it’s critical, especially in the pre-rev startup phase, to strip your company down to its bare essentials, be resourceful, and discover and use your hidden assets. If you can’t lengthen the runway, you can at least lighten the plane!

As professional speakers in the world of entrepreneurship, we hear hundreds of business ideas every year. The proponents are passionate and convinced that they have a marketable solution. This may be true, but the market usually requires more time than they have planned to accept their solution.

To read the complete article, please visit Entrepreneur

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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What Business Should I Go Into?

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 17:00:31 +0000

Discovering Business Opportunities in Problems

We are often approached by young folks who ask us, “What business should I go into?” – as if there was the realm of all possibilities. We assume by this question that these folks have not decided to “follow their passion.” So we talk with them about how most business opportunities present themselves as solutions to problems they are personally experiencing.

“Why hasn’t anyone done this yet?” might be their first reaction. And this is where many wantrepreneurs stop. They don’t do the research to find out why. Perhaps someone else did think about it but was unable to make a profit or get it into circulation. Many great ideas are collecting dust in warehouses somewhere because they may have solved the problem, but they were unable to solve the distribution challenges.

Many young folks spend too much time perfecting their product while grossly underestimating what it will take to get it in the marketplace. They tend to take distribution management for granted. Their idea is so good, it will distribute itself! Not!

The Challenges of Selling Online

Many think that they can “just sell it online, avoid the middleman and go directly to the customer.” They might, but then they face several challenges that are generally overlooked:

First, they are making their idea and the market for it highly public before they have amassed even a small war chest to protect their idea. This opens the door to copycats who already enjoy a war chest and already have secured access to the bricks and mortar stores. They can achieve instant market penetration and outlast you in court.

Second, online sales are a race to the bottom price-wise. The first thing your customer will do is check for a lower price. Never mind that yours is the original, and never mind that yours is of high quality. They can’t physically feel it and compare it to others in a tactile way. They must buy on picture only and so price becomes the major differentiator.

Third, because you are selling onesies and twosies, direct to consumer, you will never get a big check for a massive volume from a major retailer. So you won’t be able to compete with competitors who will benefit from quantity discounts for substantial purchases.

The good news is that anybody can sell online. The bad news is that your risk of failure is much greater.

So, our answer to “What business should I go into?”

“Choose one that you can achieve distribution with.” We strongly advise a careful study of the distribution system for your great idea, even before you finish it. Why waste your time if you can’t get it to market?

We suggest you engage someone who has already successfully navigated the distribution system for your kind of product. You may be surprised to hear what they might have done differently, now that they know what was required.

A distribution advisor can save you tons of money, time, and anguish. They don’t cost, they pay!

As advisors ourselves in this critical area of business success, we caution against growing faster than you can support the cost of sales. We advise our clients to test out distribution for their great idea in a small area to discover what they really will be required to do in a larger area. That education will determine their strategy for success. And isn’t that the whole idea? Not just coming up with a great solution, but actually getting it out there and keeping it out there?

So, go into a business for which you understand the distribution. Then you can solve a problem, and we can all thank you by buying it!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Entrepreneur – Startups That Overlook the Cost of Sales … Fail!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 15:52:19 +0000

You often see line items on business plans for the cost of goods sold, also known as COGS. Most startups are painfully aware of the cost of goods. But there is another cost that is even more painful if it’s overlooked. That is the cost of sales.

In today’s “scale fast and fail fast” world of entrepreneurship, it’s easy to scale fast and fail permanently when you don’t appreciate the true cost of sales. Part of the problem of scaling fast is that you can scale so fast that you actually make sales you can’t sustain.

Why? Because you inadvertently chose to make sales to a customer or in a territory with costs you can’t afford. But you didn’t know those costs when you made those sales. In fact, you were probably thrilled to make any sales and couldn’t wait to get back to your investors with the news!

To read the complete article, please visit Entrepreneur

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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3 Business Functions You Can’t Outsource

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 17:00:06 +0000

The Burn Rate and Runway

It’s always painful for us to hear a new wantrepreneur talking about the first steps they’re going to take when they go into business. They usually say something like, “Well, if I’m going to go into business, I’m going to need to get an office, a production facility, and a warehouse.” And “I’m going to need a new car, a new truck, new furniture, and new machinery. Oh, and I’m going to need a full staff.”

Interestingly, they believe that their business success is based on the acquisition of those items. They’re excited to hear stories of how similar startups with similar wish lists got funded. Presumably, a big reason for the funding is to support all that overhead in lieu of income from sales for a period of time. This is also known as a “burn rate.” The idea is to get the business all set up with enough in the bank to pay your bills until sales “take off.” This is also known as a “runway.”

The Millstone Around Your Neck

We grimace when we hear these comments. True, their business will eventually need these things, for at least the startup and build up phase. However, these reoccurring monthly costs are a huge millstone around their necks, pulling them down while they’re trying to swim upstream to achieve a positive cash flow. Like it’s not hard enough already? So now, before we even achieve a positive cash flow, let’s put our precious time, money, and attention into building out the business? No!

Some startups may know that sales will be the most difficult part. They suspect it’s a lot of energy for very little return, especially at first. But they can put it off and take refuge in doing something that does “show”, like spending money on assets and overhead. Other startups may just plain underestimate the amount of time, energy and focus it takes to actually make sales happen.

What’s crazy for us is how easy it is to borrow money when there’s hard assets involved. This lending policy further temps startups to put on that millstone. It’s as if the lenders and investors believe they can take those assets back if you default. But even if they can, they’re hard to move and certainly can’t return the full cost.

Focus on Sales not the Millstone

For whatever reason, tying up precious capital in bricks and mortar and bringing on a staff can distract you from your primary objective, sales! You can outsource most of this stuff anyway. In fact, once you free yourself of the monthly millstone, you may decide you don’t want to burden yourself with a bunch of assets and overhead, so you can put more focus on sales. We believe that sales earns these types of assets, not the other way around.

When we started Barefoot Wine, the first thing people would ask us was, “Oh, the wine business! Where are your vineyards and how many acres do you have?” Our answer was simple, “None! But we have sales – lots of sales!”

When we got started, we couldn’t get financing so we had to make sales happen early and often just to survive. We had no runway and we couldn’t afford a millstone. So we outsourced as much as we could. Today we recommend this “beyond lean” startup strategy to our clients.

Outsource Everything But…

We believe you can outsource everything but sales, accounting, and quality control. By doing the sales yourself, especially to get started, you gain a deep respect for the customer and the market fit of your products and services. This will become a priceless experience as you grow your company and ultimately hire and train your own salespeople.

In-house accounting is critical. You need to see the numbers now! You can’t wait a month or two to see what’s happening in your business. It will be too late! That business plan you spent so much time writing is now replaced by the cash flow report. And successful cash flow management turns out to be a critical startup skill.

You can outsource production, but you can’t outsource quality control. You need to have your person in your contracted facilities to ensure quality. Your production contracts must specify in great detail all the requirements necessary before you will pay for those goods and services.

But pretty much everything else can be done by somebody else. And in many cases, better than you can do it yourself. Don’t encumber your fledgling business with a bunch of overhead bills hungry for monthly bucks. Jump on the hardest job, sales! Once you make that sale, you’ll be surprised at how many vendors jump out of the woodwork to help you keep those sales going. After all, your sales are what’s paying everybody’s bills.

The next time a wantrepreneur tells us about their startup plans, we would love to hear them say, “To get started, I’m outsourcing everything except for sales, accounting, and quality control!”

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Does Your Company Have a Customer Intel Department?

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 17:00:17 +0000

In most large companies, the customer service department is strictly for complaint resolution. Companies usually relegate customer service to the bottom of the corporate structure pyramid because they’re seen as some kind of a clerical call center. They’re the ones who answer the 800 number complaints and comments. And they’re the ones who are expected to solve customer problems “down” at their level.

In the top-down structure of the classic pyramid company, production and marketing have a higher status than sales and customer service. Products are pushed down to the salespeople to sell. And if any complaints try to come back up, you guessed it, they are kept down by the customer service people.

Some companies actually rate their customer service people by how few complaints escalate up to management. We think this limited view of the customer service is not only unfair, but it’s unprofitable, wasteful, and ultimately unwise.

Why? Because this view of customer service ignores the fact that, except for your salespeople, your customer service people are the only ones in your company who talk directly to your customer every day. They know what your customers like …and hate about your company’s products. They know about your competition. They hear daily suggestions about how to improve your products. They know when and where your products are out of stock. And they are the ones who can turn your complainers into advocates.

In fact, we don’t call it “Customer Service.” We call it “Customer Intel.”

The Two-Division Company

A popular keynote we present for large companies that want to engage and empower their people with the entrepreneurial spirit is “The Two Division Company.” The two divisions are Sales (which includes Customer Service) and Sales Support (everybody else from the CEO to the receptionist).

Customer Service – Resolve Issues, Win Back Customers & Get Feedback

A customer can only give you two things: their money and their feedback. The feedback is extremely valuable. That’s because it is the information you need to keep your goods and services relevant, stay on top of your distribution system, and stay ahead of your competition. In other words, it’s the information you need to stay in business!

Unlike the focus groups and market studies that the marketing people spend thousands on, the information your customer service people get is unfettered, unbiased, and timely. And it comes from folks who care enough about your company to call and complain. Many are brand advocates seeking resolution for their favorite brand, the brand they’ve told their friends and neighbors to buy. Now that brand let them down. If they can get resolution they won’t feel obligated to go back and tell everyone they know about the problems they ran into. Instead, they will celebrate the problems and the solutions as validation for their continued advocacy.

Once their problem has been resolved, they can provide vital information you need like: Where did they buy it? Was it in stock? How long have they been a customer? Have they been satisfied with it in the past? What suggestions do they have to improve your products, marketing, and service? Will they recommend your brand to others?

Formal Lines of Communication Focusing on Sales & the Customer

If you don’t have it already, we recommend that you at least establish formal lines of communication between sales and customer service on the one hand, and production, marketing, and management, on the other. By focusing on sales and the customer, instead of divisions of labor, specialization, and chains of command, some of those complaints and suggestions can find their way back up into the company structure where they belong to keep your products relevant and competitive.

Why not start today by renaming your customer service department, “Customer Intel” and benefit from what they hear from your customers? They can do much, much more than complaint resolution.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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3 Ways to Prevent Growth from Killing Your Business!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:00:50 +0000

Expansion, growth, or build-out phase, whatever you call it, it is the most perilous time for your business. This is ironic because the perception from outsiders is that your business must be doing well because it is expanding! But it’s the expansion itself that can collapse your business.

Before you entered the build-out phase, your business had finally achieved its first level of precarious sustainability. You could finally pay your bills, not with investor’s money, but with revenue! Imagine that! You had finally achieved a few big clients who were making you cashflow positive for the first time since you launched your startup. You had built your business up to a point where you had proven your market proposition and some degree of stability did result, if only for a while.

It wasn’t long before you realized that the few big clients you were so proud of and dependent upon actually had you over a barrel. All your eggs were in one basket. Any one of those big clients could dictate terms or worse, stop buying and put you out of business right then and there. Lucky for you, you listened to your accountant and your salespeople who agreed that you were in a compromised position – until you got some new clients to mitigate the risk of coercion or financial disruption.

So, you decided to expand. You decided to get more customers so no one customer could hold you hostage. You decided to protect your revenue with more sources of income. And then what happened? You hit the wall! Like so many other build-out businesses, you were hit with costs and overhead you hadn’t seen coming. You found out the hard way about the cost of sales. Not the cost of goods. But the cost of sales!

We have found it to be the number one underestimated cost in business. Before the build-out expansion phase, these costs were spread out and absorbed under general “overhead.” But once you start moving into new markets, these costs make themselves known in no uncertain terms.

Suddenly you feel stuck. If you borrow money to expand, how long will it take to pay off the loan? If you sell equity to expand, how much control will you have to give up? And more importantly, what are the costs of expansion anyway? And are they the same in all markets? How can you know them ahead of time? And can you cashflow your way to achieve expansion?

The implications of growth are many. Here are 3 ways to survive this Build-out or Blowout challenge to your business:

Supply. You are going to need extended credit and terms from your main suppliers. They are more likely to extend them to you if you have developed a collaborative relationship with them during your Build-up phase. You have demonstrated empathy for their position by warning them ahead of time when you would be late or short on your payments. You have presented and executed payment plans to become current. You have shared your growth plans with them on a quarterly basis. You have entered into a long-term contract to give them the security that you will remain their loyal customer even after you get large. You have done these things all along, right?
Sales Cost Analysis. You have hired a cost accountant who has identified not only the cost of sales, but the cost of sales in various different markets. They have advised you about the profitability advantages of certain markets. You have heeded their counsel with an expansion plan based on a cashflow growth strategy. You have entered the most profitable markets first, the ones that cost you the least to compete in. You and your cost accountant have identified all the costs of sales, and how they differ from territory to territory. These include, but are not limited to, taxes, fees, transportation, advertising, promotions, customer service, representation, merchandising, presentations, discounting and so on. You don’t expand into the next territory until the first territory pays for itself. Right?
Compensation and Incentives. You have finally figured out that you can’t expect growth by paying your salespeople strictly on volume. In fact, you really can’t grow without a new compensation package based on new, higher goals every year. You have identified what growth means in terms of practicality and business health, and now you have developed the metrics that reward your people for growth and new markets and reorders. You have also set incentives in place for the other folks not on your payroll who can aid your growth. You’ve decided to take a smaller slice of a larger pie, haven’t you!

Of course, there’s a lot more to this tricky expansion business. The main thing is to not over extend yourself, make strategic alliances, grow slowly, and notice what it costs to actually make a sale, service a sale, and keep the sales coming. Work with a cost accountant and your suppliers, and follow a sensible strategy and you can build-out and not blowout! You can do this, right?

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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7 Aspects of the Gig Economy

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 18:00:45 +0000

Most startups fail because they have too much overhead and not enough sales – period! In fact, in The Barefoot Startup, we advise our clients to outsource everything but sales, accounting, and quality control. Overhead expenses are earned by sales, not the other way around!

We recently had the pleasure of attending the Conference on The Gig Economy hosted by the San Francisco Chapter of the Global Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is keen on keeping their members abreast of the latest developments in the international trade space.

When you think of gig work, names like Lyft and Uber naturally come to mind with all their legal issues that continue to unfold. The conference did a great job of exploring those issues and the ramifications to its members and attendees.

What we enjoyed the most was the first panel discussion that included leaders from government and industry, large and small, who focused on their experience with contingency, or “gig” workers. It was an eyeopener and has special significance for startups looking to reduce their need for capital to cover overhead by outsourcing certain kinds of work. The panel thoughtfully examined several aspects of gig work and the implications businesses should be aware of.

Batch Work. Because these folks are working on a temporary basis, it’s best to give them work that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Be clear about the parameters, deadlines, and formats.
Free Agents. Since they work for many clients, they have to shuffle priorities. Make sure your work is on their priority list. Also, be aware that you can lose them after you have invested training time.
Timing. They may work in different time zones making real time communication difficult. They may choose to work when they want. You may have to accommodate their existing schedules to get your job done.
Legalities. There appears to be a fine line between independent contractors and full-time employees. It’s still being adjudicated all over the world. Different countries have different laws one must be aware of. Generally, the more restraints you put on gig workers, the more likely they are to be considered employees. For those who are employees, the governing bodies want insurance, and taxes and employer contributions – and the battle goes on in each jurisdiction.
Up-To-Date. Gig workers tend to be more current on their job skills and stay on top of the latest unfolding technology, even more so than your own employees who, over time, may become lax in updating their education.
Cultural Impact. Contingency workers tend to work harder and faster than many of your own people. This tends to influence your folks to work harder. But on the other hand, gig workers can lack an understanding and appreciation for your company culture, policies, and procedures. They can be out of step with your people. Especially if they are working directly with your employees, this can be a problem.
Proving Ground. Many companies use a gig worker for a trial period to see if they will fit into their company as a full-time employee. It’s also a way of securing trained folks and their knowledge of your company without having to first make them an employee. This way, you get a sample of their work without a commitment.

What we like about the gig economy is that, especially for cash strapped startups, it can be an excellent way of paying for work as needed and not having to support a “payroll” that is due every two weeks whether or not you have made sales!

We advise our clients to look for the types of work that “fit” the Global Gig Economy. Be aware of the shortcomings as well as the advantages. It just may be the outsource resource you’ve been looking for!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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5 Ways to Get Good Ideas Out of Your People

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 17:00:54 +0000

Companies ask us, “How can we get the entrepreneurial spirit?” The real question should be, “How did we lose it?” When their founders started in that garage or basement so long ago, there was no question in their minds, if they didn’t make sales, they’d go out of business. But something changed along the way. They lost the entrepreneurial spirit!

What happened? Did they get so carried away with the specialization of human resources, they forgot what their founders knew – that sales are essential to survival? Did the various siloed specialties, like engineering, marketing, R&D, and admin, actually begin to believe that they were more essential than sales?

The specialties began to organize, have their own groups, their own conferences, their own publications. And as they became isolated and insulated from sales, they began to take sales for granted. “Sales can’t happen without my skill set,” became the refrain. Or worse, “Sales? That’s not my job!”

A “good idea” was thought to be all about improving some part of the production process. But did the folks who executed and improved those processes know why their process was essential to sales? Probably not. Management might say “They didn’t need to know.” But knowing why you are performing a process is the backbone of the entrepreneurial spirit. Sales is the reason!

We were honored to be the Keynote Speakers for the 75^th Anniversary Summit for IdeasAmerica. These are the folks who brought you the suggestion box in the early 1940’s and have advocated for employee-authored good ideas ever since. We decided that our message should encourage them to explore the cultural conditions that allow for, and promote, the engagement of employees.

Here’s our short list:

Overkill on Orientation. It’s not just where the bathroom, coffee, forms, and go-to person are. It’s how the money that’s in paychecks, benefits, and bonuses gets to your employees. Show them a graphic “money map” that identifies everyone who touches your company’s products or services, and what each one wants from your company. They will see more clearly how they fit in.
Pay for Performance. At least some part of your employees’ compensation must be tied to sales, growth, and profits. When you put all your people on the same bonus plan, you create the comradery of a well-practiced team with the same goal. The most effective bonuses are given quarterly – long enough to get the numbers and short enough to stay attainable.
Know the Need. Some companies are convinced that their people don’t need to know about sales, marketing, or competitive challenges. But when your people get the big picture, see how they fit in, and realize that you view them as a valuable problem-solving asset, they become more creative, and more loyal.
Grant Permission. Mistakes will happen. Make them permissible, as long as they are followed by immediate improvements to the company’s processes and procedures so they will be less likely to reoccur. Grant permission to brainstorm and entertain “crazy” ideas to solve problems. They often lead to a bright idea and a practical solution.
Give Acknowledgement. Make acknowledgement both public and written, and copy the whole team. Everyone will know more about who is being praised and have more respect for that person. They will likewise anticipate public praise when they solve problems. Some studies show that being appreciated is even more important than salary.

We salute IdeasAmerica and acknowledge the fine work they continue to do for both American and international companies. With a bit of encouragement, your people will provide a plethora of good ideas!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Why is The Barefoot Spirit So Relevant Today?

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 17:00:36 +0000

We talk a lot about the Barefoot Spirit. But exactly what is the Barefoot Spirit in essence? It is sales! Period! Presales before you open your doors; growth supported by sales; overhead justified by sales; new team members oriented with sales process maps; company-wide bonuses based on sales; and expansion based on the cost of sales. The Barefoot Spirit is a sales-driven culture.

Why this obsession with sales? It’s how everyone gets paid – everyone! Without sales, there would be no need for production, marketing, R&D, HR, legal, admin, and CEOs – nobody!

Why is the Barefoot Spirit so important today? Because many of us have actually lost our focus on sales in favor of engineering, programming, technology, legal, HR, and production. We have gotten to a place where we think that a killer app, a disrupting technology, or a new financial model is somehow more important than sales. They’re not.

In fact, in what we call the Barefoot Startup, the product itself is determined by sales. The design is not complete until after a thorough understanding of what the market wants and how the market will be accessed.

Today many believe that business success is based on securing financing. It’s not! You can secure financing and never make a sale. You can have a burn rate that quickly smokes investor dollars without sales.

We have allowed ourselves to believe that getting into a major box store is in itself a recipe for success. It’s not. It’s only the beginning, not the end. Real success is staying in the market with sustained and increasing sales.

In fact, we have seen companies that have discounted the importance of sales and elevated marketing – who will gladly take a bow when sales are up and blame “those salespeople out in the field” when sales are down.

Today, you can even get financing with a cool idea, no real sales plan, and no sales experience. Startups are not alone in this thinking. Investors abound who take sales for granted. They shouldn’t. The startup failure rate is on the increase. According to Small Business Trends, over 50% of small business startups fail in the first four years.

No one’s idea, no matter how brilliant, is going to sell itself. All ideas must be sold and more importantly resold on an ongoing basis.

Today, much of the focus is on the cost of goods, when it should be on the cost of sales. If you can’t service what you sell, you are soon off the market. If you can’t achieve a positive cash flow quickly, you are back trading more of your precious equity to the investor just to keep the lights on.

The current thinking seems to be that if you have a good enough idea, and a catchy marketing plan, you just hire some people to sell it. If they don’t, just fire them and hire some more. Right? Wrong. With that attitude, you never find out why your idea didn’t sell – until it’s too late!

How has this happened? Sales itself has gotten a bad name. Nobody wants to be “salesy!” Nobody wants to face personal rejection. Sales is generally not taught in school. And salespeople are seen as shifty characters, out to trick you, only after your money, and with very little to offer in return. Good salespeople offer excellent customer service, and should be the highest priority for a startup, not the last.

From startups to enterprise companies, the time is right for the Barefoot Spirit. Now is the time to focus on the top priority for success, sales!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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