Opinion: IT sales stimulus package

'To be clear, it's not lack of sales - it's the lack of profitable sales that causes failure.

Whether we're in a recession, depression or not - business must go on. We need to find the right sales and deliver them through a disciplined process.

Business is about achieving your objectives with limited resources. Being in business is about providing a product or service at a profit.

A service can be seen an agreed outcome where the risks and technicalities are managed by the service provider. This is especially true in IT where expertise on demand and managed services are an essential part of your value proposition.

A business development strategy combines demand generation with prospect nurturing to increase your sales - time after time.

Let's consider the case where your sales are high, but you cost of sales is higher. Generating more sales will serve to bankrupt you faster.

For that one reason, a solid business development process is possibly the best investment you can ever make in your firm.

As a business manager, you know the value of well defined processes - from accounting, project management to service delivery.

Without a process you risk poor quality results or your best people become locked into low-value work. You must be able to delegate with confidence.

Without a structured plan and good management practices it all becomes "too hard". Since you're focusing on day-to-day activities - you postpone it.

It's not hard. There are strategies and tactics that will repeatedly introduce your firm to new prospects. Then you can systematically turn them into repeat clients. You need to know what you want to sell, who you want to sell, what profit each sale makes, and what criteria you establish to ensure that your sales make good business sense.

If not, then the best you can hope is to survive. In the interim, your competitors and new entrants will emerge to find those clients that you didn't. 

- Ask yourself are your sales cycles are too long?

- Are your clients are not spending enough?

- Do you have enough business to thrive and grow?'