We want to talk a little bit about business growth.  Since, of course, that’s what people get in touch with us to do. 

And when we have clients, they often come to us with things they’ve heard, passed down from generation after generation of business people, and they’ve taken them as gospel. 

But they’re not true, and they’re not helping. So let’s dispel the big three myths about sales growth, shall we?

Myth 1: You Need A Lot More Leads To Scale Fast.

Just so we can see if this makes sense or not, let’s consider something:  what if you got 100,000 really crappy leads?  Leads you could close, but it would require every manager to get involved and every exception to get made.  

Would this help you or hurt you? 

You’d be buried for sure.  And your existing customer and the business you created would be quite fragile.

More leads might be good, but what’s better than more leads is better leads.  And a lot of business owners don’t do the hard work that makes lead gen automagical. 

Where will these better leads come from?  

A few ideas:

• More referrals from existing customers.  (A referral program)
• More qualified leads via stronger targeting. (Fishing in a better pond).
• More leads via different channels. (Affiliates, resellers, partners & vendors) 

More “mediocre” leads will do nothing but bury your sales staff, but better leads will lift your company.

Myth 2: Customers Should All Come To You!

The other myth spread by advertisers and content marketers.  They want you in a world where people believe that all of your customers should just come to you somehow.  

They find you via your YouTube channel, blog posts and other content.  

Or ads, possibly.

No, man, you gotta go get some business. Inbound lead flow is a great – first – choice. But you have to build programs and do the work that’s needed to make introductions to your business.  

You gotta go hunt and build a culture of hunters in order to grow – if your operations are in shape (and you’ve a large net promoter score ranking).  

Myth 3: Every Connection You Make Needs to Be Amazing and Delightful.

Let’s don’t be matcha drinking hipster bros, ok?  To grow a business you gotta deal with some boring people.  Some people that you may not want to hang out with socially. Other folks that are just sorta randomly crabby. 

All of that is fine, fine, fine.

Sometimes referral conversations are less than smooth.  Sometimes when you approach someone it’s awkward.  Sometimes it even has some conflict.  Sometimes there’s no joy found there. 

That’s fine, too.

Sometimes customers just barely buy and they come into the business with a sense of mistrust.

Again, this is OK.  Some people are like that (especially during 2020).  

Some customers are skeptical after they buy (and will never be raving fans).

All of these situations are perfectly normal parts of business. The way we grow is by growing more of what we want.  We can’t insist that everyone is always in some state of fantastical ecstasy. That’s just not real business.

Myth #4: When The Sale Is Made, Your Hard Work Is Over

OK, great.  You’ve closed a sale.  Call your mom! 

You’ve gotten your cash and kept your business afloat another year.  Awesome job!  

Now what do you need to do?

Earn your customer’s trust. 

They paid you for your product or service.  Now it’s time to validate their trust in you.  By over-delivering.

Even if they have a tricky personality.

Even when they aren’t “your cup of tea.”  

Make it so they never wonder and never worry if you have their back.  Set a blazing pace to care for them and their needs.

Myth#5: You Have To Do It All On Your Own

Owners have an advantage in sales.  They don’t have to filter through anyone and a good owner can cut to the chase right way.

And it’s that edge- of all things – that keeps owners from growing.  It’s sometimes easier to just do it yourself than it is to outsource.  And so owners get stuck in the “owner as hero” mode, having to “save the business” by going out and getting into the field to close a deal.

The better idea?  To build a team and jump in when you need to help the team close.  You can “lend” owner’s advantage when it’s helpful to get a deal done, but not in other circumstances.  

So What Do You Do Next?

There are other myths that are probably holding your business back. The important thing is to tell the right story about your business and create a balanced business.