What does a Sales Consultant actually do?

Many people see SMESA consultants at networking events and (as with most things) make an assumption that Sales Consultancy is the same as sales training, coaching, and mentoring. 

Whilst it is true that these things overlap there is a difference...a big one. 

Sales coaching, training, and mentoring accounts for perhaps 30% of what SMESA consultants do. The remainder is consultancy. Which involves building the business using the revenue we train them to generate. 

Making Sales is something every business HAS to do in order to function. But turning it into a SKILL within the business over something FOR the business yields a much greater impact:

We have been working with a Cumbrian SME for several months now, when they came to us earlier in the year they were making £700/month through their website: an avenue they had no control over, almost like they were waiting for the phone to ring with orders. 

By overhauling their sales systems and teaching them how to use them effectively: this month they have turned over more than £2,700 against a target of £2,000, and already exceeded next month's quota. Sales would have had to of been stopped for these periods as production cannot keep up. This is the impact effective Sales Training has...making people busy, busy, busy until breaking point.

The consultancy element to our role has now kicked in, the company has invested in machinery to increase production capacity on the rise to Christmas. More orders can now be taken without a break in flow as the idea to prepare for this influx was floated months ago before capacity was reached. We have also, to justify the use of this machinery over the long term; started planning sales beyond the new year already for the next promotion, keeping demand for production at this level allowing a sure footing for the company to grow on. 

We have brought in recommended outsourced suppliers to take on internal functions within the company relieving pressure on the business owners, thereby turning an 8-hour working day into a 16 hour day initially, soon to be a 24 or 32 hour day, 5 days per week, with the whole team working together. 

The most recent development we've consulted on only today is options around the sales department itself: growth by outsourcing or inhouse, full time or part-time, salesperson or sales team, complete or partial process support (lead gen only or complete sales cycle provision) and the rewards, perils, and pitfalls of each avenue. 

This is a company on the rise, all because they understood the need to take command of the sales systems within the business. Today has marked a milestone for them, for us it's another happy client filled with the rewards that achievement comes with. 

Whatever the business, or activity, people rely on Sales every day, whether it's in the pub with friends when you tell a funny story or anecdote; or on a first date getting them to like you enough for a second date, or in a business meeting pitching a product or service to close a deal. Learning how to sell without being pushy is paramount to being successful in life and one of the best skills to have in business NOT taught in school. This is the reason people don't like to do sales and fear it because it's an unknown quantity, or they don't know how to implement it in an effective way once the deal is closed.  

Even if you don't go into or have a direct Sales Role, or don't believe you 'do sales'...you do. Learn how to do it, and learn how to do it well and you will master your chosen career choice.  

Regards, 

The SMESA Team.

Because "When sales matter, we deliver"