Why We're Focused on Profits
and Who We Are
How can a company increase sales while reducing the cost of selling?
Profit Driven Selling grew out of Russ Emrick’s consulting business “Breakout Selling” started in 2011. The business was focused on the number one question most every sales leader asked, “How can I increase revenues and know that my sales team is effective?” The emphasis was on increasing revenue, improving the sales team’s effectiveness and increasing market share. Breakout Selling got results – often doubling sales in a single year.
In 2018 the question most owners and sales leaders were asking changed. Relentless competition kept pushing prices down while ratcheting up buyer’s expectations. Costs kept rising. Margins shrank, and salespeople had to sell more just to stay even. Every deal felt like a knife fight in a phone booth where even if you won the wasn’t much to celebrate when it was over.
Salespeople were working harder and longer then ever before. They were doing the right things but it got harder and harder each year. More sales wasn't fixing all of the problems, some problems got worse.
The businesses were suffering as well. The added volume - without the margins needed to support it - made everyone outside of sales work harder too. More support, more installations, more service issues. More spend on parts, goods, and labor. More of just about everything except profit.
Bottom-Line: no-one was making much money
42%
29%
23%
33%
18%
Why Businesses Fail...
growing revenue without increasing profits is just more work!
Perhaps it seems obvious to you that profits need to come first, it seems obvious to us now. “More sales solves all ills” is the core belief of most sales leaders. Leaders and their teams are chasing the “next big deal” to make their number. Frequently that means discounting to close business at the end of the month or the end of the quarter. Too often that means sacrificing margin for market share.
The truth is that more sales doesn’t cure all ills, at least if you have to throw more and more money to get those sales. You reach a point where you can’t work harder. Companies are hiring the same ‘A’ players. Your competition is also working to make their sales teams more effective. Competitors are driving margins down. Revenue growth has turned into a kind of paradox: growth that diminishes profits. From that dilemma Profit Driven Sales was born. We have an answer to the question “How can a company increase sales while reducing the cost of selling?” Instead of asking “how can we increase revenues” we answer, “how can we increase profits?”
Why Profit Driven Sales is Different
We sell. We love sales. Sales is what we are - but sales that are profitable!
There are over two million sales consultants on LinkedIn. 2,341,708 to be exact. They promise to increase revenue, to transform your sales organization.
Over $66 billion dollars is thrown at sales training, enablement, and consulting every year. Countless other investments are made to improve the results of selling – from hiring ‘A’ players, to reorganizations, and motivational programs. Mature, profitable businesses spend between 15% and 40% of revenue on their sales organizations.
Despite the investments in sales training, better hiring and sales enablement quota attainment has rarely exceeded 50% nationally and the close rate of B3B deals has decreased every year since 2014. No decisions and ghosting by buyers have become epidemic.
Profit Driven Sales is a consulting company with a distinct focus – on making revenue count. We help owners, sales executives and sales reps focus on what is important: highly profitable customers (and deals) while eliminating costs that don’t increase revenue.
Typical Client Results
An OEM was spending over a million dollars a year on a 9 salespeople. The reps were good but cost over $100k each. In three years, annual revenue never broke $1 million. In three months, we cut costs, paired back the team to 3 reps, and used a channel strategy to sell. The first year after working with The Profit Driven Sales Force the company did $5 million. Year two they did $10 million.
A medical device company was struggling with flat sales. They didn’t have the name recognition to open doors at the executive level. We implemented a couple of Profit Driven Sales Force tools (messaging, a playbook, and demand generation) and 12 months later the company doubled its market share. Doors no longer had to be pried open. Sales increased 300% without having to add additional reps.
The owner of a local equipment business lost his top two reps to a competitor. They ravished his customer base. For five years the company drifted downward. The owner had to put cash into the business.He called us for advice on selling the business. Instead we fixed it. We hired low cost reps on highly leveraged commission plans. Gave them a compelling story and a value proposition. Three years later the owner profitably retired and left a thriving business to his son.
A client came to us with a cost problem disguised as a sales issue. Suppliers kept increasing prices while his customers demanded steeper discounts. More sales wasn't the answer. We decided to ‘go inside’ by hiring inside reps to farm existing clients. The cost of sales got cut in half. Outside reps had more free time to hunt business. After the change more new accounts were opened in the first quarter than had been opened in the previous 12 months.
Profit Driven Sales is based on the knowledge that more revenue isn’t enough. A company can’t sell at a loss and make it up on volume. For a business to thrive it must make a profit and to do that its sales force must deliver profitable business. We help B2B sales organizations to not only increase revenue but also to generate more profit by each salesperson.
What are you looking to accomplish? | We can help you... | |
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Beat competitors without sacrificing margin |
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Grow your pipeline with qualified and profitable opportunities |
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Strengthen the skills of your sales reps |
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Increase revenues while decreasing the cost of new business acquisition |
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Create a repeatable sales process with a higher close rate |
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Results you can expect
Find out more on How We Can Help. Call us today: (479) 306-6559
The Painless Process
Working together to increase profits is a simple three step process
Step 1: Let's Talk
Increasing profits by having a more effective profit driven sales force starts with a phone cal or contact. You can call us at (479) 306-6559 or use the contact form below.
Step 2: Let's Met
If an opportunity exists to increase profits, let's meet. We can do our Fast Profits workshop to make rapid changes immediately or have a meeting. Our meeting can be online or at your place of business.
Step 3: Let's Execute
We don’t preach best practices. We roll up our sleeves and work side-by-side with you and your team to help you execute your plan.
Ready for a Conversation?
You know what's working and you know what isn't. Fix what you need to and maximize your selling investment.
If you know the challenges you want to solve and you need a partner to do it, it's likely time for a chat. Fill out the short form and we will be in touch.
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