Top 4 reasons why your company does not sell enough

50% of Bangladeshi companies close within two years of their creation, according to a study carried out by the Failure Institute, and 65% of those fail to do so because they do not have enough income.

A healthy flow of sales, hand in hand with proper administration, is one of the best routes to avoid this deadly problem that afflicts many companies. However, sometimes entrepreneurs are not ready for good business execution and believe that a product focus is enough to get the business off the ground.

No matter how innovative the product, its technology, or how much development was behind it, if we can't get customers to pay money for what we sell, sooner or later we will have to disappear. It is essential for any business to have a solid commercial strategy that, based on understanding the needs of its consumers, outlines what must be done in terms of products, prices, channels, communication, brand positioning, and demand generation, among many others. aspects.

For this, it is important to identify what are the sales problems that the company faces. In search of supporting emerging companies, we took on the task of compiling four of the reasons why a company does not sell enough:

1. The product is bad

A frequent situation among entrepreneurs, especially those with programming training, occurs when they design a product and develop it to the end, but at the time of launching it, they realize that it is not what the market needs. If it has limitations, customers don't understand it, or it doesn't do what it's expected to do then it's a poorly executed idea and no one will buy the product, or eventually scrap it.

Think, for example, in e-commerce: If the products do not arrive on time, they arrive in poor condition and there is poor customer service, then from the customer's perspective it will not make sense to use the service again. Even though it has been developed with the highest technology.

For a product or service to be sold, it is important that it be designed to meet a specific need in the market. In this sense, validating it with consumers is the only way to ensure that it will be well received.

2. They do not go out to sell

Some entrepreneurs are so focused on developing a good product that they never go out to explore their market or do so too late, thinking that their product will sell itself. The reality is that no matter how good a product is, you always need to have a marketing plan.

Many entrepreneurs think that dedicating resources to the sales area is not a priority, when in reality what they should be doing is going out, selling, testing their product, modifying it, going out, and selling more. They are not investing enough in a commercial force, they spend three pesos on marketing and expect customers to call them and that is not going to happen. The manager noted that even if the entrepreneur develops the ability to sell, no matter how good he becomes, it will eventually become impossible to scale the company without an effective sales force. It is necessary to get good salespeople and develop them, because only then can the business continue to grow.

3. Wanting to do everything for everyone

A myth among entrepreneurs is wanting to find the ideal product for everyone, a solution, and a sales strategy that works equally for all customers. Or, on the contrary, companies seek to offer a series of different products to many types of customers in search of cornering different markets. What ends up happening is that no one is pleased.

It is important to understand that the products are created to meet the specific needs of specific markets, which allows the respective commercial strategies to be viable.

There are people who have five types of clients but a single brand and a single commercial strategy to attract all those different types of clients and the result is poor, there is no return on investment in marketing.

4. Selling to the wrong customers

It is not enough to sell, but it is your duty to sell to the best possible clients for your business. A very common mistake in this regard is selling to the wrong clientele. You may have found a niche that brings you certain sales, but if there is another market that is buying more and you are not serving enough, then it is a missed opportunity.

You need a strategy that allows you to reach your different types of customers, with differentiated tactics to have an effective acquisition cost.

Another factor to take into account regarding customers is their lifetime value, which refers to the value that a customer gives to the company during their relationship with it. Consider that for your company it generates more value by retaining quality customers than by constantly attracting customers who do not return after the first purchase.

One solution to this is to identify the needs of customers who have bought repeatedly, that is, those you want for your company, and take the time to get to know them and understand what they want, in order to design a strategy specifically designed for them.

Sales are often the Achilles' heel of business, and statistics show that they are one of the main reasons new businesses go bankrupt. This is why special attention should be paid to the commercial area, especially if it is a new company or with managers without much experience in the sales area.

Finally, it is important to remember that no person is born knowing everything necessary to run a successful company, and that much depends on proper execution, so if there are problems in your business area, it is a good idea to consult experts on the subject.

Remember that it is always good to receive help, since raising the necessary capital to fund a company is a complicated task, both for entrepreneurs and businessmen. However, complicated does not mean impossible. Having a clear understanding of all the finances, sales, and valuation of your startup will build trust with investors.