Nothing happens in business until somebody sells something!

Do a quick Google search of this blog title and you’ll find a pretty big list of people claiming credit for it (well almost those exact words anyway).

One such individual, Arthur H ‘Red’ Mosely, first used a very similar slogan: ‘Nothing happens until something is sold’ way back in 1942 as the motto for his workforce, and his words have been repeated – with a few tweaks – many times since then. Even the great Henry Ford is reputed to have said them.

Whether Mosely or Ford was the first to utter the phrase or not is moot. The point is they were right. Any business has to be able to sell something, whether it’s an idea or a physical product or service for something to happen. Business owners also have to sell themselves to convince others to buy whatever they’re offering.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Selling might be the oldest profession (think about it), but doing it effectively isn’t always easy. To some businesses, selling is even a dirty word and they avoid doing anything but selling. In reality, whichever way they try and spin it if a customer uses their services or buys a product from them, they’re selling, and their existence depends on it.

After a while, most businesses – yours might be included here – will face one or both of these problems with selling: winning new clients, and finding and developing sales people. And these problems aren’t always easy to deal with. Today’s consumers are becoming more and savvier as they’re faced with a huge choice and really don’t like being sold to, and recruiting reliable people who know how to sell is increasingly difficult.

There are things you can do to get around these tricky situations though. Think about creating a culture where everyone sees sales as their responsibility. When people are responsible for things, they feel empowered and will willingly do it. You’ll see things definitely start to happen.

You also need to look at your sales processes. And we mean really look at it. Ask yourself have you got the right systems in place? Are you concentrating on the things that work well? Do you have the proper people doing the job? It could be that sales have flatlined and you’re not sure what direction to go in to get them back on that upward trend.

It’s really important you’re honest here and don’t pull your punches. There’s no point shying away from addressing areas where you need to get better. If you need to change something, then change it. If someone’s not performing well, question whether they’re in the right role or need more training.

Stuff like this can feel overwhelming at times, and it can be tough knowing where to start. But you understand more than anyone why you need to take your business to the next level. You’re a successful business person who’s sold your concept and your dream, as well as something tangible hundreds or maybe even thousands of times, and you’ll do so again.

Nothing happening in business isn’t something you want to hear about your company, is it? Maybe you just need to think about doing things a bit differently or getting a little help.

Good selling!