Volkmar Völzke's BLOG

After a long time, I’d like to come back to a sales topic. Or better: How you can unleash huge potential for more sales and profit. 

Examples: Recently, in a men’s clothing store, in the department for suits. After a short time, one of the many under-employed salespeople is approaching me (at last!) and selects some suits for me, showing me where I can try them on, and then: nothing! No asking, no advice. Nothing. And this is not an isolated case. Did I buy? No! Of course not. 

Next: My MacBook Air needs a new battery. The Apple Store is in a different city, so I’m looking for Apple authorized stores close to my home. What do I find? Confusing websites without clear statements about price and no possibility for scheduling an online appointment. As such, I’d rather book the appointment directly at Apple online in 30 seconds. And yes, even the price is clear. 

These are just examples and yet wherever you look, potentials for more sales, more...

Slowly, the year is coming to an end – again. Every year, the same old story!

Let's talk about business (Christmas cookies have to wait): What can you still do this year for 2020, even if you only have a few days left? Quite a lot!

Because now is not only the ideal time to contact customers, business partners and colleagues that you have neglected for too long, but above all to get the coming year going.

Yes, exactly: It is now that your performance in the first quarter of 2020 that will be decided.

Here are three very concrete ideas about what you should absolutely do in the next two weeks to start 2020 in pole position:

1. Great ambition. Define your ambition for 2020 right now: What great result do you want to achieve in the coming year that you have not achieved so far; that has absolutely nothing to do with your current position. When it comes to sales, you can set a goal of doubling your numbers. In leadership, your ambition can be to develop your team in such a way that...

Is it the same for you? As soon as the New Year celebrations have faded away, the first half of the year is already over. You don't even have six months to reach your annual goals.

Maybe you're on the right track, or or maybe you’re behind schedule (at least that's what I hear from various companies). What's important is that the most successful companies never adjust their targets downwards. Instead, successful companies consider how they can still make good progress now to exceed even the most demanding targets.

Do you say you can't do that because of the global threat of trade war, lack of demand, the difficult situation or other external factors? The brutal truth is: with this mentality you and your team return to the mental comfort zone.

I challenge you: Now is the time to go even further out of your comfort zone and into the performance zone and let it really rumble in the second half of the year. How? Well, here are three ideas to implement:

1. Calibration. Don't allow...

Let's be honest, right at the start of the new year: There are always 1000 reasons why one should not change anything - and certainly not yourself.

Those who care relatively little about these reasons are not only more successful on average but also happier, more fulfilled and more positive in the world.

You must have positive intentions, of course, but hopefully, that goes without saying.

Let me ask you a question about 2019: What would it be like if you question something that already exists every day and allow fresh and different ideas?

It's like opening your windows wide and letting fresh air flow through.

Where to start? From my work in 2018, I see the most " need for fresh air" in these areas:

1. Leadership. Get out of your way of thinking through sparring partners and coaching. Cancel useless meetings and apply new findings from leadership research.
2. Self-responsibility. In other words, we all have full responsibility to choose our attitude every minute. I find it downright...

Ok, let's take care of your sales or the sales of your company. We almost always depend on selling something to others or helping others do it - directly or indirectly. As Peter Drucker once said, every company has two core functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing, in this sense, includes selling. 

Hence, I will ask you a few very simple questions, which you need to answer to optimize your business: 

• What is the average purchase frequency of your customers per segment?
• What is the average transaction value of a sale per segment?
• How many new prospects ("leads") do you need this month to create your quarterly and annual targets?
• How much of your sales are generated by what marketing measures, e.g., referrals, advertisements, fairs etc.?
• What are your "must-win deals" this month, i.e., the deals you need to win?

These are reasonable questions to answer to be able to control your business instead of sailing in the dark. Believe it or not, almost all CEOs and...