The Essential Guide to Sales for Small Business Leaders

Key Resources for Sales

On My Quest for the Best, I’ve interviewed hundreds of published authors and business experts.

Let me summarize some of the best ideas, strategies, tactics, and tools in the area of sales, specifically for small business leaders.

A small business is different from a startup with one or two people and unproven sales. Small businesses at any stage, by metrics in the United States, are those managing a P/L of under $500 MM or including fewer than 500 FTEs.

Table of ContentsThe Essential Guide to Sales for Small Business LeadersUse this table of contents to easily find helpful resources.

Key Resources for SalesBy starting off defining sales, it is important to make these distinctions:Industry Leaders and Sources for Sales EffectivenessZig Ziglar was a breakthrough American author, sales expert, and thought leader.Neal Rackman is an academic and pioneer from the United Kingdom best known for his writings about consultative selling.David Sandler is a leading sales expert, best-selling author, and the founder of the Sandler organization.David Mattson, a top sales expert from Maryland is the CEO of Sandler Training.Sales Resources on My Quest for the BestFeatured Interviews on Sales

By starting off defining sales, it is important to make these distinctions:

Sales work with marketing and are distinct from marketing. Marketing involves identifying leads and prospecting for leads, moving people along the journey from suspect to prospect to lead. Sales pick up when the lead begins to ask questions about his or her specific situation and how the solution would solve a problem that meets a current need.

As a business function, sales is responsible for generating top-line revenue from the exchange of funds for products or services.

10 important metrics that are commonly tracked in sales include: 

Cost per lead (CPL) - the amount it costs to acquire a prospective customer.Cost per acquisition (CPA) - take the marketing costs and divide them by the number of new customers gained during a month, quarter, or another period.Close-ratio: the percent of offers that are accepted and closed.Average deal size - the average of all sales made during a period of time.Customer Lifetime Value - what a new customer is worth to the company based not just on the first purchase, but on the full range of purchases forecast.EBITA – earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization. Investors also use EBITDA, including the depreciation of assets into this metric.Gross revenue - total revenue before expenses are deducted.Net Revenue - the difference between gross revenue and the CPA. Profit - What remains after costs are subtracted from your revenue is your profit. Gross profit is the Gross Revenue minus the Cost of Goods Sold. Another important metric is Net Profit, or the Gross Profit subtracting all interest; income and payroll taxes; and mortgage, utility or rent expenses of the business during the period.

Industry Leaders and Sources for Sales Effectiveness

Zig Ziglar was a breakthrough American author, sales expert, and thought leader.

One of the best-known sales motivators and authors in the last 50 years, Zig Ziglar’s work broke new ground. I met Zig Ziglar at an NSA Conference and in his 80’s he was even more dynamic, persuasive, and electric in person than he comes across in his recorded materials. From 1970 to 2010, he traveled over five million miles across the world delivering powerful life improvement messages, and authored more than 30 books.

His best-known books include:

See You at the Top: 25th Anniversary EditionSelling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional Needs to KnowSecrets of Closing the Sale

Neal Rackman is an academic and pioneer from the United Kingdom best known for his writings about consultative selling.

He researched 35,000 sales calls in over 20 countries to understand the sales process and then codified it into SPIN Selling,