This Blog provides tactics and tips in consultative selling:
A Cheap Sales Force Is An Expensive Problem
A weighty idea that some business owners embrace is that a cheaper sales staff will result in more profit, since the perceived costs are less. This is counter to the goal of maximizing the investments that are made in an attempt to market and sell the products and/or services that the business offers.
Developing and delivering new products and services require investments of time, money and worthy effort. Just as important in introducing new products and technology into the marketplace, marketing and sales require these investments too. Possibly this is due to a lack of appreciation for the value of sales and marketing efforts, stemming from a lack of understanding these varied functions essentially contribute to the firm. Planning to field a sales team “on the cheap” manifests itself in opportunity costs, which is more likely to be lost opportunities that pass by and seek alternative solutions. Instead of a cheap sales force, it is really an issue of affordability.
All of the investment made in product development, operations, and administrative services are wasted if the business fails to obtain paying customers. Doing things cheaply is actually more expensive—not because of the money spent, but because of the sales transactions and revenues that are not achieved.