Many consultancy firms agree that the most common reasons why start-ups fail are based on the 7 factors mentioned below.

• You start your business for the wrong reasons
• Poor Management
• Insufficient Capital
• The Wrong Location
• Lack of Planning
• Overexpansion
• No Website and no Social Media Presence

Many companies therefore focus on these 7 factors solely and endless reports and guides can be found online to avoid or minimize these risks.

Read more under Further Reading Material (link to sub-page).

No doubt the 7 previously mentioned reasons for failure are important challenges, however our experience and official research has also pinpointed an 8th factor:

Sales!

Not surprisingly, considering that sales is the parameter which, at the end, makes it all happen.

The 8th (and overlooked) failure parameter – Sales!

“Sales” is a specialism, just like finance, human resources, marketing, ICT, etc.  Despite this fact, sales is often underestimated. The founders/developers believe that their product or proposition is so unique, it will sell itself and thus that they can easily do it themselves. But guess what? Despite the uniqueness, your product/proposition will not sell itself!

In many cases, becoming successful with sales takes time. Sales cycles are generally, depending on the kind of business, long.

Also, in many cases you do not do business with one person only but with several; the person you sell your proposition to, the purchasing department, legal representatives, etc. It can be complex, long and yes, even frustrating at times.

After that frustrating experience, the question arises: “how can we sell our product/proposition?”. Next to this basic question there are many other questions and considerations related to the Go to Market strategy:

Fundamental sales questions

 ⦁ Should we and can we afford to hire a salesperson?
 ⦁ If yes, how can we find such a person, the right person?
 ⦁ What qualifications should such a person have?
 ⦁ Are we able to recognize and attract a real salesperson?
 ⦁ What is the cost of a salesperson and how do bonusses/commission work?
 ⦁ How can we get appointments with potential clients?
 ⦁ Who are our potential clients?
 ⦁ Who are the right contact persons?
 ⦁ Should our salesperson make the appointments her/himself or should we hire an agency for that purpose?
 ⦁ Should we sell through business partners and if yes, what is the right partner and how can we find and attract the right ones?
 ⦁ (Value Added) Distributors
 ⦁ (Value Added) Resellers
 ⦁ Agents
 ⦁ What are the dynamics selling through business partners?
 ⦁ What is in it for them?
 ⦁ How can we get their attention so that they focus on our product/proposition?
Expansion of sales
 ⦁ Should we focus on our home country first and at which stage do we want to go international?
 ⦁ Once we go international, many of the questions mentioned above, arise again.

Sales in relation to Local Market Forces

 ⦁ Local do’s and don’ts in doing business?
 ⦁ Local culture and behavior?
 ⦁ Is this specific country adaptive for new products/propositions?
 ⦁ Legal aspects in the market /rules and regulations for that specific product or service?
 ⦁ Local competitive situation?

Sales communication and messaging
 ⦁ What is our exact message once we speak to a potential client or business partner?
 ⦁ The identity of our company – the mission/vision/strategy?
 ⦁ Uniqueness of the product/proposition?
 ⦁ How do we address the market and customer specific challenges?

All these aspects require a professional approach and guidance by experienced commercial people if you want to be ensured of positive results. And even then, you are dependent on many aspects:

 ⦁ What is the added value/uniqueness of your product/proposition?
 ⦁ Competitive situation
 ⦁ Pricing
 ⦁ Quality of your companies’ representatives
 ⦁ Your messaging

In conclusion, sales as a whole is not something to be taken lightly. This is where Agreement Consult comes in.

We have experience with every aspect of the Go to Market approach, the 8th failure parameters and all the questions mentioned above.

Do not hesitate to contact us and have a conversation about your specific challenges.