Dale Rothenberger, VP of The Winters Group & Associates

I’m always asking questions about the business or person taking care of my purchase. It drives my wife crazy (and many times, she’s embarrassed by my inquisitive nature). Just this week alone:

- I learned that during the height of the real estate market we had 24,000 homes for sale in our county; today that number is 44,000. (Talked to a real estate agent while getting my car serviced).

– I learned that the EMR (electronic medical records) system chosen by the largest hospital in our area is fine for “main campus” use; but for the doctors who have to use it as part of remote office locations, it is impractical for small office, one-on-one patient visits. (Talked to my family physician during a routine check-up).

- I learned that the economic recovery in my area has improved about 20% since January 1st (talking to a waitress at local Italian restaurant and the amount of diners and tips received on a typical Tuesday night.)

What do I do with all this “nuisance” information? I use it when I am talking to clients and prospects about their business, their industry, and the customers they serve. It provides me with “real-time” statistics (restaurant), case study examples (hospital should have done a focus group across all user groups), and the economy is still slow to recover in real estate (buyer’s market).

As a business owner, when do you want sales? Today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year… so the sales funnel must be constantly filled and monitored. How good are your sales people with providing you forecasts? (Did you know that only 42% of most sales professionals can provide an accurate sales forecast? And only 45% of sales people actually reach quota? And more than 50% of quotes are lost due to inability to “close”?)

How important is your sales funnel? It’s the lifeblood of the future of your organization.
So I ask you, how much attention are you paying to your Sales Funnel. The world of business and marketing communications is changing dramatically. The kinds of marketing technologies gives the service provider a presence where never before considered. The monitoring systems and process improvements to achieve sales “technology” management is not far off, its here today. It’s just not widely known or advertised. It is affordable, measurable, and adoptable.

If you are working to fill the funnel to over-capacity in production, look to changing your presence in the marketplace. Technology can elevate your market position and bring you opportunities in net new sales revenues.

For more information on The Winters Group & Associates, please visit http://www.wintersmg.com.