Thursday, May 13, 2010, 11:00pm CDT | Modified: June 14, 2010, 11:00 PM

Sales focus, an entrepreneurs must-have

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The other day, I met with another wannabe entrepreneur awash in the romantic notions that often entice people into starting their own businesses. The advantages of working for yourself — on your own schedule, with no one to answer to or share profits with, all while doing what you love — were exerting a powerful pull on this guy. I did him a favor and let a little air out of his balloon with a needle called reality.

The wiser entrepreneurs are from the get-go, the better their chances of success. New entrepreneurs are often surprised to discover that their primary responsibility is not wearing V-neck sweaters and fashionable eyewear like the folks in the AmEx commercials. It’s sales.

Even if the only thing you’ve ever sold is a glass of lemonade from a sidewalk stand, you are now the chief sales officer of your new company. Without a powerful sales engine, the revenue line on your income statement will be nonexistent. And your business will follow suit soon thereafter. Even if you hire a salesperson, you are still primarily responsible for generating revenue.

In the early days of a company, you can’t expect to fully delegate sales responsibilities because you are the best spokesperson for your company. Not only do you have the passion, enthusiasm and confidence that will attract new customers, but you most likely have the subject matter expertise needed to convince prospects to buy from your company.

As the conversation continued, the entrepreneur asked me, “What is the single most important thing a small new company like mine should do to be successful?” replied with one word: focus.

Focus affects every aspect of a small business, especially the all-important sales. Fear might tempt you to be all things to all people, but you simply don’t have the time, money or resources to execute effectively across a broad range of deliverables. Your best bet is to determine which two or three things will have the greatest positive impact. Consider two examples from sales.

First, it is best to focus on a smaller target market. Many entrepreneurs with an idea worth quitting their day jobs will say, “People in just about any industry can use our solution.” While that may be true, it is too hard for a small business to effectively sell into every industry. Instead of wearing yourself out chasing every possibility, analyze each potential target market to determine which will be more likely to buy from you.

Narrowing your market focus enables you to tailor your message to a prospective customer’s specific needs and use language more relevant to that industry. Tighter focus enables you to penetrate your market more cost-effectively because it’s better defined, with fewer organizations to pursue. You can also communicate into a narrow market slice more frequently, overcoming limited resources. The adage that “it’s better to hammer one nail 10 times than it is to hammer 10 different nails one time” applies in sales.

Having narrowed your target market, your next step is to narrow your initial offering to the product or service your target market is most likely to buy. You may have created an amazing turnkey, end-to-end, fix-it-all solution that will literally transform your customers’ businesses, but that does no one any good if prospects can’t see it solving an immediate problem for them. So take the time to identify your best high-probability, bite-size initial offering, and package it tightly. You may ultimately sell them your “supreme” solution, but you’ll never get that chance if you don’t earn their trust and confidence early with an easily understood and implemented solution.

Robert Beasley is CEO of ThisQuarter, an Austin-based sales strategy and training consulting firm.