Who is selling your company's products or services? Do they have the skills to actually define and harvest the market or are they order takers, hoping the product or service will sell itself?

Most small to medium enterprises (SME)don't have the budget or know-how to set up an effective sales program. Normally SME companies "hire" commission only sales reps who represent a variety of different companies and products and whose loyalties lay with volume and margin of whatever is working at the time. The other way an SME sales effort is established is the owner or manager act as the sales department. And many of these key people come from the production side of the business. In other words, SMEs are usually very weak at the sales and marketing side of the business.

Normally, a good sales person is thought of as someone with a like-able personality and solid social skills. Not many people appreciate the training and the proper "game" that is required to become a successful professional sales person. Any professional sales person will tell you that selling is all about discipline, product knowledge and training on how to identify and capitalize on a buyer's wants and needs. It is not about being like-able and spinning a good tale.

Sales are an essential part of any business and that is why successful sales people are usually the highest paid of all employees. Few, if any products or services sell themselves.

So, how to get the right people the right training and supervision to make them successful? There are many sales training programs available and many are very good. Indeed, selling is an active event that must take place on a regular basis and each case is a little different. Without analysis and correction, bad habits and ineffective sales techniques grow as sales and enthusiasm languish. Once a training course or seminar has been completed, the new knowledge must be carried out into the field and constantly tweaked and nurtured.

But with most SME companies, there is no sales manager to play that important part of the process that drives sales by making sure the message is clear, properly presented and aggressively pursued. So, if you are one of those lonely SME sales persons set up to fail, here are some suggestions to help you keep focused and successful.

1. Get at a white board that is at least 3 x 5 feet and place it in a conspicuous location where you will see it throughout the day. If there is no room at the office, put it in a conspicuous place at home.

2. Analyze the sales process and divide it into clearly defined steps. For example, obtaining qualified leads, designing the most effective presentations, making regular follow ups, closing and doing the required paperwork.

3. Make vertical columns that divide each step in the process

4. As each lead develops, qualify it in color. For example, an interested lead could be red, a somewhat interested lead could be blue and a disinterested lead erased from the board.

5. As the process develops, each column shows the status of each lead as it moves toward a closing or a pass.

6. At the end of each day, the white board is updated to reflect the status of each lead.

7. Once a closing has taken place and the sale completed, it is taken off the board and moved onto a computer work sheet that tracks the project and the commissions due.

8. Monthly sales goals are placed in the upper left hand corner of the white board to act as a constant reminder.

9. On the upper right hand corner, is the goal for percent close rate.

The main idea is to be organized and focused on making your sales goals. It is much more productive to focus activity on the most promising opportunities. Push the noncommittal (blue) leads to raise the level of urgency or move it off the board.

Of course, using a white board is only one strategy in the vast array of sales tools needed to become successful. More short articles on how to become your own sales manager will follow and by applying what you learn will increase your sales and job satisfaction.

Success is not about luck but all about discipline.