Nothing in business is simple. For instance, one of the worst things we can do is to take quotes and statements from people and accept there is only one truth. In other words, we only look at the quote in the context in which it is said and the initial reaction on reading it for the first time.

On reflection however, if you turn the emphasis around you may decide in fact, it is the basis of a wonderful risk management exercise. Accordingly, let us look at the possibility of using this quote as the incentive to conduct a positive exercise to grow our business, rather than just take the words at face value and do nothing.

After all, if we only accepted the first thought of chasing risky sales only to incur more bad debts and problems, the value of the quote stops there. We would have also missed an opportunity to review our business for the better.

On the other hand, by turning the emphasis of the quote around, we can initiate and complete a review of the quote to ascertain whether more profitable sales are a possibility from risky customers. In that case, the quote is really valuable. After all, a business without sales is not a business that has a future. Doing nothing is also not a good option if it’s because your business is currently unable to deal profitably with difficult customers.

In today’s business environment, as the economy post COVID will be smaller, every profitable sale and customer must be sought in order to survive. By taking a positive attitude and reviewing the following factors, this should help you understand why leads and enquiries might have dried up.

Perhaps it is because your:

1          business employs order takers and not salespeople;

2          salespeople are employed with an out of date or a poor employment contract;

3          salespeople lack the right support, training and incentive programs from management;

4          salespeople do not understand the importance of the sales contract, or why it must be completed properly, etc.

Within your business perhaps:

1          risk management and due diligence are regarded as expenses by management rather than profit enhancement exercises;

2          your salespeople and credit departments are not treated as equals, which in turn means;

3          your salespeople and credit departments don’t liaise together but only “talk at” each other rather than “talk with” each other to negotiate the best sales and profit scenario.

In addition, perhaps:

1          your business’s product and service range is out of date;

2          there is a lack of stock or people to adequately service your customers’ needs;

3          poor customer service or virtually no service is visible to your customers;

4          there is little or no effort to investigate and correct mistakes, or to stop the causes of those mistakes, etc.

If the above factors are evident within your business, these are just some of the reasons why this month’s quote of chasing potentially poor quality customers is so valid.  On the other hand, if these and other deficient factors in your business are identified and fixed, you may be able to chase “… those people which you shouldn’t normally chase” and create profitable sales and customers”. If that is case, the quote is actually the basis of a valuable risk and sales exercise.