Why Your Sales Are Down, And Where To Look

Your sales have been running down for the last few months. What is the first reason that comes to mind?

If it is "the economy is bad", I would stop there. Let me show you why.

Measure it first

Any production in any sphere of action can be measured by statistics. That goes for business, raising a child or racing a car.

A statistic shows this period's production next to the last period's. The period can be a day, a week or a month.

You see the run of numbers best when you graph them. Make sure the scale of the graph is realistic. One graph could show sales week by week. Another could show income month by month.

The wrong reasons

You graph it and see sales running down. The wrong move is to find a faulty explanation and carry on as usual.

Examples: the economy is bad right now. No one is buying right now. People do not have any money.

I hold that a down-statistic is NEVER the result of other people's actions. So any such explanation is faulty.

The real reasons

The real reason is more likely one of these: I do not know how to sell. I am overloaded and need to hire a salesman. I stopped promoting. I have been too lazy.

Here is how I tell the real reason from the wrong one. The real reason shows you the solution.

• "I do not know how to sell" shows you the handling is to get some training.
• "I am overloaded and need to hire a salesman" shows you the solution at once.
• "I have been too lazy" shows you the handling.
• "The economy is bad", "no one is buying" and "people do not have any money" give you nothing to do inside your business.

So if your reason for a down statistic does not allow a solution, it is the wrong reason.

Find the date it started

With a graphed statistic, you can see the exact time your numbers started to go down. That date helps you narrow down what changed.

Look for something you added in or dropped out. A changed approach or a changed sequence. Something YOU changed.

Find the exact nature of that change and your solution is right there.

I usually find that as soon as I get the real reason, I feel better. The solution is apparent. I put it in place, and the statistic turns and goes up.

If it does not go up after the solution, that reason may have been wrong. Or there may be more than one reason, and you have not spotted the one that caused the drop.

As always, keep it simple... and Flourish and Prosper. Lisa