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Are Small Businesses Prepared For 2010?

27/11/2009

By Lea Pachta

With 2010 coming up fast, those businesses without a sales and marketing plan are leaving everything to chance - and that could be as many as 45% of small businesses, according to Win New Customers.

"Having no marketing or sales plan in place is a dangerous game to play," reckons David Saunderson of Win New Customers, which carried out the survey among small businesses earlier this year.

The company asked small businesses about their sales and marketing skills, abilities and budgets as part of research to see how best to support them. The results were quite staggering:

- 86% said the needed more marketing skills to grow their business.
- 83% said they needed more telephone sales skills to grow their business.
- 73% said they needed more face to face selling skills.
- 61% had a sales budget under £250.
Marketing budgets faired better, where 48% had a marketing budget of £250 or more.
- 48% said they had no sales plan.
- 45% had a marketing plan that covered less than a few weeks ahead (in fact 31% had no marketing plan at all).

By talking to individual small businesses Win New Customers found that whilst there was a whole host of information on sales and marketing on the Internet and available at free seminars, etc. this information tended to focus on the why and what of sales and marketing activity rather than showing them how to do it. So are small businesses really getting what they need?

"That's where we've dug out our niche," says Saunderson. "Small businesses need practical, down to earth knowledge on how to use sales and marketing skills, tools and techniques at a price they can afford. We've also created a free, practical guide showing how to create a marketing plan."

Through Win New... continued on page two >

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