If you are a sales manager you need to have the company and the front line workers always ask customers who come in and buy; How did you discover our company. Have you ever filled out a customer survey and there is always a box or lines to fill out which ask; How did you hear about us. This is most essential for marketing purposes, but even more important it can be a sales managers greatest and most valuable tool.

Tracking your sells and how they come in is one of the most important things a business can do and it is difficult to track too. But knowing this can help you better target your sales teams on where they can do the most good. Where they can focus their efforts. This is why I always say that; Tracking Your Companys Sales is the Sales Managers Most Valuable Tool. Now then if you put a bunch of boxes on a survey you will often find that the new customer will check the wrong box?

Perhaps you have done this after purchasing software. And you checked that you saw it on Television, yet the company does not advertise on TV at all. Most larger companies know that new customers put bogus information on questionnaire surveys, but some smaller companies do not.

It is better to ask each new customer to tell you the Story of how you came to learn about our company. And then you will get much closer to the truth of it and once you do that information is invaluable to your sales force and focus. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Currently Lance is retired at age 40 and is running an Online Think Tank Forum while traveling North America. Perhaps considering something extremely challenging to do that will exercise his mind and utilize all his experiences, observations and skills. Any ideas?