Any business that fails to acquire new customers will eventually fail. Acquiring new customers is essentially lifeblood and the pulse of business growth, so bringing new customers on board is incredibly important. In this article, I want to talk to you about attracting new business through a mindset focus, rather than a process focus. A simple shift in the way you currently see things or believe things may well have a dramatic impact on you and your business. Let’s look at sales — acquiring new customers, winning new business and understanding whose job it is to do so. Who’s really responsible for the acquisition of new customers?

In every business to which I’ve ever been introduced, there has always been a clear divide between the sales and operational sides of the organization.

Most people believe that the responsibility of winning and maintaining business simply belongs to the sales team. Now, not only do I disagree with this approach, I believe it to be the failing of many businesses, year after year.

If you are building a business that looks to connect with its customers, offer fantastic levels of service and get referrals from its customers and stacks of repeat business, then this article is just for you.

My time with Britain’s leading furniture retailer, DFS, greatly reinforced this pattern for me. DFS served as my apprenticeship and underpinned the true power of adopting sales processes through every area of an organization. Once you’ve achieved this, you can sit back and admire the success it creates.

Getting this right brings such significant results that it’s astounding. This very principle was the key factor in increasing turnover by millions of pounds without bringing any more employees through the door. This may sound great when applied to a large multinational retailer, but how can this apply to your business?

Having your entire team pulling together in one direction creates benefits that are slight when looked at in isolation but can be astounding when viewed as a set of collective benefits:

• Increase in revenue
• Increase in profits
• No late payments
• No bad debts
• Preferential treatment from suppliers
• Increased operational efficiency
• Improved staff productivity
• More free time
• Reduced customer complaints
• Improved communication

These are just a few benefits I’ve enjoyed by adopting these principles. So consider what you can take from this, and see if you could benefit from any of the above. Consider everyone involved in your business and ask yourself: what effect do they have on the sales process? How could they improve it? Then look at those who act operationally in your business, consider what challenges they face and think about how equipping them with some new skills will help them with that process. Customer experience is the critical factor in gaining repeat business and getting recommendations. Get this bit right and the results will speak for themselves.