To build a sales team that finds new customers, start by keeping separate records of how they are brought in: who first contacted the buyer, what they offered and how the contact ended. Then pass one salesperson’s successful method on to another and see what they manage to repeat. The department’s total revenue does not answer these questions. Below is a 15-minute check that will show you which action to start with in your business.
We had a client — a consumer goods manufacturer. After a period of growth, the business began to grow unevenly, although its production capacity allowed it to make substantially more. The sales team still had the employees the owner had started the business with. They handled buyers who were already interested, but were less effective at finding new ones. At a meeting with our head of sales and business development director, the owner said plainly that he did not know how to set sales plans, assign tasks and monitor this work.
Meanwhile, one salesperson had tried cold calling. The owner observed that, in his part of the market, it proved more effective than visiting buyers in person: “We know how to handle buyers who are already interested. Cold calling unexpectedly proved more effective than visits.”
There was already something to build on here. The team had found a way to reach new buyers. But there was still work to do between one employee’s successful attempt and the whole department regularly looking for new customers. New products and spare production capacity could not do that work for the salespeople.
I think it is a mistake in this situation to immediately demand more calls from everyone. First, you need to understand exactly what worked for one person and whether the head of sales can set the same task for another. Otherwise, the company will increase the number of attempts without understanding what led to the first successes.
First 4 minutes: where the new buyers came from
Open the report on first orders for the last completed month. If the head of sales does not keep this report, ask them to give you the number of new buyers and group them by where they came from. The owner only needs summary figures; the department must piece together the history of each contact.
Fill in the line with your own figures:
First-time buyers: ___ = came on their own or through a recommendation ___ + found by employees before making an enquiry ___ + source unknown ___.
Count each buyer once. A repeat order from an existing customer does not belong here. If someone submitted an enquiry and a salesperson called them back, that is an enquiry that has been handled. Only count a buyer as found through an active search if the salesperson contacted them first, before an enquiry was made. Leave buyers whose source is uncertain in the last group: otherwise, the department will count every case where an employee spoke to a customer as a result of its search.
Now, next to the number of buyers found, write the surnames of the people who brought them in. If most came on their own, the department knows how to serve existing demand, while the owner also expects it to make new contacts. If all the buyers found came through one employee, the next task is to understand that person’s method.
A blank line also points to a decision: first, start recording the source. Demanding an increase in total sales will leave this uncertainty unresolved.
Next 5 minutes: what “calls work” means
Ask the head of sales to explain the successful method so that another salesperson can start without guessing. Three answers are enough:
- Which buyers do we select before the first contact, and what criteria do we use to rule out unsuitable ones?
- What do we offer at the first contact, and what response do we expect?
- What next step agreed with the buyer do we count as the result of the conversation?
Sending a catalogue that was not requested and receiving a buyer’s request for supply terms are different events. In the first, only the salesperson took action. In the second, the customer showed interest, and there is now something specific to discuss further. The head of sales must name that subject; otherwise, the word “result” will still mean how many numbers were dialled.
Separately, ask what they compared when they said calls were more effective than visits. First orders, agreed next steps in the conversation, or simply the number of contacts? The comparison makes sense with buyers of the same type who have the same amount of time to respond. Travel time also counts as a cost of finding customers.
The owner’s observation in this story is a reason to look more closely at calls. There is no basis for declaring them the best method for every manufacturer. If the department cannot explain who it called and what it offered, there is nothing to pass on to the others yet.
Last 6 minutes: choose an action based on your answer
Open the upcoming tasks for finding new customers. Find one where another salesperson has been assigned the successful method: it specifies the buyers, the offer, the expected next step and the date when the head of sales will review the responses. A task saying “work on cold contacts” does not set out these conditions.
Refer to the table. It helps you choose the next action without reorganising the whole department.
| What you found | What is missing | What to start with |
|---|---|---|
| New buyers are counted together with repeat orders | A visible result from bringing in new customers | Separate first purchases from orders by existing customers |
| New buyers are visible, but their source is unknown | A link between the search and the purchase | Record the source of the first contact |
| Only the salesperson describes the successful method | A task a colleague can carry out | The head of sales should examine buyer selection, the offer and the responses |
| The method is clear, but another employee has not tried it | Experience of passing it on | Run a limited trial with a second salesperson |
| The second employee follows the same method, but buyers say no | A reason to keep making the same offer | Examine the reasons for refusals and change the offer or the choice of buyers |
A limited trial means agreeing the working hours and a decision date in advance. Base these on your schedule and the time buyers usually take to respond. Agree at the outset who will handle incoming enquiries during this time: regular sales work continues.
By the agreed date, the head of sales must distinguish between two outcomes. The salesperson could not select suitable buyers or explain the offer — they need help carrying out the task. They did this independently, but buyers said no — we analyse their responses. Giving the same instruction to “make more calls” will hide the difference.
If the colleague independently agreed a next step with the buyer, the method has been passed on successfully up to that stage. The head of sales then assigns work to follow up on those agreements. The first orders and the costs of obtaining them will show whether it is worth expanding the search.
This gives building a sales system concrete meaning: who looks for buyers, how a task is set and who changes what is done based on the result. At RENTROP, we do this as part of our “turnkey sales management” product; during a free sales review, you can start with this particular gap between handling incoming enquiries and finding new customers.
What struck me about the manufacturer’s story was that the beginnings of a solution were already within the team. It is too soon to give up on people who know how to work with buyers who are already interested. But relying on them as a department ready to bring in new customers means making growth depend on a skill the company has not yet learnt how to use.