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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Alfred Wise
President, Community
Wealth Ventures
“We're adding
a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first
prize is a Cadillac Eldorado... Second prize is a set of steak knives.
Third prize is you're fired.”
--Glengarry Glen Ross
Many entrepreneurial nonprofits are eager to leverage their strengths,
skills, knowledge, and assets to launch businesses. It all seems doable
and exciting – managing the workforce, crafting the product or service,
even developing a smooth functioning operation – until the dreaded
prospect of having to sell. The idea of selling conjures up everything
from memories of childhood rejection to images of high-pressure phone
banks with supervisors pacing, screaming, and waving steak-knife prizes.
Yet where social enterprises have a distinct advantage is the sheer
passion and belief in the organization and mission. You can tap that
passion and belief to move customers to purchase your product or
service. That passion (plus a good strategy) is what sells.
In this edition of Community Wealth Vanguard, we focus on the Achilles
heel of many organizations: selling the well thought-out product or
service. Douglas Miller, President of Customer Care Specialists,
addresses how to grow business from existing customers; Christina Ng, of
CWV, explores sales techniques used by successful social enterprise
leaders; Dana Levy from Koya Consulting writes about the critically
important task of finding the right sales staff for your organization;
and Heather Peeler, of CWV, explores ways to take a scientific approach
to sales, resulting in a healthier bottom line.
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Alfred
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