Don’t let budget prevent your growth

Budgets are real and they keep us up at night. But at what point does operating at the mercy of your budget end up stunting your long-term opportunities?
Does this sound familiar: you were on a budget in Q2 (high-fives and beers all around), but you’ve had a dismal August and September (cue the Ramen noodles and tears). It’s crunch time in Q4 and you’re desperate to keep your head above water. So you resort to cutting programs – maybe even staff – and stop spending altogether, all because your budget is at risk.
While these knee-jerk reactions might get you to budget as a short-term victory, they will also likely have a negative impact on the business in the long run. So what can you do to avoid this? First, take a breath and look at the bigger picture. Think of your business as your 401k. So, instead of cutting costs, invest. And watch it grow.
Five Effective Sales Tools to Invest In:

1. A CRM that allows you to manage your pipeline, run reports for forecasting and create dashboards to keep your team focused and motivated (try Salesforce).
2. A video email solution that gets your foot in the door, helps you to better connect with leads, and shorten your sales cycle (try Covideo).
3. A scheduling tool that helps you stop chasing leads around and cut down on the back and forth of setting appointments (try TimeTrade or Calendly).
4. An electronic contract tool that eliminates the time-sucking need to print, sign, scan, and fax/email contracts (try DocuSign).
5. A killer sales team – Ok, people aren’t a tool. However, no piece of software can replace a driven sales team

 
Investing and sticking with top sales tools helps to smooth the hills and valley of sales into bumps and dips. Over time and with consistency, it will help you to conquer that pesky budget quarter after quarter.
So for 2018, make a promise to yourself to invest in growth. Don’t let those bumps in the road deter you from investing in your business, your people, or yourself. After all, you will never know if you don’t try!