Sometimes, a business struggles because it has the wrong sales model. It is based on 100% direct sales when it should be all or partial indirect. Or it is not utilizing sales development, inside sales or the Internet channel. And despite all the possible permutations of how you can get there, there are only three ways to grow your business. You can:
1. Increase the number of customers
2. Increase the average transaction size
3. Increase the frequency of purchase

In order to be successful, you must align your marketing and sales model to meet one or more of these three objectives. If you can increase all three metrics, you will soon have a world-class operation. And while there are many possible ways to achieve a revenue objective, many organizations (perhaps yours) are not using the best strategy. Each of the possible sales models has its plusses and minuses, and the best choice for you is not always the obvious choice. This decision shouldn’t be based on what your competitors are doing but rather on your unique assets and weaknesses. In fact, you can often beat your competitors by offering similar functionality or services in a different way – for example my company offers Software as a Service instead of an on-premises software installation. For business managers who want to avoid dealing with IT, this is a significant differentiation.

Here is the main point. If you are finding marketing and selling to be a struggle, even in better economic times, it may have more to do with your sales model than your messaging, lead generation or other factors.