The most dangerous period for businesses is the first six months of business. As this is the time frame in which many new businesses fail to attract sales and are forced to close prematurely. One business expert who has valuable advice on how new business owners can accumulate sales in the first few months of their business operations is Josh Melick. An entrepreneur who has successfully founded 3 businesses.

Melick always tells the business owners that he mentors to hone their sales skills as even if they hire a dedicated sales team in the future, when their business first opens, they’ll be responsible for drumming up as much business as possible. One tip which Melick gives his mentees is to use their passion for their business to write sales pitches for their business that will convince potential clients of the value of their business.

To get started, Melick advises business owners to create bullet points for their sales pitches that feature key facts and figures which they should mention. One key bullet point should describe the pain point of their business, which should be the key issue which their business’ products or services solve. As most potential clients are most interested in what benefits they can get from a new product or service.

When it comes to developing sales pitches, Melick encourages business owners to prepare not one but multiple pitches. For example, every business owner should have an elevator speech that is designed to be short and sweet and to convince potential customers to book a meeting for a full pitch. In contrast, a full pitch should provide the answers to every common question which potential customers may have about a new product or service. As if a business owner is unable to answer a straightforward question, which they should’ve prepared for, their prospective client is likely to lose interest in their business.

The last key pitch which Melick advises business owners to plan out is a secondary speech. A secondary speech is a more in-depth pitch that should be given during a second follow-up meeting with a potential client.

Another strategy that Melick promotes is for business owners to use any contacts which they may already have in order to make cold sales. While most people don’t enjoy cold selling, science shows that people are more likely to purchase products from someone who they already recognize or know well. While business owners shouldn’t need to practice cold selling as a technique after their business is well established, cold selling can definitely help a business stay afloat during its first few months of business.

Melick also advises his mentees to learn from the rejections which they may face. As often rejections provide valuable information which can help business owners fine-tune their business, in order for their business to become more attractive to their target audience.

As Josh Melick has already founded three successful businesses which outperformed his initial expectations, new small business owners should definitely take his advice in order to attract sales.