Sales and Marketing most important area for small businesses

Sales and Marketing has come top in a new survey revealed today of eight principal areas of interest amongst small and medium sized businesses in London.

Nearly 30% of the 906 respondents to the survey by Marsden Grant for Business Link for London listed Sales and Marketing as the most important area when it came to getting expert advice.

In comparison, areas such as legislation and finance were low on the list for businesses with only 5% and 9% respectively. The research highlights the importance placed by small and medium sized businesses on gaining and retaining their customers and reaching customer expectations.

Businesses rated eight areas according to their principal business need:

1. Sales and Marketing 28%
2. People Issues 20%
3. General Business Issues 15%
4. Finance 9%
5. E-Commerce and ICT 7%
6. Operations 5%
7. Legislation 5%
8. International Trade 3%

These figures are further supported by Business Link for London’s website reports which record the most popular download items as being information on a range of marketing issues which include “Marketing on a Shoestring” and “How to build your brand,” the latter being the most popular this summer, with over 20% of all click-throughs to the site.

Judith Rutherford, Chief Executive of Business Link for London, said:
“It’s clear that companies in London are focused on their customers, and appreciate advice on how to improve. Marketing doesn’t need to be a big business expense, but carefully planned as part of an overall strategy, the impact can really improve the bottom line of a business.”