Nearly half of the country’s SMEs could be missing out on millions of pounds of revenue because they struggle to make sales and convert leads into customers, according to a nationwide business survey.

UK digital marketing agency JDR Group, which specialises in working with SMEs, says 42% of 600 firms it surveyed recently spoke of having difficulties with winning clients, measuring sales and converting or following up leads.

The findings came within a wider survey looking at UK businesses’ overall marketing challenges, which also include having the in-house marketing resource, knowing what strategy to use and getting their pricing right.

But it was their sales function, not their marketing, which leads to more overall issues, with 40% of companies saying word of mouth or referrals was still the best way for them to get business and 66% saying they do not have a follow-up system for prospects who don’t buy at the first time of asking.

In response, JDR Group is now laying one-to-one sales courses for customers to ensure they can increase their sales and increase the ROI they are getting from their marketing campaigns.

Will Williamson (pictured above), a director at the firm, says sales is a common problem for many small businesses, for whom the responsibility for making sales often falls to the owner, who is often time-poor and untrained.

As a result, they can have problems returning sales calls or emails, struggle to identify prospects and are can often feel awkward about picking up the phone and launching into a sales pitch.

He said: “Our business is all about getting companies new leads but there are very many companies who, for whatever reason, are unable to convert those leads into sales and they are the ones we are aiming to help.

Business owners know how important sales are, but there is a dearth in knowledge and sales expertise, along with that very British awkwardness about being sold to and selling to someone else.”

He added: “SMEs are losing out on thousands of pounds of income, which is catastrophe, especially since sales is incredibly misunderstood. While it’s true that people don’t like being sold to, they do like to buy, and you don’t have to have any special patter or use pressure tactics to make it happen.

We know it’s very unusual for a marketing company to be offering sales courses, but JDR Group started out offering business advice, so it’s a natural step for us to take and we’re looking forward to getting started.”

JDR Group was founded in Derby in 2004 and offers a range of services everything from SEO, web design, social media and content marketing.

This year it was given the prestigious Elite Partner status by world-leading customer relationship management platform HubSpot, a customer platform which brings companies’ marketing, sales and customer service activity together within one integrated system.