How entrepreneurs can best improve their company's sales

There's an art to making a sale and even entrepreneurs who aren't natural salespeople can identify and improve key sales skills that will help them grow their businesses, according to financial expert Ann Berry, partner at Cornell Capital.

Setting defined sales goals and forming a clear sales pitch for your customer help businesses go from good to great, Berry told CBSN. Even more important is tracking progress regularly, she added.

"That discipline, that rigor, really keeps you from going off-kilter," Berry said.  

Building a sales team requires aligning professionals around goals that can be tracked in weekly, monthly and quarterly intervals. While many of us naturally want to avoid facing the hard numbers, Berry said measuring results is critical to keeping your business on track.

Also critical: Producing a defined product or service that clearly solves client problems is critical. Even if a business is producing a range of products, Berry said the sales team can listen to customers and then package the goods in ways that are more attractive to the target-market audience.

Ultimately, improving sales can help entrepreneurs gain deeper insights into their company's performance, evaluate changes and build customer loyalty and retention.