The Art Of Selling Increasing Sales During an Economic Downturn By Art Waskey 2010.05 Everywhere you turn today, it seems the media is filled with terms like “economic downturn,” “recession,” and “slowdown.” Unemployment is into double digits. An experienced consultant recently told me: “In 19 years in the business, traditionally we only had one month each year with zero sales. In 2008, our firm had seven months with zero sales; and in 2009, we had five months with zero sales. Any way you look at this, it means 12 months with no sales in the last 24 months.”
For my friend, as well as many sales reps, the haunting question remains: What strategies can I develop from what I’ve learned in the past two years that will generate significant sales in 2010?
During my career, there have been five strategies I personally have used ... in good times and bad ... that consistently ensure personal market share growth, through increased penetration of existing accounts and the development of new customers.
1. Maintain a Positive Mental Attitude: Every day for the next month, write down three business opportunities you are thankful for with your existing accounts and three potential business opportunities with prospective business accounts. Focusing on positive business opportunities crowds out negative mindsets.
2. Create Value Propositions: In difficult economic times, customers will purchase ... if/when ... they can recognize significant Return on Investment from these decisions. Suppliers that provide customers with substantial, easily recognized financial relief will find surprising sales resurgence, especially in tough market environments.
3. Initiate Rapid Customer Response: Excellent Customer Service is mandatory at all times, but is especially critical during an economic downturn. Some Golden Rules to follow include: ask your customer to confirm his call/topic with a reminder e-mail; send a confirming email back to the customer within four hours; use personal follow-up phone calls within 24 hours; and set an Outlook calendar appointment for your next face-to-face meeting, if applicable.
4. Develop Internal Synergy: Become obsessive-compulsive when it comes to collecting prospective lead information. Review your prospective customer database daily. Create a database format that is simple to complete, yet comprehensive in scope. Gather phone numbers, email addresses, and other critical contact information on all prospective customers you encounter on a daily basis. Ask current customers for prospect referrals.
5. Make a Significant Investment in Personal Growth: Make the commitment to investigate today’s myriad electronic technology products and services available to assist you in managing your professional growth.
Peter Drucker expressed it best: “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” And my friend the Consultant called me last Friday. “Art, GREAT NEWS! I applied your (five-point) program for a month, and we wrote over $40,000 in new business the first five weeks of 2010 ... Thanks!”
