I am a big believer that an economic slowdown is the time to keep your foot on the gas, not take it off. So often, sales teams and professionals tend to get tentative and even pull back on their calling efforts when the marketplace gets challenging.
And I get it; after all, you have to be ready for a bumpy ride. The easy days of order-taking and quick decisions are over for a while. You need to perfect your sales skills so you can prove your value, beat the competition, and get your customers to part with something they are guarding very heavily, and that is their money. So yeah, a recession is not for the novice sales professional.
In fact, any experienced sales professional understands that a recession is when your customers need you more, not less. And increasing your selling efforts is what you need to do certainly to ensure you hit your own goals and keep your company afloat, but also, it is the best thing you can do to help your customers.
So, what are the reasons you need to sell more during a recession, and how can you make selling during tough economic times easy and effective?
1. Decision-Making Slows – Number one, understand that the moment the news programs start talking economic slowdown, your customers are impacted. First emotionally. They experience fear and uncertainty and wonder how to navigate the coming changes. Second, from a business perspective, their customers are starting to question what they spend money on and adjust their buying behaviors. That is all going to impact you.
The moment that recession discussions become mainstream, whether we are actually experiencing a recession or not, the decision-making process slows, and the number of stakeholders involved in sales increases — two obstacles making closing a sale more difficult than it was just a few months ago. You are going to need to sell more because closing sales are going to take longer.
The best way to sell more in uncertain times is to first check in with your existing customers. These are the easiest sales you are ever going to make – they know you, like you, trust you, and need you right now.
Then, build a circle of influence. A group of like-minded sales professionals who sell different products in the same industries you do and start helping one another. One of the best ways to open a door with tough economic advisors is through someone they already do business with and already trust.
Last but not least, you need to reach out and make some cold calls. Why? Because your competitors are dropping the ball right now, and you need to be there for their customers too. Reach out and just let people know you work a lot in their industry, understand what the industry is facing, and have some ideas and solutions on how to help.
2. Sell From a Place of Power – the one thing you cannot be in a recession is desperate. Desperation is never good, but in tough economic times, it is even worse. It makes you look weak, and if you look weak, no one wants to do business with you. Look, uncertainty breeds fear, and that fear means that customers don’t want to work with anyone else who is fearful.
When the economy gets challenging, customers are looking for strong, confident sales professionals to work with and buy from. Ones they feel can help them and have enough bandwidth to put the customers’ needs ahead of their own.
To be that salesperson, you need to overfill your pipeline. That’s right; whatever activity you have been doing for the last few months, it is time to double it. More sales calls, more building your reputation, more following up with existing customers. You need so much moving through the pipeline that you are okay if one sale slows down; you have ten others coming right after it.
3. Customers Need You – and lastly, and MOST importantly, you need to sell more during a recession because your customers need you. Their world is shifting and changing, and this is when we, as salespeople, are at our best and our most valuable. During a recession, we are selling so much more than a product – we are giving our customers the tools they need to not only come through the recession successfully but thrive through it.
To really serve your customers in tough economic times, you need to start now. Do your homework. Learn the marketplace, how it is shifting, what new problems your customers are facing, what innovative ideas and solutions are working and how you can become a valued resource.
So, are you ready? It is GAME ON! Time to put your big sales pants on and get out there. Your customers need you; your company needs you, and this recession doesn’t stand a chance if you embrace the challenges and engage these strategies to sell more and sell effectively.
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