Tweet

Selling Through the Tough Times

Written by: Kathy Ziprik

Article Overview: In this tips-oriented piece, Rick Davis, president of Strategic Sales in the Building Industry, explains how to rise to the situation and sell through tough times.

Selling Through the Tough Times

Heroes are not made when life is easy. That’s the philosophy shared with building industry sales people facing today’s difficult economic conditions by Rick Davis, president of Building Leaders Inc.

“It’s easy to see doom and gloom in every aspect of the housing industry these days,” says Davis, author of the book, Strategic Sales in the Building Industry. “What sales professionals need to remember is that rising above challenging experiences make leaders. The current downturn in the economy provides sales people an ideal opportunity to earn credibility and set themselves apart in this industry.”


Selling Tips
According to Davis, demonstrating “calm in the face of the storm” can add credibility to a sales person’s overall image. “The most recent housing starts data indicates the worst trending for this industry in 30 years,” says Davis. “Once you accept this fact, the next step for a salesperson is to simply keep selling. Wringing your hands and complaining will not increase sales. But, prospecting unique areas can uncover diverse selling opportunities.”

Davis recommends that keeping a close eye on the competition can bring strong results. Inevitably, some companies will fail during economically stressful times. That’s when savvy sales people can surge ahead and capture potential customers.

“A single key in this industry is knowing your market and where every potential customer purchases products,” says Davis. “If you wait until a competitor closes and then start scrambling to gain their business, you’re too late.”


Keep Selling
Other selling suggestions Davis recommends at his training seminars include working sales leads and maximizing exposure of the brands sold by a salesperson.

“Building brand awareness and demand are essential ways for sales people to increase business,” says Davis. “Gone are the days when sales people could ‘pick and choose’ the leads they want to follow up on. In today’s marketplace every lead deserves attention.”

Related Articles
  Run And Hide
  It's Not the Economy - It's Your Attitude!
  Making Money in an Economic Downturn
  A Tough Economy Can be Good for Your Career
  The Entrepreneurial Author: Surviving Tough Economic Times By Jay Conrad Levinson and David L Hancock Foreward by Rick Frishman

Article Tags: brand awareness, building leaders, calm, competitor, credibility, customer purchases, doom and gloom, downturn, economic conditions, housing industry, housing starts data, rick davis, sales leads, sales person, sales professionals, salesperson, savvy sales, strategic sales, stressful times, training seminars



Related Forum Posts
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Nov 5, 2010 - Tough to say Yinka - I'm usually working about 25 hours per week - a lot of that is online. For most of these articles I pick them up from my RSS feeds, recommendations from friends, or Twitter posts. I'll do a quick skim of the article and if it looks interesting I'll save it for later to read.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Effective Leadership

Is the iPad useful? One CEO tells all ....

Clues to Increase Sales -- Listen to the Buyer

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.