How to Turn Around Flat or Declining Sales Revenue
How to Turn Around Flat or Declining Sales Revenue
Don Piper was recounting his days, weeks and months of self-pity, and his refusal to accept help from anyone. His mentor, an eighty year-old minister, was visiting him one day, and let him have it but good. I won't go through the trouble of including the word-for-word conversation here but he basically said, "get your act together." He went on to say, "you must allow others to help you." And he wouldn't leave until Don agreed. As Don recalled this encounter, he called it the turning point of his recovery - a miracle!
As I read this section of the book it occurred to me that while none of you are twisted, mangled, broken versions of your former selves, many of you are at the helm of companies with broken sales forces and, like Don, refuse to accept or ask for help. Your sales force may be no different than it was a year ago, except for the lack of revenue they are producing. Ask for help. Accept help. They may be the same group of people you had at this time last year, except that they are struggling today. Ask for help. Accept help. They may have the same accounts that they had last year, except that those accounts aren't buying as much. Ask for help. Accept help. They may be prospecting like they did last year except that the deals in their pipeline have been stalled or delayed and last year's level of prospecting isn't enough to make up for it. Ask for help. Accept help.
When revenues are flat or declining, that isn't the time to let pride or ego get in the way.
John Miller, author of QBQ! - The Question Behind the Question, gets it. Last week he wrote that cutting training would be as ludicrous as the fire department not being able to respond to an emergency because they cut training and their department wasn't prepared. He went on to say that for most companies, right now is an emergency!
I don't care how many years your people have been in sales. They weren't trained to sell in an economic environment like the one we have today. Retaining accounts is as important as ever, but right now, most companies need their salespeople to bring in new business. Unfortunately, most of your salespeople weren't trained to hunt and close either, only to manage accounts. So it's a complex situation:
* You need your salespeople to hunt and close but they weren't trained to do that;
* You need them to sell in the worst economy in their lifetimes but they weren't trained to overcome that either;
* You aren't comfortable asking for help because you think you should be able to solve this problem yourself (these times are challenging even for top experts like me);
* You don't want to spend any money because - oh yeah - sales are down;
* If just a couple of those deals on hold would close you'll be OK (hope is not a strategy).
There are some very talented sales develolpment experts that know exactly how to quickly turn around your flat or declining revenue. Ask for help. Accept help.
How to Turn Around Flat or Declining Sales Revenue - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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I am in the process of reading a New York Times bestseller called 90 Minutes in Heaven. The first chapter, where Don Piper describes his 90 minutes in heaven, is by far the best part of the book. Page after page of the rest of the book (so far), details his horrible ordeal, the accident, his years of pain and recovery and his depression. This section of the book is not that enjoyable. But today, I came to a passage of about 3 pages that made the drudgery worthwhile.
Don Piper was recounting his days, weeks and months of self-pity, and his refusal to accept help from anyone. His mentor, an eighty year-old minister, was visiting him one day, and let him have it but good. I won't go through the trouble of including the word-for-word conversation here but he basically said, "get your act together." He went on to say, "you must allow others to help you." And he wouldn't leave until Don agreed. As Don recalled this encounter, he called it the turning point of his recovery - a miracle!
As I read this section of the book it occurred to me that while none of you are twisted, mangled, broken versions of your former selves, many of you are at the helm of companies with broken sales forces and, like Don, refuse to accept or ask for help. Your sales force may be no different than it was a year ago, except for the lack of revenue they are producing. Ask for help. Accept help. They may be the same group of people you had at this time last year, except that they are struggling today. Ask for help. Accept help. They may have the same accounts that they had last year, except that those accounts aren't buying as much. Ask for help. Accept help. They may be prospecting like they did last year except that the deals in their pipeline have been stalled or delayed and last year's level of prospecting isn't enough to make up for it. Ask for help. Accept help.
When revenues are flat or declining, that isn't the time to let pride or ego get in the way.
John Miller, author of QBQ! - The Question Behind the Question, gets it. Last week he wrote that cutting training would be as ludicrous as the fire department not being able to respond to an emergency because they cut training and their department wasn't prepared. He went on to say that for most companies, right now is an emergency!
I don't care how many years your people have been in sales. They weren't trained to sell in an economic environment like the one we have today. Retaining accounts is as important as ever, but right now, most companies need their salespeople to bring in new business. Unfortunately, most of your salespeople weren't trained to hunt and close either, only to manage accounts. So it's a complex situation:
* You need your salespeople to hunt and close but they weren't trained to do that;
* You need them to sell in the worst economy in their lifetimes but they weren't trained to overcome that either;
* You aren't comfortable asking for help because you think you should be able to solve this problem yourself (these times are challenging even for top experts like me);
* You don't want to spend any money because - oh yeah - sales are down;
* If just a couple of those deals on hold would close you'll be OK (hope is not a strategy).
There are some very talented sales develolpment experts that know exactly how to quickly turn around your flat or declining revenue. Ask for help. Accept help.
How to Turn Around Flat or Declining Sales Revenue - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals. Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nations Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firms clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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