Selling in a Downturn
Selling in a Downturn
Shrinking markets need not mean shrinking income. First, let’s estimate the size of the problem.
Some markets are worse off than others. Those who only sell to the automotive industry might be facing a significant short term evaporation of opportunities. Despite the gloom, people will continue to need road vehicles. Customers may put off buying decisions and make do for a while but their need will only increase with time.
Innovation happens faster when the need is great. If your stuff enables customers to do more for less, and you can prove a short term return on investment, the worst hit sectors may still present increased opportunity.
The forecasted shrinkage for the economy varies according to who you listen to. For the UK, I have seen numbers between 2.8% and 4%. The automotive arena may shrink somewhat more than this – perhaps 10% or even 15%. The building industry, retail markets, and finance sector are also likely to shrink more than the forecasted average.
If you have the good fortune or freedom to sell in other markets, you can seek easier opportunities. Since some markets are shrinking more than the average, others must be less affected. Suppose you were experiencing or seeking 8% growth last year. This was the forecasted growth for IT spending in 2008. Gartner research indicates that IT spending will grow by 2.3% in 2009. Let's assume this is optimistic and that the downturn will result in no IT spending growth this year. Competitors in the IT market might anticipate the need to cope with a shrinkage of about 8%.
Two minutes research on Google should help quantify the impact on your industry or market. With a number to go at, it is much easier to break down the problem and formulate strategies and tactics to deal with it.
The following little known or perhaps little used solutions, diligently applied, have all been proved to increase sales in any business environment. Now is the time to raise motivation, improve practices, and create new ways to get results.
1. Get proof that your stuff does what you promise.
Verifiable evidence convinces ahead of sales skills. How much money or value does your stuff contribute to the customer’s bottom line and how could a customer verify the truth of your promise. If your proof is compelling, increasing the number of sales opportunities is simply a matter of bringing evidence to the attention of people for whom it is most compelling.
2. Find market sectors less affected by the downturn. Some are shrinking less or still growing.
Quantifying the potential for each market sector provides an easy comparison. Start with the low hanging fruit. Focus on market sectors that are least affected by the downturn and most accessible to your sales approach. New market opportunities continuously emerge so no matter how often you re-examine your market potential, there are always new possibilities to explore.
3. Use evidence and proof to develop better messaging and multiple messages.
Take the proof gathered in step one and use it to improve communication. Develop existing messages and create new, more powerful descriptions of the profit or value your stuff offers. Every time I do this, I find better ways to communicate value. Ask existing customers, business partners, and suppliers to help by reviewing new messages and giving feedback.
4. Cast better seeds on more fertile ground.
Present better messages to more qualified prospects. If you were selling bread and had a list of hungry people, you might expect to make a few sales. Applying thinking skills and tools to identify the right prospects is easier than ever. First choose the most likely prospects by comparing them with your best customers. Those organisations that look like your established customers are more likely to have common issues and similar needs. The opportunities and status of most organisations is apparent from their web site so you can identify the right prospects before you call on them.
5. Vary your messages and approach
Use the multiple messages you have created to mount a campaign. Bring your value to the attention of the people who can benefit most form what you sell. Use telephone calls, voicemail messages, emails, letters, post cards, introductions, and fax transmissions to vary your approach. Like advertising, effective sales prospecting depends on repetition and persistence.
6. Have the customer quantify the cost of inaction.
It is a brave manager who spends money in a downturn without a concrete business case. Have customers quantify the value that your stuff will create for them. Perhaps surprisingly, few sales people attempt this because customers are often reluctant to take the time or are too eager to examine the solution.
7. Attend or study a good sales course like ‘Selling in a Downturn'. Visit our web site - linked below - for list of issues addressed and sales difficulties solved on a good course.
No matter how much experience you have, you are bound to be reminded of things you used to do that have fallen into disuse, you will learn from the others on the course, and you will pick up new ideas, methods, and techniques from the material.
Challenging times are upon us yet succumbing in the teeth of the economic downturn is still a matter of choice. Success remains voluntary. No one will force it upon you.
Selling in a Downturn - To learn more about this author, visit Clive Miller's Website.
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‘Work harder’ is good advice for sales people facing a downturn because some will unconsciously use the circumstances as justification for working less. “Beware of leeching thoughts that sap the will” my mentor says. “It’s hopeless” is unconsciously interpreted as, “it’s ok to do nothing”. Some of you will sail through this downturn with hardly a dip. It is usually those who are best prepared who seem to deal with adversity without sweat or stress. Now is the time to draw on the best beliefs, attitudes, and working practices.
Shrinking markets need not mean shrinking income. First, let’s estimate the size of the problem.
Some markets are worse off than others. Those who only sell to the automotive industry might be facing a significant short term evaporation of opportunities. Despite the gloom, people will continue to need road vehicles. Customers may put off buying decisions and make do for a while but their need will only increase with time.
Innovation happens faster when the need is great. If your stuff enables customers to do more for less, and you can prove a short term return on investment, the worst hit sectors may still present increased opportunity.
The forecasted shrinkage for the economy varies according to who you listen to. For the UK, I have seen numbers between 2.8% and 4%. The automotive arena may shrink somewhat more than this – perhaps 10% or even 15%. The building industry, retail markets, and finance sector are also likely to shrink more than the forecasted average.
If you have the good fortune or freedom to sell in other markets, you can seek easier opportunities. Since some markets are shrinking more than the average, others must be less affected. Suppose you were experiencing or seeking 8% growth last year. This was the forecasted growth for IT spending in 2008. Gartner research indicates that IT spending will grow by 2.3% in 2009. Let's assume this is optimistic and that the downturn will result in no IT spending growth this year. Competitors in the IT market might anticipate the need to cope with a shrinkage of about 8%.
Two minutes research on Google should help quantify the impact on your industry or market. With a number to go at, it is much easier to break down the problem and formulate strategies and tactics to deal with it.
The following little known or perhaps little used solutions, diligently applied, have all been proved to increase sales in any business environment. Now is the time to raise motivation, improve practices, and create new ways to get results.
1. Get proof that your stuff does what you promise.
Verifiable evidence convinces ahead of sales skills. How much money or value does your stuff contribute to the customer’s bottom line and how could a customer verify the truth of your promise. If your proof is compelling, increasing the number of sales opportunities is simply a matter of bringing evidence to the attention of people for whom it is most compelling.
2. Find market sectors less affected by the downturn. Some are shrinking less or still growing.
Quantifying the potential for each market sector provides an easy comparison. Start with the low hanging fruit. Focus on market sectors that are least affected by the downturn and most accessible to your sales approach. New market opportunities continuously emerge so no matter how often you re-examine your market potential, there are always new possibilities to explore.
3. Use evidence and proof to develop better messaging and multiple messages.
Take the proof gathered in step one and use it to improve communication. Develop existing messages and create new, more powerful descriptions of the profit or value your stuff offers. Every time I do this, I find better ways to communicate value. Ask existing customers, business partners, and suppliers to help by reviewing new messages and giving feedback.
4. Cast better seeds on more fertile ground.
Present better messages to more qualified prospects. If you were selling bread and had a list of hungry people, you might expect to make a few sales. Applying thinking skills and tools to identify the right prospects is easier than ever. First choose the most likely prospects by comparing them with your best customers. Those organisations that look like your established customers are more likely to have common issues and similar needs. The opportunities and status of most organisations is apparent from their web site so you can identify the right prospects before you call on them.
5. Vary your messages and approach
Use the multiple messages you have created to mount a campaign. Bring your value to the attention of the people who can benefit most form what you sell. Use telephone calls, voicemail messages, emails, letters, post cards, introductions, and fax transmissions to vary your approach. Like advertising, effective sales prospecting depends on repetition and persistence.
6. Have the customer quantify the cost of inaction.
It is a brave manager who spends money in a downturn without a concrete business case. Have customers quantify the value that your stuff will create for them. Perhaps surprisingly, few sales people attempt this because customers are often reluctant to take the time or are too eager to examine the solution.
7. Attend or study a good sales course like ‘Selling in a Downturn'. Visit our web site - linked below - for list of issues addressed and sales difficulties solved on a good course.
No matter how much experience you have, you are bound to be reminded of things you used to do that have fallen into disuse, you will learn from the others on the course, and you will pick up new ideas, methods, and techniques from the material.
Challenging times are upon us yet succumbing in the teeth of the economic downturn is still a matter of choice. Success remains voluntary. No one will force it upon you.
Selling in a Downturn - To learn more about this author, visit Clive Miller'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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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, Nation’s 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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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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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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