Articles
Eight ways to get serious about making sales in today’s economy
by John GrahamStunned. Confused. Shocked. These three words describe the reaction of countless
salespeople to the dramatic drop in their numbers. All of a sudden they hit
a wall and don’t know what to do.
Riding on a record of closed sales, a competent insurance producer didn’t know
how to cope with a $28 commission check.
Needless to say, the sales ranks are thinning daily.
No one really knows what to do. The answers from the sales gurus are lacking,
nebulous or less than convincing. One such “expert” leaves his audiences rolling
their eyes as he tells them that it’s time to ask for referrals. Referrals are
tough to come by in good times, let alone a recession.
There are important selling lessons to be learned from the dramatic selling situations
that just about every salesperson is going through currently.
1. We’ve run out of “silver bullets.” Many salespeople start looking for the
next gimmick the moment they encounter a problem, whether it’s getting leads
or setting up appointments. As one salesperson said after working on a new market
for less than 60 days, “If this doesn’t work, I’ll need a different mousetrap.”
For the past 15 years or so, closing sales was relatively easy. Customers have
been plentiful and most have been in a buying mode. Unfortunately, many salespeople
thought it was their skill that was driving their success, when it was more like
order taking than anything else.
Now, every salesperson is faced with the stamina test: “Do I have what it takes
in a recession?” Instead of looking for a fantasy solution, the place to start
is to look at ourselves.
2. Stop looking for a ray of hope. Optimism is the salesperson’s drug of choice.
Without it there’s no getting up in the morning. Optimism works––as long as there’s
another sale in the offing. But not when the orders dry up, not when anyone wants
to meet or even talk or not when every day is a Dead Zone.
Hoping things will change, hoping the next call will be different or hoping the
old magic will return is not only a waste of time, but also avoids developing
new strategies and ways of approaching and reaching customers.
For example, astute life insurance producers saw an opportunity when so many
people lost a considerable portion of their retirement funds in the decline of
the stock market. These salespeople are suggesting that life insurance can make
up for what has been taken away.
Instead of always hoping things will change, focusing on how to work with the
hand we’re dealt produces the best results.
3. Re-position your message. Failing to change a sales message to fit the new
economic reality is fatal. A human resources firm talks about “investing in retaining
valued workers” at the very moment when layoffs are mounting. This approach may
resonate with companies when there’s low unemployment, but not now.
Leonard Lodish, another Wharton School marketing professor, makes this comment
about sending the correct message: “If your company has something to say that
is relevant in this environment, it’s going to be more efficient to say it now
than to say it in better times.” The task is figuring out a message that addresses
the customer’s situation. Nothing else works!
4. Do something new, but don’t cut prices. Yes, the fashion industry has slashed
prices, including the normally sacred high end. That was the right move since
retailers were faced with high inventories. The fast food industry got it right
fast. Wendy’s, for example, offers three “waaaay better” 99-cent sandwiches,
but the price hasn’t changed on its regular products.
In the same way, Apple is said to be readying a new iPhone to market, a lower-priced
nano version. It certainly makes sense since the nano iPod became a huge success.
5. Keep the right perspective. There’s nothing worse than phony optimism. Everyone
can see through it. If we were to go to the websites of The
Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Financial Times and any one of a dozen others, there’s good reason
for pessimism. Here were the top headlines in the Financial
Times one day recently:
"Consumers
rein in spending”
“Fears over jobs and falling home values”
"Wall
Street downbeat on stimulus fears”
“Boeing and 3M lead blue chips into negative territory”
Duplicate this “news” day-after-day and it takes a toll on anyone, particularly
those responsible for making sales.
While bad news infects the air we breathe, it is still true that more than 90%
of the workforce is on the job, the freeways are packed morning and night, homes
are being bought and sold, and on Friday nights the bars and restaurants are
filled to capacity in many places. And in spite of all the bad news, the economy
keeps on going.
No matter how much bad news there is, the cup is far more than half full.
6. Avoid trying to convince customers what to buy. The best way to lose a sale
is to tell the customer that you have what they need. That may have worked in
the past, but it’s the wrong message now.
A sales rep from a major radio station in the Boston market called, attempting
to arrange a “20-minute” meeting. “I think we’re a good fit for your client,”
she stated.
Unfortunately, she did not get the memo that makes it clear that what a salesperson
“thinks” doesn’t count. She made no attempt to communicate that she understood
the client’s goals. Even worse, the “product” she wanted us to recommend to our
client was being touted to a variety of businesses. The bottom line was that
the station expected the client to fit their program.
What may be “a good fit” for the radio station may not meet the client’s requirements.
7. Educate endlessly. The fact that today’s customers are more suspicious and
less trusting than they were in the past isn’t a message that salespeople want
to hear. Like it or not, it not only takes time, effort and patience for customers
to become believers, but it also takes timing.
TriFactor, LLC, a leading material handling integrator in the Southeast understands
the sales benefits of educating both current customers and prospects. They describe
the company’s new website (trifactor.com) as “The Learning Center.” The company
is committed to sharing its experience and its expertise. It’s built into the
culture. They see the business as a total learning center.
Customers today connect with information, not sales pitches.
8. Invest in tomorrow. Salespeople have a long history of being what might be
called “today” people. Their focus is on what’s happening at the moment; they’re
not known for thinking about the future.
There is always a need for agility and adjusting to short-term objectives. At
the same time, a study by Dr. Gary Lilien of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business
makes the point for a consistent approach to marketing and sales. “Companies
that have been looking at marketing as an investment,” Dr. Lilien states, “and
not an expense, and have been running their business through customer knowledge
are the ones that are going to come out of this [recession] really, really well.”
One of the best examples is Amazon.com. Even when their competitors were suffering,
Amazon was beating them by using their extensive knowledge base to stay close
to their customers by providing them products and services that were based on
their unique interests.
It’s a poignant lesson for every business.
Selling is more about understanding the customer than it is about skill or sales
techniques. Those who take seriously the challenge of connecting with customers
in ways that speak to their issues and meet their needs will prosper whatever
the economic circumstances.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of business publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales issues. Contact him at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170; 617-328-0069; jgraham@grahamcomm.com.