A Selling Strategy For Tougher Times

While such suggestions are well meaning, they are uninformed at best and just plain wrong at worst. Whether the times are good or bad, the issue in sales is not just seeing people, it’s connecting with the right customers - those who want to see and do business with you.

A lower gear economy comes as a surprise to many in sales. They have either forgotten about tougher times or have never lived through them. In many ways, sales success in the past decade has required far less expertise than most of us are willing to admit.

Now that orders are being trimmed and cancelled, and customers are disappearing down the black hole of mergers, there is a renewed interest in "salesmanship." Unfortunately, the focus is too often on "improving sales techniques." For the most part, however, this focus is missing the point. The basic issue of salesmanship is always the same whether you are selling life insurance, computers or lawn and landscape services: it is never who you want to see, but who wants to see you. Selling is not a matter of getting your foot in the door but of getting invited through the door.

On the surface, it may appear that shrugging off depression is all that’s needed to get a salesperson moving. Unfortunately, a day or so of no results only adds to a deepening depression since it quickly becomes clear that these people don’t want to see you. This is when self-doubt erupts and depression strikes with the paralyzing power of a bolt of lightning.

Here are several suggestions for overcoming the sales slump:

1. Fight to have your company, product, or service clearly differentiated from the pack. If your customers - and particularly your prospects - can’t easily and quickly explain why you’re different from others in the same field, you’re in trouble. Don’t just assume they see your uniqueness; ask them. If they can’t tell you, start sweating because there’s trouble coming. If you’ve been selling to them for years and they still don’t know what makes your product or service special, they will go to the lowest priced vendor as times get tighter.

2. Focus on building value-driven relationships. Several years ago, Jerry Zander, executive vice president of Raleigh, Schwarz & Powell Inc., a Tacoma-based regional insurance broker, took a page out of the quality improvement book and applied it to insurance. Among other things, Zander’s "Best Practices" approach to customer service involves anticipating changes through a process of continuous interaction. In this way, crises are avoided and there is time to find cost effective solutions.

He also recognized that claims disputes were often the result of clients not understanding insurance terminology, which has precise definitions. To remedy this situation, Zander and his associates developed a glossary of insurance terms. Now account executives hold training sessions to help clients gain a better grasp of insurance language. The result is improved communication and less misunderstanding when there is a loss.

3. Let your customers and prospects know that they need what you know. When times are tighter, customers need more sound advice on how to reduce costs, operate more efficiently, be more productive and do a better job serving their customers.

This is an incredible opportunity for the savvy salesperson - the one who recognizes the opportunity to gain knowledge and develop expertise as the result of working with customers. Accumulated knowledge can be a valuable asset when shared with customers. Today, the people who buy from you need what you know, not just what you sell.

4. Never stop staying in front of customers. It seems as if salespeople tend to disappear when their accounts do. While this may seem strange to anyone who isn’t in selling, it’s predictable sales behavior. Salespeople like to be around good news. So, when there’s a dark cloud overhead, they run for cover.

While it’s often difficult to get in front of customers as much as we might like, it is relatively easy to stay in front of them regularly. A marketing executive received a carton in the mail covered with graphics. It was sent by Mark McKellar, an account rep from WRKO radio in Boston. While the package was homemade and rather basic, it was also intriguing. The box was empty except for a sealed envelope in the bottom. Inside was a letter: "WRKO - Always thinking outside the box." The message was simple. It said, "What’s your client doing to retain its market share against the efforts of [the name of the client’s chief competitor]?" Then there were just three words: "Can I help?" along with the sales rep’s name. This is a great example staying in front of the customer in a precise, meaningful way. Did it work? Absolutely; the prospect even called the salesperson. Rather than trying to break down the door, Mark McKellar was invited through the door.

Staying in front of the customer and prospect doesn’t mean pestering them. It means figuring out messages that someone wants to hear and then creating effective ways to deliver them so they get the customer’s attention.

5. Get serious about prospecting. Most salespeople play at prospecting. They talk about it but they don’t do it. Few prospect in good times because they are always busy. Unfortunately, salespeople tend to think that there will always be plenty of customers when business is jumping.

Let’s set the record straight:

• Cold calling is not prospecting. In fact, there’s nothing worse than trying to eek out sales making cold calls. Depression sets in almost instantly and then it’s out the door and on to another job.
• There are never enough customers. Every salesperson knows that mergers, closings and changes in decision making personnel mean business is lost every year - business that must be replaced.
• Prospecting is speaking with those who want to speak with you. It’s not making calls to get appointments. It’s the process of identifying who you want as customers and then setting into action a plan to cultivate them so they want to do business with you.

Why is this process so critically essential today? Today, the customer is in charge of the sale - not the salesperson.

Few customers make quick or on-the-spot decisions, particularly if it involves a change. From the way they talk, many customers give the impression they are ready to make a move, but inertia keeps them from action. Every customer takes longer and longer to make buying decisions. From a salesperson’s perspective, this means that it’s imperative to have the pipeline filled with prospects so some are finally emerging as customers. This is where most salespeople get caught. They only have a handful of prospects, and when business slows down, they are out of business.

Tougher times are not about just becoming a better salesperson. That can help, of course. But it’s really putting into place the strategies that will produce business through thick and thin. Without them, no amount of "salesmanship" can solve the problem. But with the right support, any dedicated salesperson can write business.