Innsbrook Today Magazine

You might have heard the news that the US is in a bit of a tough economy right now. The housing market, inflation, a weak dollar and many other factors have economists wondering whether we might be in a recession.

So, how are you supposed to make money when many of your clients are holding onto their wallets with extra vigor and beating you up to lower your prices?

Here are seven things you can do right away to make sure your sales are strong even in a weak market.

Change your mindset – the very first thing to do when you read bad news is to stop reading the bad news. If you believe the economy stinks, subconsciously you’ll begin to act in a manner to make that true for you. Instead, think about how many opportunities there are for smart salespeople in this market. The bad salespeople are weeding themselves out, giving you a bigger share of the market and making your future bright. You have to believe that opportunities exist if you’re going to be the one who finds them.
Question everything – in a weak market, there are no sacred cows.

That means everything you do should be called into question and you should have to justify every activity you do. Just because a particular way of prospecting or a certain question you ask in a appointment worked in the past, doesn’t mean it is working now. If the market has changed it is likely you’ll need to change also to keep up with it.
Measure everything – it’s no longer enough to guess if something is working or not. Time is so valuable right now that you only have enough to do the most effective activities each day. Measure your inputs and outcomes for each thing you do and compare them. If it takes 2 hours cold calling to get 3 appointments but only 1 hour to the same thing through networking, put down the phone and find more places to network.
Get systems in place – once you know for sure what works, systematize your activities so that they can repeated by you or someone else. Do the same thing with each prospect and client. If you measure your effectiveness and know for sure what is working, doesn’t it make sense to repeat those successful activities? See last month’s article for idea on systematizing.
Build relationships – when times get tough, relationships are your most important asset. Make sure you have rock-solid relationships with each important client in your portfolio. Call them and let them know you want to talk to them about the economy, then strategize with them how you can help them weather the storm. Your relationship will strengthen dramatically and you’ll eliminate the risk of losing a great customer just because of pricing.
Ramp up your activity – as the economy slows, so do most salespeople. They sit in their offices, believing that they can wait out the bad market. This is the time to more than ever and knock your competitors out of the way. Because they are spending less time marketing, if you spend more than usual you can make even bigger gains in visibility than normal. A 20% increase in your activity at times like this can yield 50% greater results. Make a list of your most effective sales activities and do 30 minutes more of them each day. You’ll find your sales soaring in no time.
Sell value not price – in a slow economy many customers will want to negotiate around price harder than usual. Rather than allowing talk of price, focus on the value, that is the emotional and physical gains your client will have as a result of continuing to buy from you.

For example, if a long term customer wants a discount because his cash flow is tighter now, perhaps you can negotiate a slightly longer payment cycle instead. He gets valuable cash flow and you get to keep our margins.

Selling in a weak economy can bring ruin for some people. Those who aren’t prepared will drop by the wayside very quickly, while those are ready, will find their sales actually increasing during tough times.

Remember, more millionaires were made during the Great Depression than at any other time. Will you be one of the millionaires made during this down market?