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| Thursday, March 26, 2009 |
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Our sales are a mess - when will this end?
By Eric Koefoot @ 12:06 PM :: 1335 Views ::
0 Comments :: Eric Koefoot Blog, Start Up World
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I've seen it myself - personally - prospects that were layup sales in September suddenly froze like deer in the headlights come October of 2007. So you ask yourself: What happened? Is it something that I did? Where did I go wrong?
Nothing and everything.
The magnitude of the shock to the U.S. (and world) economy this fall was, well, shocking. It hit so hard, so fast, and across so many business sectors that just about everyone was caught off guard. And just like your body's limbic system is programmed to do from the days of the prehistorical swamp animals we came from, the buyers in the marketplace froze. Houses, cars, software, hardware - everybody was like deer in the headlights. I did an informal poll of about 10 CEOs I know, and to a person they are hurting. They had been having solid sales up until the fall and then they fell off a cliff. And many of these people are really, truly sales superstars.
So what do we do? As entrepreneurs (and sales people, of course), our natural reaction is to (a) sell harder, (b) cut price, and/or (c) blame the economy and hunker down ourselves. But that is exactly the wrong thing to do. We should (a) engage with and listen more to our customers but not be pushy, (b) hold our value story and pricing, and (c) blame ourselves.
Let's talk about these...
Listening more to our customers is something we should always do more often and with more attention. When you sell hard you are presenting. When you present, you are not listening. When you are not listening, you are not closing business. So learn more about what they are looking for, what that means to them, and what the real 'pain' is for them that this purchase solves. Only when we truly listen will we understand why they buy what they buy - and when. Who are the decision makers? What is the budget? How is the decision made? These are all things we should learn.
Pricing is always a touchy subject. I've never heard a customer tell me that we should charge more. But when customers ask for a price cut, they are actually satisfied not when they see a cut in price, but when they are convinced that you have given them the best possible value for their money. Those that cut price do meet this criterion ("Hey, I just got a 10% price cut - we're bleeding our vendor!"), but so do those that hear, "You are getting the very best price of anyone with your purchase volume" (assuming it is said with integrity). The customer feels the same way at the end of each exchange - and maybe better with the second!
And it is so easy to blame others for our shortcomings. So when the huge hammer of fall 2007 hit the sales results in Q4 or Q1 2009, the great excuse generator that every sales person or organization has went on autopilot: "The economy is killing our sales". Okay, so that may be true from a literal standpoint, but to warp a famous line: the problem lies not in the economy, but in ourselves! When the economy hammers us, we need to get right back up, dust ourselves off, and S-E-L-L! Let's do the math - if the GDP falls by 3-4% (as some economists are predicting for 2009), then what happened to the 96-97% that is still churning along? They are still buying and selling, still operating a business, and still need to improve their product, service, and certainly their efficiency and profitability! What it does mean is that your sales effort needs to take it up not one or two, but ten notches. Increase the efforts at the top of the funnel, at the qualification stage, and at the closing stage. Get more referrals. And above all else, when you are making the perhaps needed cutbacks in the organization, DO NOT cut sales! Replace and upgrade, sure, but don't cut. If anything, consider hiring more superstars now so as things turn (which they will), you will be on top of the world. (Note: I personally did this with much success in the recession of 2000-2002)
So yes it is tough out there. Ouch. Hurts. Hurts bad.
Now get out there and build your business!
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