Finding Sales Success in a Recession

Although the economic prognosticators are still arguing over whether we're in a recession or soon will be, now is the time to arm yourself to sell in a tough economy. Author Daniel Sitter had some helpful insights in a recent blog post.

Sitter makes the following suggestions to ensure your income and peace of mind during a recession:

1. Re-train. Become more of an expert in your field. Learn more about other products you have available to you. Become the local expert in your market.
2. Study new markets that provide somewhat consistent opportunities for growth such as food production, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, utilities, laboratories, safety and ergonomics, etc....
3. Make more of an effort to brand yourself. Become a valued expert. Focus.
4. Market yourself. Establish a blog, provide a regular newsletter, write articles, and utilize email marketing to better stay in touch with clients.
5. Make yourself more valuable and visible to your clients. Become confident of your value.

"Focus on one particularly profitable niche in your industry and marketplace and become the 'go-to' person in your marketplace," says Sitter. "We all have a product line or service that offers greater value and superior profit margins. Forget being a generalist and become a specialist. Establish your expertise and publicize it well. Get the word out."

Daniel Sitter is the author of both Learning For Profit and Superior Selling Skills Mastery. He has garnered extensive experience in sales, training, marketing and personal development spanning a successful twenty-five year sales career. Learn more at Daniel's blog, Idea Sellers.

Make Your Facts Tell a Story

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't sat through at least one snooze-inducing presentation, demo, or lecture. Slide after slide of facts, percentages, and data. You're probably nodding off just thinking about it.

"The only thing worse than filling up your speeches, slides, emails, or reports with fact after fact is not shaping them to tell your story," says communication expert Dianna Booher. She asks, "What story do your facts tell? What trail do the facts leave?"

Booher continues, "Tell me how your division exploded with the introduction of the new widget, and your headcount climbed from 3 to 68 engineers in the first two years you were in business. Then tell me how you grew lax in your quality control. Tell about your reject rates. Show how the customer satisfaction numbers plummeted. Show how orders started dropping as fast as they were logged onto the computer. Then circle back to the layoff of 58 engineers three years later. Then out of the ashes came..."

Well, you get the picture....Drama. Dialogue. Climax. Denouement.

"Set the scene at the trade show. How many competitors were there? How many attendees? Of those, how many did your booth attract? Why? What was the attraction - or non-attraction? What did the competitor do to drive you nuts? What kind of lead follow-up and closing ratio do you have to have after the trade show to make your competitors eat dust?"

"Music, lights, camera, action. Facts alone will never feed the mind - at least not for long," says Booher. "Anecdotes anchor your message in the hearts and minds of your listeners. Success is not about how many statistics you compile, but rather how many your buyer or boss retains."

Dianna Booher is the founder of Booher Consultants, a global performance improvement firm that works with organizations to increase profitability and market share through more effective communication - oral, written, and interpersonal. Learn more at http://www.booherconsultants.com.

Quote of the Week

"Determination is the down payment on sales achievement." -- Unknown

If you want to achieve sales success next month and the month after that...start now. Be determined this week to make one more prospecting call, research one more company, and write one more proposal. You'll see the results in the future, and be thankful for your hard work and resolve!

SalesDog Quick Tip

The number one complaint buyers have about salespeople is a lack of follow-up. Guarantee your follow-up. Advise buyers that this is part of your value-added. Assure them that you will be there after the sale to guarantee their complete satisfaction with your solution. Promise them accessibility before, during, and after the sale.

Today's quick tip comes from Tom Reilly, president of Tom Reilly Training. He is an authority on value-added selling, and speaks to thousands of salespeople and managers annually on increasing their value to their company and customers.

Cold Call Using Your Right Brain

If you're having trouble cold calling, the problem might be which side of your brain you're using.

Research shows that left-brain thinkers are analytical, logical, and look at things in parts, while right-brain thinkers are creative, believe that everything is possible, and look at a situation as a whole, rather than as steps. This means that right-brain thinkers are more likely to look at cold calling as a way to start a conversation, and consequently face fewer setbacks when the conversation doesn't lead to a sale.

If you're not enjoying cold calling, try looking at it with a right brain mentality. Here are some suggestions from sales trainer and speaker Ari Galper.

• Before you make a cold call, think to yourself, "My goal is not to make the sale but to create a conversation based on how I can help the other person."

• Avoid changing who you are when you make your call. There's no need to be on "stage" or to sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you're calling a friend. People know when you're being genuine, and when you're not.

• Throw out your linear sales script and generate a spontaneous conversation based on the problems you can help the other person solve.

• Let go of thinking "buyer-seller," and view the person you're calling as another person, not as a "prospect."

• Let go of worrying about driving the conversation "forward." Instead, open your call with a problem statement that generates the response "What do you mean?" or "Tell me more."

Ari Galper is the creator of Unlock The Game, a new sales mindset that overturns the notion of selling as we know it today. Contact him at www.unlockthegame.com.

Most Sales Professionals Happy with Management, Despite Stress and a Lack of Leads and Training

Our recent Sales Career Satisfaction Survey reveals the people who sell products and services for a living have conflicting feelings about their chosen career.

The survey, which asked questions on various job satisfaction issues, was sent to our subscribers. Over 2,000 salespeople responded. The survey found that, while most sales professionals are reasonably satisfied with their jobs, they consider high stress to be a significant occupational hazard. In fact, nearly six out of 10 respondents said they consider their jobs stressful.

Despite the job pressure, 70 percent of respondents reported being happy with their management, while 64 percent of those taking the survey said they felt adequately recognized for their achievements. A surprising 75 percent of respondents believe their management's sales expectations or quotas are realistic.

The survey revealed a number of significant job dissatisfaction issues as well.

Only half of the respondents expressed satisfaction with their compensation, while 52 percent felt their companies could provide better training. Fifty-five percent alse believed their companies could do a better job of providing sales leads.

"The survey findings suggest that most salespeople feel good about their chosen career despite the high stress levels," says Michael Dalton Johnson, founder and publisher of SalesDog.com. "Considering that lack of recognition is a common complaint of many employees in all types of jobs, we were surprised to learn the large number of salespeople who feel adequately recognized for their work."

Overall, the survey indicates enthusiasm for a sales career is strong, as witnessed by an overwhelming 83 percent of respondents saying they would recommend sales as a career for young people entering the workforce.

Survey results are available at http://www.salesdog.com/survey_1.asp

Elevator Speech Hooks Big Fish

Our Quote of the Week reminded our Managing Editor, Tina LoSasso, how a simple and non-threatening elevator speech can "hook" a big fish. Here's her story:

Several years ago, I taught marketing for a real estate franchisor. One month, while I was teaching the class the company's elevator speech, a woman shot out of her chair to tell the class why they HAD to learn this. Turns out her husband (and business partner) was in the class two months before and returned to their office insisting that everyone learn the elevator speech.

A few days later, the couple was at Home Depot buying paint to fix up their newly-opened office. A gentleman in front of them in the check-out line noticed their company logo-embossed polo shirts and asked her what they did. With some trepidation the woman answered using her elevator speech for the very first time. The gentleman was intrigued. It turned out he was a new home builder. The conversation continued and he ended up giving the new office owners all of his homes to list.

If you can't easily explain - in simple, "non-sales" language - what you do for your customers, you need to craft an elevator speech. A good one will "let your hook always be cast" for fish big or small.

For help on crafting an effective elevator speech, check out this past blog post, or contact one of our experts, Tammy Stanley, to learn how to craft a "vocal business card".