10 Things You Must Do To Thrive During This Recession
So here we are full swing in a global economic recession the likes of which we haven't seen since dinosaurs roamed the earth or something like that.
As a sales person, it can be easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom. My first piece of advice is don't.
Here are 10 other simple things that you can do to not only succeed, but to thrive in this environment.
- Eat right / exercise more - In times like this, it is easy to stress out. Your company might be on the rocks, many of your customers may be on the rocks, your relationships are on the rocks. It's easy to turn to something deep fried and drink something on the rocks. Don't. Hit the gym, go for a run, instead of pizza, eat salad. Treat your body well and you'll feel better and that will be reflected in everyone you deal with.
- Check Your Phone Time - When I'm not traveling, I get a report at the end of every day telling me how much time I've spent on the phone. My goal is 3 - 4 hours a day, though I lately, I've been getting in the 5 hour a day range. Most VOIP services will issue such a report. If you really think that you're working as hard as you say that you are, this report will tell. Phone time isn't research time. Phone time isn't email time. Phone time is time speaking with customers. There are 240 minutes in 4 hours. A voicemail, from connection to you hanging up, lasts about 45 seconds. You do the math.
- Build Partnerships, Not Transactions - In this market, no one wants to buy from someone once and it's over with. Figure out how to build a long term relationship with someone during the hard times and it will pay off in spades during the good times.
- Set Fiscal Goals - Income goals are something that every sales person should set, but now it is more important than ever. I've always started with $1 million dollars a year as a good goal. If you know what it takes to make a million dollars, you can figure out how many transactions that is, figure out how many pilots that is, how many appointments that is, how many cold calls that is. Another good one is to be impacted by the Obama stimulus.
- Double Your Effort - Know isn't the time to rest, it's time to kick ass and take names. If you know you need make 10 phone calls to get an appointment, make 20. If you know you need 10 appointments to get a deal, go on 20. The math is changing. You need to do more work to make the same amount of sales. If you're company is looking to cut people, are they going to cut the person doing twice the work and bringing in more business than anyone else? Unlikely.
- Go to Networking Events - I'm horrible at this. I recognize it as a weak point and when it comes to going to a hotel lobby to see bad PowerPoint or hanging out with my family, family will win 99 out of 100 times. But I need to go and so do you. Get out there, don't only look for new business, but keep your eyes peeled for new opportunities for partnerships, an introduction that you can make. Tim Sanders always says 'Your Network is Your Net Worth'. Raise yours.
- Ask for References - This sounds cliche. It sounds like something that every sales training ever has said, but I'll tell you what, it works. The problem is that it won't work the first time because you aren't trusted. It won't work the second time because you aren't trusted. It will take you asking about a dozen or more times because until you're a trusted adviser, no one is going to refer you to anyone. Print it out and tape it to your monitor to remind you. This pays off long term.
- Learn Your ROI Story Cold, Now Figure Out How to Shorten It - During the dotcom bust, my customers wanted to see a proven ROI in 6 - 12 months. Now it is 3 - 9 months. If your story has positive ROI in the second year, you're fucked. Show revenue, show productivity, show cost savings and show it fast. Refine your story and get stories from your existing customers to help refine it. If you show ROI in 6 months and your customers show it in 12, you'll win every single time.
- Double Your Effort - Are you paying attention? You've gotta hustle your face off.
- Ask Not What Your Company Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Company - I'm paraphrasing Kennedy a bit, but you need to treat your company like it is yours if you want to survive. This isn't time for you to take an 'I'm just a sales rep' attitude. If you're in sales, you're in product development, you're in marketing, you're in QA, you're in legal. You've gotta do it all. When heads are on the block, do you really want to be 'just a sales guy?'
- Bonus - Get Rid of Non-Profitable Customers - Do this this week. Sit down with your VP, your manager, your CEO and explain that you've got a few customers that are non-profitable time sinks and you want to get rid of them. Evaluate each customer and if they aren't providing profit in the way of bottom line dollars or PR or product guidance, get rid of them. Now is not the time to hang on to dead wood.
Comments (6)
Lastly, all the suggestions are simplest to know but hardest to apply, demands lots of enthusiasm and positive attitude.
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