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SalesVantage.com >> Article Archives >> Sales Coaching >> Getting to the Light at the End of the Tunnel

Sales Coaching
   
Getting to the Light at the End of the Tunnel
By Jim Kasper, President & CEO, Interactive Resource Group

As you know, those in the professional sales community are among the first to be the recipients of leading economic trends.
The news all over the Web yesterday was the announcement from the National Bureau of Economic Research [NBER] that "the United States economy had entered into a recession in December 2007."

What's revealing about the NBER's announcement is the timing – December 1, 2008 – a full year after the fact. While there's no doubt about the volume of intensive research and analysis that the NBER's economists had to undertake in order to make that statement, there was another way that they could have arrived at the same conclusion much quicker. They could have talked to some salespeople.

As you know, those in the professional sales community are among the first to be the recipients of leading economic trends. When the economy's going strong, we can't get the orders filled fast enough. When it slows down, we're the first to build strategies to sell in a challenging selling environment.

So, as we're the first to see when the economy gets off track, it stands to reason that we'll be the first the lead the charge toward a recovery. While the current economic climate is anything but a friendly one for sales, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's study of Professional Forecasters predicted that the recession would run 14 months. If the US economy was in a recession in December 2007, it stands to reason that we'll begin to see the signs of a recovery by the 2nd Quarter of 2009.

Between now and then, as professional salespeople we'll have to keep sharpening our game and exhibiting the steadfast determination to keep our sales cycles moving forward. It won't be easy but we will be rewarded when things do begin to pick up. Also, it's during times like these that your competitors will weaken and succumb to the negativity circling the economy. Don't let up on your sales efforts; when the recession wanes, you'll find yourself on the "leading edge" of the recovery.

Until then practice the following with undying dedication:
  1. Double and triple the number of calls you normally make.
  2. Closely monitor the "dwell" of current deals in your pipeline and make whatever adjustments are necessary to move them along.
  3. Stay in constant contact with your "A" accounts.
  4. Candidly assess and fire any prospects that show no promise
  5. Go to Yahoo finance and request automatic email updates on your key account press releases.
  6. Go to your publicly held customers and review their 10K and 10Q reports. Look at the competitor's section for leads, financials for significant changes in financial position, and the officer's section for name changes or compensation changes.
  7. Practice pre-call planning to make each customer encounter as productive as possible.
  8. Within your current accounts, start planning to replace your competitor's products by conducting a brief competitive matrix analysis.

Jim Kasper is the Founder and President of Interactive Resource Group. Mr. Kasper has over 26 years of practical experience in direct sales, sales management, sales training, and marketing. Contact him at www.salestrainers.com or call 800-891-7355

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