Selling in a Volatile Economy
10-02-2012
Your normal activity may not be bringing any returns for your business. For example:
● You ramp up activity, but don’t see any measurable impact on your numbers.
● You rush the sales process, but your prospects put the brakes on moving forward.
● You share your full scope of products/services, but your prospects are less interested in any.
If your normal business activities don’t work, it could drive you insane! All your work and the economic climate isn’t giving you or your business a break. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel but it is up to you to try new things and think outside the box. You have to adjust to today’s challenging and volatile market conditions and then you have a higher chance of succeeding.
- 1. Deepen your Expertise
Of course you need in depth knowledge of your product / business but you need to bring a whole lot more to the table in this climate. In the technological times that we live in, consumers can easily visit your website and find out all they need to know without setting foot outside their house.
Strengthen Your Value Propositions
What is a value proposition? It’s a clear statement about the business outcomes that customers get from using your product, service or solution. It tells them the impact that switching from the status quo will have on their bottom line, operational efficiency, productivity or revenue growth. If no one is enquiring about your product after hearing this statement, it is too weak and needs to be adjusted so consumers want to use your product. Ask your recent consumers how your product is helping them and then relay this to your value proposition statement. Share the information with your collegues / staff. However, remember that your company will have more than one value proposition statement as there are different departments within the company doing different tasks and providing different services.
Know More about Relevant Issues
In this economic climate, businesses who know about relevant issues, challenges and processes succeed.
Working in the fashion industry, you may become an expert on producing knitwear or tailoring or the use of colour. If you know about issues relevant in your market, you can provide the best product to your consumer. Take the time to learn by reading or asking questions and you will reap the benefits.
- 2. Challenge your prospects thinking
When you have a clear business value that you are offering, you have set a path and can start trying to pull through this volatile climate. To move on from this involves consumer involvement. Recent research by the Corporate Executive Board shows that salespeople who do challenge their customers’ thinking significantly outperform all other sellers.
Jolt Them Out of Complacency
In a volatile economy, when you approach your prospects, you’re likely to get one of these responses: 1) Everything’s fine here; 2) There’s no money in the budget; or 3) We’re happy with our current provider. They say it without thinking. It means nothing. Yet most sellers immediately back down and turn into simpering wimps. “Can I check in again in six months? Is there anything that would make you change? When will you be looking?”
Instead of following the norm, challenge them, especially when you know you can offer something better and save them money, increase productivity and drive more revenue. Show consumers that your label offers this over your competition and that they will be an individual wearing it.
Educate Them on What Matters
This is obvious…you know about your sector of the market more than consumers so tell them about how your product can help with what they need to know. You may have to spend a little extra time doing the research but once you have will see that it also helps your own professional development as you can see what gaps there are in the market and, more importantly, what your competitors are doing that you can do better.
- 3. Reduce the risk factors
As everyone is running on tighter deadlines on less people in this climate, anything that can help is going to be a bonus. If you reduce the risk factors for a consumer they are likely to recommend you to friends and other people they know. For example: providing a good quality garment for a lower price that is more affordable.
Boldly Address the Issues
Sometimes it’s useful to address issues head on so you can work out how to make them better. The key is to be proactive. Ways you could do this include:
● Setting up a meeting with your boss to assure your prospect that they’ll have your company’s full
support in achieving their desired outcomes.
● Bringing in additional data that you think they’ll find useful in their analysis.
● Arranging a meeting or discussion with an existing customer who had similar concerns.
Make it Easy to Say Yes
Your potential business prospects get riskier the bigger or more complex the work gets. This is why you need fresh strategies to make it easier for consumers to choose you. Here are two options that can be very effective:
● Break your offering down into small pieces. Sell one aspect at a time and build the relationship, demonstrate competence and then sell more.
● Propose fewer options. When there are too many choices, prospects get overwhelmed and choose none. Make a solid recommendation that you think is right for them today and then you can grow and adapt it to their needs.
The whole goal is to keep the momentum going and get some business with the company. That’s what you need to do when people are nervous about the future. Build value first, and then reduce risk.
- 4. Amplify your prospecting platform
In a volatile economy, you don’t want to put yourself at risk either. Research has found that about 50% of so called closable business does nothing for a business because priorities change whilst the decision process is going on, especially in times like these. You need to entice your clients to want to do business with you. Here are a couple of things you can do to make that happen.
Create Customer-Enticing Events
There’s nothing that creates momentum better than an event. Make sure the topic addresses a key business issue your prospects are dealing with. Keep it interesting and informative. Another consideration is the type of event. In-person events (workshops or seminars) cost more but you get to meet with people. The biggest challenge is getting them to attend. Why not try webinars…no one has to leave the office to learn and technology is the age we are living in.
When you plan your event, make sure you spend lots of time and effort marketing it. Send out emails stressing what people will learn by attending. Post it on your website. Invite people via LinkedIn or Facebook. Call your targeted prospects personally to let them know about it. Make sure you also plan a high value follow-up to the event and have all the information readily available.
Form Strategic Alliances
Form relationships with other people who may target the same people you do. It is all about networking and the possibilities from this are endless. You will gradually meet other people and be able to create more business. You may also get to know information before it is released, giving you opportunities above your competitors.
- 5. Expand your share of customer
Don’t go forgetting your existing customer base. During volatile economic times, one of the best ways to increase your sales is with them. They know you. Plus it’s easier for them to continue working with you than start working with a competitor. Get your staff to work together to find new and innovative ways to keep existing customers happy and want to do more business with you.
- 6. Boost your productivity
In a challenging marketplace, getting more done in less time is critical. You want to make sure that as much time as possible is spent on customer-facing activities. This means that is time to get to grips with technology.
Use Sales 2.0 Tools
● Alert services such as InsideView or Google Alerts let you know when “trigger events” occur in certain accounts or geographies that create opportunities for your product, service or solution.
● Lead databases such Diary Directory, Fashion Insight, Fashion Monitor and Gorkana can significantly shorten the time it takes to find key decision maker’s names within targeted accounts.
● Lead generation tools such as HubSpot and Marketo enable you to see, in real-time when a Prospective customer is at your website, what pages they’re visiting and how long they spent there.
Develop Relationships Faster
With money being in short supply, budgets can be cut, meaning that arranging meetings and going to conferences is out of the question. This makes meeting people very difficult. Look at these resources:
● Web meeting technologies such as GoToMeeting with HDFaces enables you to virtually meet
your prospects face-to-face without ever leaving the office.
● Personalized email technologies such as VisibleGains and GoldMail allow you to embed
custom videos into your emails, track open rates and much more.
● Invest in LinkedIn and blogs to maximise knowledge of your company and to form links
- 7. Optimize your effectiveness
Last, but certainly not least, you need to maximise your own prospects in the business. You may have more tasks to do because there is not enough money to pay someone else. You need to organise yourself efficiently.
Pursue Excellence
You can never do better than your best, but sometimes you have to do that little bit of extra work to become the best that you can be. Before meetings with clients, rehearse your selling technique, know who you are talking to and always go with a clear goal. You should always seek to self-improve.
Conduct Experiments
Your aim is to find the most effective way of getting business with the least effort. Although you may find this through trial and error, when you eventually get there the results will be seen
Summary
Right now is really a make or break time for businesses. If you embrace fresh sales strategies today, you’ll be successful despite the financial crisis. And, when the economy turns around, you’ll be unstoppable.
Start by deepening your expertise. Then use that information to challenge your customer’s thinking. Jolt them out of their complacency with the status quo and educate them on what matters. When they start seriously thinking about making a change, to reduce the risk factors by boldly addressing the issues and making sure it’s easy for them to say yes. Remember, you’re at risk too, so amplify your prospecting platform by creating events and forming strategic alliances.
Don’t forget existing customers; they could be a goldmine for you. Then make sure you leverage technology and constantly focus on optimizing every sales opportunity. And finally, always conduct sales experiments to see if you can increase your effectiveness.
That’s what it takes to be successful in a volatile economy. You have the capability to make a difference. You don’t have to wait till your consumers have money in the budget. When you turn yourself into an invaluable asset, the tight economy becomes much less of a challenge.
