What’s a Sales Professional to Do? Strategies for Surviving the Economic Downturn
by Dave Stein

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“Although we believe there continues to be strong demand for our solutions, several new customer contracts that we anticipated for the quarter were delayed due to the current economic uncertainties.” Those were the words of the president of a company that provides supply chain software to manufacturing companies.  The company’s stock, which had already been lagging along with the rest of the technology sector, dropped an additional 65% upon this news. Sales people, by nature, are optimistic.  Their job depends on their ability to paint a vision of success for their customers and clients.  In the technology marketplace during the past decade that inborn optimism, fueled by aggressive marketing and somewhat reckless investing, just took off.  The result was that a lot of companies bought a lot of products and services from a lot of salespeople.  Now that has all changed.  Things aren’t looking all that good right now.

What is a sales professional to do?

Here are ten strategies for surviving as a sales professional during these tough economic times.  

1.      Tighten Your Belt

The good news is that things are going to get better.  The bad news is not right away.  In general the securities analysts and press have not done a great job figuring out what is really going on.  That means it is extremely unlikely the situation will improve before it has a negative impact on your commission check, if that has not already happened.

I hate to butt into your personal life, but I have been through this economic downturn thing before.  We called it a recession.  What you have to do just what your customers are doing.  Reduce your expenses where you can, right now.  If you are not on a budget, now’s the time to create one. The pressure is on, but you will be able to deal with it slightly better if you have taken whatever actions are possible to protect yourself and your family.

  2.      Dig Deeper into Your Customers’ Businesses

Your customers are most likely focusing on expense control.  Their investments in new products and new revenue sources have likely been curtailed or will be shortly.  Projects and initiatives are being scaled back or eliminated.  Organizations are being downsized.  You need to explore what it is that your offering does that can help them reduce their expense line, be more efficient or retain the business that they already have.  If money is going to be spent, that’s where it will go.

  3.      Follow Various Industry Sectors

If you are lucky enough to be selling a horizontal product or services, you may be able to find customers in industries that are not suffering the same level of economic insecurity.  For example, as of this writing, companies in the health sciences sector are holding up rather well.  They may be somewhat conservative going forward but may not be as unapproachable as companies say in the software industry, which has been hit hardest.

  4.      Make Sure Your Skills Are Fine Tuned

  The fittest will survive.  That not only goes for companies, but more importantly for individuals as well.  How do you get fit?  Make sure you are as competent at your job as you can possibly be.  That means knowing your customers’ businesses, their industries, your competitors, their competitors, their customers and their people.  Your business skills need to be current, especially understanding where they are being affected by the economy and how badly.

Do you possess any wisdom about areas of their business where improvement or efficiencies can be achieved?  If so, you could have a chance to provide products or services to help them along.  If your products or services are not a fit, staying close will provide you with the knowledge of when the timing will be right for you to sell them your offering. My clients tell me that competition is fiercer than it has ever been.  What a perfect time to really dig into your competition.  How do they sell, what are their strengths and weaknesses, how do they position themselves against you, and what can you do to beat them?  

5.      Keep Your Relationships Alive

Some of your customers may not be doing very well right now. They don’t feel good about their own businesses and they are likely very uncomfortable about disappointing you.  Whether it was an order you were promised that has been postponed or outsourcing your company provides that they have now decided to do in house, taking a call from you might be make them just too uncomfortable.

Sales professionals who have survived and even thrived during economic downturns will tell you that it is often the relationships with key people in their accounts that got them through—an order here, a referral there.  Stay in touch, commiserate, and be patient—to the extent that you can.