marketing & sales: Problem Solving

In this economy, everyone is looking for a simple fix to survive and arrive safely on the other side. Some even remain optimistic about growing their businesses. Few are happy with their situations. And most point their fingers at the economy as the source of their dismay.

The comments I overheard at one of my recent Top Gun seminars were representative. One salesperson complained his customers were shrinking and their companies were going out of business. Several complained about customers' pressure to lower prices.

Unfortunately, as long as our gaze is directed at 
everyone and everything else, we will never free ourselves from the constraints on our income and prosperity. The real secret to improving our conditions is to work on ourselves.

Salespeople

Salespeople must understand that it was OK just a few years ago, to "have your own style of selling," to never invest in your own improvement, to make your living off of your existing relationships. Today, all of these are obsolete ideas that must be changed.

To effectively deal with the changing economy, salespeople must become more strategic and thoughtful about the investment of their sales time, and they must bring value both to the customer and to their employers in every sales call. In a world where it is blatantly obvious that good salespeople sell more than mediocre salespeople, they must decide to become better. That means investing in their own improvement, and striving to achieve higher levels of competency, leading to better results.

Sales Managers

Likewise, sales managers have to stop coddling those salespeople who aren't interested in, or committed to, continuous improvement and greater levels of productivity. They need to enforce practices and disciplines that call for quantifiable expectations on the part of their sales team, regular measurements and greater thoughtfulness and strategic planning.