Stop Blaming the Economy

 

Incentive Magazine

By Tim Wackel

Once the experts started to whisper "recession," you could almost hear the collapse of sales funnels everywhere. Account managers continue to complain about how difficult it is to close business in this slowing economy. This doesn't come as a big surprise.

Less than half of today's business-to-business sales professionals have ever weathered a true economic downturn. These folks learned how to sell in the nifty 90s, which was one of the longest business expansions in U.S. history. Hey, it's not that hard to hit quota with double-digit market returns and huge growth in the number of new jobs. But what should you do when the economy taps—or slams on, in this case—the brakes?

Rule 1—Don't Blame the Economy
Companies still have to buy goods and services, no matter what the economy is doing. They may buy different, they may buy less, but they still have to buy. If you can't convince prospects what you're offering is a solid investment with meaningful return, then maybe the problem lies closer to home.

Let's look at this a different way. The major objection most reps face during slow times is, "I have no money." How is that possible? If your customers have no money, then they're out of business. What they are really saying is, "Your ideas stink."

Rule 2—Don't Waste Energy On Insignificant Activities
You've probably heard business will improve if your account managers just make more appointments, increase the number of demos, give more presentations, and ramp up their number of cold calls. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with increasing these selling activities; especially if you sell low-value products to one-time customers.

Experience tells me chasing everything that looks like an opportunity keeps account managers busy, but it doesn't make them effective. They'll be working hard, but they won't be working smart. Eventually they will burn out their prospects and themselves—toast for two.

Start today by re-evaluating every opportunity in the pipeline using these three questions. The quality of answers determines the quality of your future business:

•Why should this prospect buy—what compelling business reasons have been identified and agreed to?

•Why would they buy from your company—does the prospect understand and value your unique differentiators?

•Why buy now—what negative consequences will the prospect experience if this opportunity stalls?

Focus your team on the best selling opportunities and invest there. You'll create more success by investing the right resources in 10 solid opportunities than you will by chasing 25 half-baked leads.

Rule 3—Make Every Conversation Count
Challenge your sales organization to create a list of compelling reasons why decision-makers should give them 20 minutes. This list needs to be focused on the real benefits in meeting with the account manager—not the account manager's motivation in wanting to meet with the decision-maker.

I know this is hard work but it's an exercise too many sales reps have ignored for too long. Get other members of your organization to participate, brainstorm ideas, and scrub them until they are clear and compelling. These ideas are the springboard for getting in front of the right decision-makers and motivating them to explore ideas.

Clients also should be impressed with the preparation around each sales interaction. When your team demonstrates they've done their homework, prospects will be more willing to have an open and honest dialog with them. When the economy slows down, people get nervous. They don't want to waste time unless they see potential value and they're comfortable your reps aren't just trying to sell them something.

Encourage your sales professionals to start client conversations with this simple phrase, "In preparing for this meeting, I took some time to…" Then simply have them highlight the two or three critical things they did to prepare, and watch what happens to the atmosphere of the call. They'll blow away the last rep who opened his meeting by announcing he was just "checking in" to see if anything new was going on.

The goal is to stop trying to educate your customers. They don't care unless they are engaged. Talking about your company, your products, and your reputation will not engage customers. Talk about them, ask about them, provide ideas for them, and communicate in terms of them.

Who are you talking about—you or them?

Rule 4—Ask Questions That Make Customers Stop and Think

Knowledge is a key ingredient to sales success, especially in a slowing economy. The more your account managers demonstrate knowledge, the more prospects will take time to listen. And the best way to establish expertise is not by pitching features—it's by asking questions. Questions that can differentiate the value your account managers bring to every call.

Many selling professionals fall into the common trap of asking questions that are self-serving. "What does your purchasing process look like?" is a mind-numbing, self-serving question that doesn't create new insights. Your customer hears these types of questions every day, and they bring zero value to the dialog.

Instead ask questions that make customers stop and think. Ask questions they haven't been asked before. Ask questions that make the customer pause and say, "That's a really good question." Here are some simple examples to help jump-start your thinking:

•"There's a lot of information I could share with you, but I'd like to know what your specific goals for this conversation are. What are the most important things you feel we should focus on to make this meeting a valuable use of your time?"

•"At the end of the day, what will be the biggest differences between the one representative who will win your business and the nine others who don't?"

•"What questions need to be asked that no one else is asking you?"

Creating high-impact questions takes extra time. But it's worth every minute. Start investing more time doing research and preparation, and less time running from sales call to sales call. I know this contradicts traditional wisdom, but this isn't a traditional selling environment.

Don't pick up the phone or walk into the lobby until you're ready to engage in a meaningful dialog. You're not going to get a second chance in a slowing economy, so make sure every one counts.

Tim Wackel is a business speaker who has mastered the ability to make information entertaining, memorable, and easy to understand. He combines more than 20 years of successful sales leadership with specific client research to deliver high-impact programs that go beyond today's best practices.