It is essential to accept the basic principle of How to sell more in a down market. This premise requires you to “take a leadership approach to your sales responsibilities.”
This leadership approach is practical and straightforward. It consists of six components.
1. Accept total accountability for your results
2. Leadership qualities are crucial to success
3. Get inspired and motivated
4. Be a personal productivity champion
5. Plan like a leader
6. Assume responsibility for your sales and leadership skills.
While there are many elements that make up an outstanding leader, How to Sell More In a Down Market focuses only on the leadership elements mentioned above to improve your sales results.
Section Accepting Accountability
Your sales volumes are at an all-time low. You’ve never sold as many products, and your commission checks are smaller than ever before. You must sell more and make more money. And you need it right now.
It is possible to do this:
You were an order taker in good markets, but you lost the ability to sell.
Your trap line has been working for years. Is it finally dry?
Have you convinced yourself that there is no way to make money?
To get new business, you don’t have to try anything.
Are your selling skills a bit rusty?
Are you talking too much but not listening to opportunities?
It’s just not clear what to do.
Don’t blame the market, competition, or anyone else if you don’t sell as many or make as much. You must stop making excuses and accept responsibility for sales volume and your paycheck.
Leaders must be accountable for their results. You must accept total responsibility for your sales results if you want to manage it as your own company.
The Becoming a Personal Productivity Champion Chapter
How do you manage your time as a sales professional? Or, as I prefer to call it, your personal productivity.
Leaders of organizations must master the art and science of personal productivity. Personal productivity is an art, just as selling. An executive leader of a global company cannot afford to lose a minute trying to grow their business profitably.
There are many ways to be productive personally, just as there are CEOs. These five “big picture items” are the best way to be productive in your responsibilities, and I believe that leaders will agree with them.
1. You must plan your time and your business. You will not be able to achieve your goals in good or bad markets if you don’t plan factors like where you’re going, how you’re getting there when you’re getting there, who you’re working with, what you need, and why.
2. You need to assess your progress and make any necessary adjustments to your plan. You can avoid wasting your time on tasks that don’t work in both flawed and promising markets.
3. Organize – Leaders must be organized so that they can organize the team and execute the plan. Without organization, you’ll be less successful in achieving results in both flawed and promising markets.
4. Prioritize – Leaders have many things to do and many decisions to make. They can waste time and resources by not prioritizing the right areas, in both good or bad markets.
5. Schedule – Leaders plan their week, month, and year. Your daily schedule is like a television program. You know precisely what is happening at each time. Only a significant development will cause your schedule to change.
The Get and Stay Motivated Section
No matter what the market, self-motivation is essential for any sales professional. It is more important to create a positive environment for self-motivation when the market is low.
Here are some suggestions if you are still having trouble finding passion in the down market.
Stop listening to depressing news from talk radio and 24-hour TV news channels.
Keep a record of the things that make you happy and take it with you everywhere you go.
Keep a picture of anything that makes you smile close to your side.
Take a walk around your yard before you rush to get into the car.
You need a mentor to keep you motivated and on the right track.
Avoid people who aren’t entertaining and fun to be around. You should surround yourself with positive, upbeat, forward-looking people.
Write down your favorite motivational quotes and keep them handy for reference.
Turn up the music and dance like nobody is watching!
Call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while and make them smile. You’ll feel great about it.
Write down the things you are thankful for.
Do not give up! Make another sale call.
Exercise is a great way to relax and recharge your mind.
The Plan Like a Leader Section
Leaders spend a lot of time planning, implementing, monitoring, and revising their plans.
This section will discuss the planning of your business and the responsibility of your sales.
The following are the components of a sales accountability plan that I recommend:
A mission statement
A SWOT analysis
You will need to set objectives that support you in achieving your mission.
Action plans or tactics to help you achieve your goals.
Here are the steps that I recommend for creating a mission statement.
Step 1: Brainstorming – You can either sit down with a piece of paper, a whiteboard, sticky notes, or flip chart paper and begin writing your values, your attributes, what you do, where you are, what you like about yourself, what your customers think about you and your company’s products and services.
Step 2: Identity. Identify keywords that can be used to make an impact and distinguish them from others. Then, group the other keywords into clear categories like “products,” “services,” etc.
Step 3: Form – With one eye on each word group, use the actionable words to create a collection of brief mission statements.
Step 4: Decide, Finalize – Now, you can choose your favorite and make any necessary adjustments. Your mission statement is complete.
This is a long process, as I mentioned earlier. This is not something that can be done in an hour. To get the most out of different perspectives, it is a good idea to include others. My mentor coach, who has over 30 years of experience, helped me to finalize my mission statement. I was asked a few questions by her that led to a spark of inspiration, and then a direction was established.
The section on Self Development
Many companies choose to reduce, or eliminate, the cost of training and developing employees in down markets.
Sales professionals rarely have the time to invest in their own personal development. Too busy with customers and solving problems. Although you may have a personal development plan, is it aggressive enough to increase sales in a down-market?
There is a lot of information online that you can access, but there are also many resources within your company.
Get started with product knowledge. Have you ever visited the manufacturing facility of your company to gain a better understanding of the production process for the products that you sell?
Would you pass a product knowledge exam if it were offered today? You may have passed the test years ago, but what if it was today?
Are you a mentor in your company? There is so much knowledge and experience to be gained from a mentor.
Ask your mentor or boss to help you role-play a realistic scenario. Review the scenario with your boss or mentor once you are done. Ask for feedback and questions about your strengths and weaknesses throughout the process.
Re-vamp your value proposition statement delivery.
To answer simple questions such as 1. What your company does. 2. Why someone should purchase from you.
Closing thought
The six elements of leadership can help you sell more in a down economy. And when they return, which will happen even though it will be at a lower level than the previous glory years, you will have new habits that will contribute to your continued success.
Leadership thinking, behavior, and performance will be taught, which will help you advance your career if your goal is to become a manager or leader in your company.
