I speak with hundreds of small business owners each month.  Many have told me that they fear loss of control.  If you are feeling the same, let’s take a look at some fundamental truths:

*Today, more than ever, it is vital to use time wisely and efficiently. 

*The more we understand and take advantage of our strengths, the better our chances of success.

*Whining and complaining about things we cannot change will never help us regain control.

*Sometimes cuts are necessary, but you will never shrink yourself to Greatness.

*If your market has contracted, you will need to capture a greater market share to maintain the same level of sales revenue.

*If you have multiple competitors, an increase of just a few percentage points of market share can mean substantial increases in business.  This can mean big $$$$ for you!

So a message to the wise—Don’t overlook the role of your Sales Force in turning around your organization.

When your competitor’s are reeling from economic chaos, there is excellent opportunity for you to exploit the situation, upgrade your sales team, and capture major market share.  Here are just a few tips for managing your salespeople through the recession:

1. Change the Mindset.  The change begins with YOU.  Focus your thinking on Revenue Generation, not on cuts.

2. Understand what your salespeople are experiencing.   They are likely feeling hammered.  Hammered by more rejection.  Hammered by longer Sales Cycles.  Hammered by fewer leads.  Hammered by the media predictions of doom and gloom.  They are also likely being hammered by smaller commission checks and maybe even by increased pressure from you and or other sales managers.  Note:  Some pressure is good, but most salespeople will not perform at their best under intense pressure.

3. Shoot Straight with them.   Don’t tell them everything is OK or “normal”.  It’s not.   The economy IS slow and it is likely that things will not get a whole lot better for at least 18 to 24 months.  Let them know that things ARE tough out there and that you understand that many of them have NOT sold in this kind of environment before. 

4. Give them the Solution.  You can now outline the opportunity.  Explain that the strong will not only survive, but that they will thrive.  Then, explain the following realities:              

• It is vital to adapt along with the changing economy. 
• There will be tremendous opportunity for anyone who will focus and execute while weaker players are licking their wounds.
• Over-achievers will be rewarded handsomely.
• Over-achievement is expected in your company.
• Your company will provide coaching, training, encouragement and development.  You will give them the support they need.    

This is also a good time to ask your top performers to be team players and leaders.  Let them know that you know they can do it and that doing so is part of over-achievement. 

The greatest fortunes are made during turbulent economic times.  Your Sales Force holds the key.  Raise your expectations.  Then raise theirs.  Expect greatness, evaluate your sales team, and hold them accountable to over-achievement.  Great results will follow….

Copyright © Joe Zente 2009.  All Rights Reserved.

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Business owners in every industry are struggling to keep costs in line with their declining sales.

By Emily Maltby, CNNMoney.com staff writer May 11, 2009: 1:32 PM ET

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CNNMoney.com) — Behind every statistic about whopping job losses and the shrinking economy are thousands of small businesses battling the everyday realities of trying to survive with less staff and fewer customers. Three weeks ago, a group of entrepreneurs from peer advisory group The Alternative Board (TAB) gathered to discuss their view from the frontline of the recession.

“I’ve managed to cut so much already, but I wonder, what’s left to cut?” asked Ken Villani, president of Cottage Pharmacy and Surgical in Woodbury, NY.

“People aren’t buying breakfast on the way in to work,” said Owen Mester, whose Maspeth, N.Y., bakery makes and distributes yogurt muffins that get sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. “My competitors - I don’t know how - are offering a month of free delivery. I’m not sure how to counter that. At some point, we still have to still run the business.”

Five of the six business owners at the meeting saw their sales fall last year, with the declines ranging from 8% to 40%. Most expect this year to be equally grim: Only one owner thought his sales for 2009 would be higher than last year.

To adjust to the new economic realities, business owners are shaving their staffing down to the bone. Businesses with fewer than 50 staffers have collectively shed 1.4 million jobs in the past six months, according to estimates by payroll processor ADP.

View Full Article Here

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What you can do about it.

Are your salespeople less successful today than in previous years?  Do you need to capture a larger percentage of your market share?   Let’s face some brutal facts:

• Unemployment is up.
• Employers are pressuring employees to conserve cash.
• Buyers are more fearful to make investments than in previous years. 
• Credit is tight.
• Risk aversion rules the day.

This all spells one thing for sellers in today’s market—Much more REJECTION.

If you industry or market is down and you don’t want to go down with it, you MUST increase your market share.  A higher percentage IS there for the taking, but only if you make the changes required to capture it.

Many salespeople (and selling principals) possess limiting traits that are hidden during more prosperous times.  These weaknesses can be devastating during a weak economy.  Some of the most dangerous are:

• Fear of Rejection
• Need For Approval
• Emotional Involvement

Here’s an example:

John was asked by one of his “hot prospects” to call him back on Tuesday.  Responsible John did just that, but the prospect wasn’t available.  The phantom suspect had cancelled a previous appointment.  John was getting vague responses regarding a re-schedule and was feeling a blow-off coming.  He is now mired in paralysis.  He wants to write an email and begins spending hours of time and energy asking co-workers what it should say.  All this time can be spent finding new opportunities, improving his pipeline, collecting referrals and growing sales, but the soap opera proceeds anyway.   John’s emotional involvement is not only wasting time and effecting John, but also the morale of other employees.  Why does this happen and what can you do about it?

Let’s get to some root causes:  

1. ALL salespeople get rejected.  The costs to your business are never due to rejection or to the fear the rejection.  They are due to how long it will take salespeople to recover from them. 

2.  John’s need for approval has him so twisted up about the prospect’s response to the email, that he wastes massive effort creating and agonizing over the actual wording.  “Will the prospect still like me if I send this?”  If John recovered from rejection quicker, his need for approval may not have been triggered. 

If John didn’t possess this pervasive rejection weakness, he would do what successful salespeople do–deal with the cancellation on the phone, in the moment.   He could have avoided wheel spinning and rescheduled or ended the “opportunity” right then and there.  But even without the rejection problem, his requirement for approval may have prevented John from confronting the suspect fearing he would be offended and go away.

So John wastes a day on an email to a person that would likely disappear anyway.  Sound familiar?  If not, congratulations, because this happens many thousands of times each day.

You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See 

The good news is that the limited traits described above (as well as others) can all be objective predicted with great accuracy.  They can also be remedied, resulting in greater market share, more consistency and dramatically improved performance.  If you would like to receive a complimentary assessment that will rank the performance of your Sales Force, click the button below and insert “Z3 Performance Development” on line 26.

Happy Selling…

Joe

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Are your B2B customer’s REALLY engaged.  This new poll indicates that most B2B companies MISTAKENLY subscribe to conventional wisdom, believing that they need to appeal primarily to price, speed, and efficiency.  This mindset leaves them extremely vulnerable to competition.

B2B Customers Have Feelings Too

Retaining existing customers typically costs much less than acquiring new ones.  If you are looking to expand your market share and increase your profitability, UnCommon Sense can help you to appeal to your customer’s emotional requirements.

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