This is first in the series of several articles outlining how to grow your sales in the face of a turbulent economy. 

As daily stories of economic doom and gloom continue to dominate headlines, most companies have their own version of the current economy and its affect on them.   Some of your salespeople may be returning from calls with objections like:

• “there’s a spending freeze…”

• “it’s no longer a priority…:
• “they’re going out of business…”
• “they’re laying people off…”
• “they’re postponing the initiative…”
• “they’re only going to do half of what we spoke about…”
• “they’re too busy putting out fires…”

There are many more that we don’t need to list here.

If the doom-sayers are correct, excuse making, chronic mediocrity, under achievement, complacency and a selling skill set adequate only for wonderful times may collide head-on with a recession or possible depression.  What could be worse?  Lots could be worse.  You cannot control the global economy, but you do control the strength of your sales force.  Tremendous opportunity exists in today’s economy.

• This is the best time to evaluate and identify the real issues
• This is the best time to start training
• This is the best time to coach
• This is the best time for incentive and motivational programs
• This is an excellent time for new accountability initiatives
• This is the great time to evaluate and possibly adopt a more effective tracking system
• This is the perfect time to demand excellence and Upgrade Your Sales Force

The strong sales force in a weak economy is the dominant sales force in a strong economy.  There are so many more things you can be doing.  What are you doing to motivate your salespeople and make them more effective when it’s most important for them to be more effective?  If you’re not doing anything proactive to strengthen your sales right now, why not?

More to come…