Increasing Sales in a Difficult Market

Author : Alice HeimanEveryone is complaining about the market Things are bad; the worst I’ve seen Business is slow and yet all of my clients are doing well They will survive this Some companies will come out of the recession stronger than they went into it They will do it by focusing on customer service and sales, and by staying positive and telling success stories You too can survive this economy by following these tips

Success Stories

I work with a logistics company that has been in operation in Nevada for a little over a year Last month was their best month ever Not only was it their best month ever, but they outsold two well-established competitors in other parts of the country

With Airlines in crisis, wouldn’t you expect airplane sales to be down? Maybe, but my client has found a niche He is focused on people looking for airplanes who know they can get a good deal now He has started a new business in this economy and business is flying in

One non-profit I am working with has seen high attendance and sales at a recent event Yes, there are signs of caution too, but for the most part, people are just being more reasonable with their spending

A printing company I work with has focused on increasing customer satisfaction and freeing up their salespeople so they have more time to sell Guess what is happening? Their sales have increased and their salespeople are much happier - and so is the boss

Provide Extraordinary Customer Service

Be the best you can be Are you giving your customers extraordinary customer service? Not sure? Ask them Your best source of business is always more business from your existing customers If they are happy they continue to buy, and if they are really happy they tell everyone they know Turn your customers into walking advertisements by giving them extraordinary customer service

Ask For Referrals

Capitalize on happy customers Do your salespeople consistently ask for referrals? I can answer that for you: if they ask, it is less than 10% of the time Why wouldn’t they ask for a referral? Most likely because the customer is not completely satisfied and they are nervous about asking The other most likely reason is because they don’t think about it They are not in the habit Now more than ever, they need to get in the habit Satisfied customers usually will give a referral when asked

Put the Focus on Selling

Are your sales managers really coaching your salespeople or are they busy doing reports, putting out fires, attending meetings and selling because sales are down? Sales managers need to spend 80% of their time coaching their salespeople to close business If they are doing anything else, you are missing out on revenue

Once your managers are focused on sales, get your sales people focused on sales How much time are your salespeople spending in your office doing paperwork or following up to see that orders are processed and delivered? Improve your processes so that salespeople don’t have to do these things Get them out selling Your salespeople need time to be in front of their customers learning about their goals and needs, and doing what they can to meet those They need to increase the number of customer visits each week so they can make sure the customers are satisfied, buying what they need and giving them referrals They need to increase the number of prospects they see each week They can’t do that if they are sitting in the office doing paperwork

Now is a Great Time to Clean House

If things have slowed down a bit at your company it is a good time to clean house Go through your processes and do what you can to refine them You can hire an outside consultant to help, but I will bet you have all the knowledge you need in your workforce Do a brainstorming session and ask them how processes can be improved, then ask them to help make the needed changes, and reward them for doing it

Tired of the poor results some of your salespeople are getting? If you are coaching them properly and giving them time to sell, and their results are still poor, it is time to cut them loose, especially if they have a bad attitude I can’t tell you how many times I ask clients, “Why do you keep this salesperson?” I get a wide variety of excuses, but when it comes right down to it, they know they should have let the person go months ago Not only is the salesperson doing a bad job, but the “ick” being spread by the bad attitude is upsetting the other employees Get rid of the ick! Right now they should be easy to replace

Why would you hire in this economy? To get a fantastic salesperson you might otherwise not be able to get To hire someone who can jump in with a great attitude and increase sales Don’t be hasty though, do a very thorough job You don’t want to hire another company’s problem I caution you to use a professional when hiring salespeople

Focus on the Positive with your Sales Team

If you have done everything I have recommended, you should have a great sales team focused on selling, providing good service and asking for referrals There should be lots to be positive about Have a Zero Tolerance policy for negative attitudes Positive words need to flow freely throughout a company Salespeople, especially, love appreciation They hear complaints all too often about how all they do is take people to golf and lunch Every sale should be cause for a celebration

Stay Positive and Your Customers Sill See Your Confidence

Start with the sales teams and watch the success stories abound They are everywhere Success that employees have with projects, success with difficult situations, sales success, customer success The grumbling should cease and confidence will grow Confident positive sales people close more business than negative grumbling sales people

There is plenty of good news in your industry to share Find it and share it with your customers Help them understand what is happening in your industry and dispel rumors Send them other customer success stories (with permission of course) Be sure and combat the bad news with the good news This means you will need to read your industry journals and keep up with the media Salespeople can ask for success stories to share when they are out visiting customers

You can’t do anything about the economy, but you you can change the way you react to it Stop complaining about the economy, the market, your industry, slow business and start making the changes needed to increase your sales Alice Heiman is the Cheif Sales Officer of Alice Heiman LLC and has been coaching sales teams to success for over 10 years. Alice’s website has many tools available to help you increase your sales..Alice Heiman LLC. Get more great information about sales at Smart Sales Tips

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