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Ask the Sales Expert Q&A

Q: How do we sell during this tough economic crisis when no one seems to be buying anything?

—Kevin Traynor

A: People still need "stuff" to run their daily lives, and businesses still need "stuff" to keep their doors open. So they are still buying, but they are buying what they need when they need it. Now more than ever, you need to justify the value that your product or service brings to the table.

We just recently picked up a laptop for one of our people taking on an outside sales position. It would look kind of silly for her to walk from meeting to meeting carrying a desktop on her back, not to mention downright uncomfortable. She needed that laptop. We picked it up from Dell because the price was right, but it was also convenient and we had done business with Dell before. We had a good previous experience with them and we knew what to expect.

Now, are we going to go on a shopping spree anytime soon? Probably not. We are not going to go out and buy 24 desktops because we can get a good price on the units. That kind of thinking may have made sense in the past when the growth projections justified the increase in staffing and equipment. The economic environment today, however, precludes expansion of this magnitude. Business owners are looking at their numbers with more scrutiny when determining their purchases. Your product or service has to be a part of the solution that makes those numbers black and not red.

In these economic times, buyers have become more deliberate and less impulsive. Your prospects are more conscious of their buying habits, and you have to be more aware of their buying process. This is a good thing for you. As a sales rep selling with a process, you are better suited to helping your clients and prospects identify their needs and helping them get what they need.

Remember, if you are not selling to a process, then you are at the mercy of the prospects buying process. This means when your prospects see good times, they buy a lot, which means you sell a lot. When they see bad times or can't justify the need, they don't buy, which means you don't sell.

Stick to your sales process, starting with your lead generation to the point where you close the sale. Find the prospects that need your products or services, and then sell them on how your product or service will help them solve their current challenge.

—L. P.

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Comments:

Good stuff. In my opinion, saving time and money are the pillars.

—2:29p EDT, 6.29.09 by Rudy Hiebert

Good stuff. In my opinion, saving time and money are the pillars and mainstays of the sales process.

—2:29p EDT, 6.29.09 by Rudy Hiebert

Good stuff. Main stays of marketing are offering solutions ie. saving time and money

—2:27p EDT, 6.29.09 by Rudy Hiebert

Good stuff. Just adding - the main stays are solutions that save time and money. See what I mean by going to www.ytbtravel.com/rxmhiebert and www.lubedealer.com/hiebert

—2:26p EDT, 6.29.09 by Rudy Hiebert

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