Real Advice for Selling During the Slump

In today’s recession, fewer businesses are looking for ways to succeed, but more to simply stay afloat. There are countless websites, blogs, and self-help books out there to address this issue, yet so many are filled with advice so vanilla, it sounds like the business equivalent of giving 110%. I found an article by Liz Wendling entitled Five Great Strategies For Selling Through the Slump. Her advice is: stay positive, “commit to win,” “sharpen your tools,” “increase sales activities,” and “believe in yourself.” 

As someone struggling for ways to make it out of the recession, I’m looking for real ways to make sure I don’t end up like the countless firms that have folded in the past few years. I’m sure some of them were optimistic too. Give me something I can use! With that, I offer some advice straight from the brain trust at MCG. 

1) Continue to invest in your internal operations. During a recession, everything is cheaper. You can get better office space, better people, and better products for lower prices if you are willing to invest. This will make your company stronger, more efficient, and in a better position once the recession ends.

2) Focus on building and maintaining relationships. Sales numbers will decrease during a recession, but that’s ok. Not everything needs to close. Along with infrastructure getting cheaper, advertising is cheaper too. Use it. Put yourself in the position so once people are back in buying mode, they will buy your product. 

3) Use whatever money you have to build awareness wisely. A recession is the worst possible time to waste money. Leverage our boss, Brett’s idea of “The Power of Who.” Make sure you are targeting your marketing towards only those who are relevant because the cost of wasting money is compounded when you have little to spend.

As Wendling says in her article, sales are the only way to keep your business in business. However, during a recession, the most important thing is to put yourself in the best position for when people will be willing to spend money again. There are no sales people that can sell in a market where customers have no money. Use this time to build and foster relationships and increase awareness for your company. It will pay off when the slump ends.