I hear a variation of the following statements quite often these days and sales people complain about the economy as well.

But, are comments like these a fair assessment or explanation for the sales challenges faced in this economic environment?

Are they true statements?

"Sales just doesn't get it. They aren't getting the results we need and the economy is their easy excuse."
"Maybe we need to change our compensation plan."
" We need a new Sales Manager."
"Training hasn't been effective."
"Our sales people have lost their energy."

"The Economy Sucks."

Let's examine the reality of the situation that most of us find ourselves facing today. Yes, economic circumstance has created quite a challenge to maintaining profitability and market share. Business has slowed down. Numerous industries are experiencing various levels of economic decline. Unemployment is near 10%. The stimulus plan doesn't seem to affect the private business sector, and we haven't seen a positive increase in jobs in over a year.

Does that mean we should give up? Does that mean we should blindly accept the whining and excuse making, we often hear from some of our sales people? Should we except the speculation and knee jerk reaction from some of our managers? I think not.

Is the Glass ½ Full or ½ Empty?

There is no doubt that the state of the economy is a fact. It sucks. But, how we feel and react to this fact is determined by our attitude. In other words, how each of us as sales people feel about the economy, and what it means to each of us individually is a belief. It is our beliefs that have a major impact on our attitude and our attitude controls our thoughts, which control our actions.

This leads us to that personal question with regard to sales performance. Is your glass ½ full or is it ½ empty?

Beliefs & Attitudes that drive your sales behaviors are the keys to becoming successful in a down economy.

One sales person might believe that a "bad" economy means it's going to be harder to make a sale. It's just not possible to hit my numbers when the economy sucks.

Another sales person might believe that a "bad" economy means you can now win lots more business because they are prepared and the quality of their value propositions coupled with their ability to reach out – network and build customer relationships is far superior to the competition that may be relying on price alone to maintain market share.

Ask yourself; What do you believe? What's your attitude? I know it's easy to take that first approach and just hunker down and stay under the radar hoping for the best. Whining about the economy becomes a defense of choice. I have been in sales for over thirty five years, so I feel I have earned the right to say this.

All sales people whine. I still whine. Its natural; it's part of our DNA. Sales people are like little puppies – except puppies eventually grow up and stop whining.

It's okay to whine as long as it doesn't control our attitude and our actions. However, professional sales people understand that selling is not always easy; in fact, most of the time it is tough. Professional sales people control their whining and know when to stop whining and take action in spite of the odds they face. Professional sales people don't panic.

Attitude can change behaviors

Ask yourself this question; "Does attitude really matter?" I'll answer it for you. The answer is unequivocally --- YES! Attitude has an impact on everything you do. To be successful it is imperative that you embrace a positive attitude as much as possible.

This is probably one of the most significant factors in determining your success. Having a positive attitude is not the same as blind optimism. It doesn't mean that you bury your head in the sand and ignore problems and challenges. You must acknowledge reality but you don't have to let it control you. You must act accordingly.  

Let us not forget that our attitude can affect the attitude of others and how others react to us can affect our attitude.

However, remember, it starts with you. You need to control your thinking. Your thoughts are powerful. They are energy. How you feel and how you act depends on your thoughts. Master your thoughts and you control your attitude. You have the power of focus. Focus your thoughts on positive things. This is true whether you are a sales person, sales manager or even the CEO.

Now is Not the Time to Panic 

Yes, there are economic problems, but there are also opportunities! Sales effectiveness during these tough economic times is about not panicking, and that's exactly the message I want to get across... don't panic! Panic causes knee jerk reactions, and they're rarely correct. Economic Panic can create a knee jerk reaction that negates sales effectiveness.

Deliberate sales planning, clear thinking and solid strategies lead to success in any economy. Panic leads to failure. As professional sales people we need to be deliberate, thoughtful, and take the actions necessary to stabilize the future of our individual territories and customer base. This is how you avoid the "Self Fulfilling Prophecy" of defeat.

Who Are You?

Creating sales success when the economy is in recovery requires that you understand yourself first. Determine your strengths. Recognize your weaknesses. Make a vow to work on improving those areas where you are weak. To excel at anything you must have confidence and confidence comes from experience and knowledge.

Recognizing your weakness puts you in a position of strength because you become familiar with your limitations, and what you need to do to overcome them. Personal understanding is critical to understanding your customers. And, if you don't understand your customers it is extremely difficult to discover their pain during these tough economic times.

Be Honest with Yourself

The road to success in sales requires a kind of personal honesty that not everyone is capable of exercising. That specifically is why we all can't be superstars. Part of becoming successful in this economic environment is understanding people so well that building relationship equity is almost automatic; a skill that becomes inherent to your personification. This can't happen, unless you understand yourself first.

People grow and change, you grow and change so this concept of knowing yourself and really knowing your customers is a living changing thing that you must always be conscious of. Remember, your customers are also facing dynamic market forces that havn't existed for many years.

What's the Role of Sales Management  

Creating an effective sales process that includes planning sales growth, profiling targeted accounts, executing account strategies and using objective feedback to continuously improve performance and drive accountability is the primary role of sales management, especially during economic recovery.  

However, consider the research done by Herb Greenberg in writing "How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer"

This research indicated that 55% of the people in sales should not be in sales. That is astonishing. Think about it. If you have ten sales people and this research is correct that means five of your sales people should be terminated. Wow! I'm not sure I buy that statistic.

But, even if its half correct; that still means that almost three out of your ten sales people should be terminated. Greenberg also cited statistics that claim that of the 45% of sales people that should be in sales --- should be selling a different product.

Holy Smoke --- what does that tell us? At the very least ask yourself --- "When is the last time that you really evaluated your sales force?"

Going back to some of the original statements often heard make you wonder exactly who's really responsible for a lack of sales success. Could it be the sales person, the sales manager, the vice president of sales or even the CEO? Sure you can change compensation plans. You can increase sales training but compensation and additional training will have a minimal effect on sales people that don't belong. 

Does sales management at your company seem to be lost in the wilderness? Is your sales manager the top rated sales person that you promoted based on sales performance? Did your sales manager ever receive any formal sales management training? Do you think your sales force needs to be more aggressive? Do you have the right people on the bus and are they in the right seats? Are you following best practice principles?

Has anyone in management other than human resource personnel actually been trained on interviewing potential new employees? As managers, we must continuously look for ways to leverage the potential of employees who have the attitude and the skill set to perform up to our expectations.

Good Sales People Aren't Easy to Find.

I believe that good salespeople, the kind who can help a company really grow, don't just happen to come along by chance or fate. There is no such thing as a "born salesperson," because selling ability is much more than an intangible given that a person either has or doesn't have.

Granted, selling does require certain attributes in a person and some people are naturally born with these attributes and some aren't. Also, the person must be intelligent, able to grasp ideas and details easily, retain them and recall them for use whenever necessary in selling situations. These factors and many others relating to personal and emotional characteristics are contributing elements in the makeup of the successful professional salesperson facing economic turbulence.

However, these attributes alone do not make a sales person nor do they guarantee success. It takes more than that. A sales person must have adequate tools, resources and leadership to maximize their effectiveness. 
 
Take the time to evaluate your entire sales process. Evaluate every individual sales person and evaluate sales management. It just might be the best investment of time that you make this year.
 
Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution's "Leadership Strategist", founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com.

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