What's Going On Out "There"? Written by Bill Sayers    If you have been reading the papers and listening to the media you have to be wondering what is happening. One day the outlook is “Rosy” and the next we haven’t even seen the worst of this economic downturn. So what is really going on out “There”? I have been saying for 8 months now – Quit listening to the media and quit reading the papers and go out and see what your customers are telling you. If you haven’t been doing that, how are your relationships with your customers and how is your business? How will you know when to go back? If you have not been having valuable conversations and discussions with your customers and prospective customers in the past six months, how will you know when they will be ready to do business, do more business or grow their business? Each one of your customers is dealing with this economic situation differently, so you need to be out there understanding what is happening to each customer and their business. Some have grown and expanded their business, some have changed their focus and are moving in another direction and some are hanging on for their financial survival. Do you know where each of your customers are with their business? Knowing where your customers and prospects are with their business will help you in how you can do your job. How do you provide value and service to them if you are unclear or don’t know what is going on in their business. What have you been doing to plan for the next six months? What do you know about your industry and what have your customers been telling you. How can you react and change your selling model, product mix or your sales presentation, if you have not been talking with customers and prospects. Are you getting your advice from the media? The person who pours your morning coffee? The marketing team who have never visited a customer? Or, at the office with other reps that haven’t had a visit to a customer in six weeks, but have “heard” the news is not good? Will you be ready? I did a session in Toronto recently and one of the students was saying that they had just had a kick-off meeting and their President had said that, after the recessions in 1988 and 1994, their company had great growth in those years and he was expecting the same in 2010. The discussion was that the company had recognized the change in their business, adjusted accordingly and planned appropriately and came out the other end with great success. As a sales rep during those years, I also experienced great years in 1988 and 1994. Are you adjusting your sales game right now? Are you planning how you can best serve your customers and what value you can provide? Or, are you still in shock that we have had a recession and you are still complaining that your revenue is down and that nobody wants to buy from you? I hope you are getting ready and have adjusted your game! Plans for the rest of 2009 It is now early summer and you still have 5 months left in this year. What clients do you need to visit? What is your goal for the rest of this year? What do you need to do to be successful? What are you doing to “know” what is happening out there?       Sayers Says……… What do you “know” about what is happening with your customers? What is happening with each of your top customers? What are you doing to adjust your “sales game”? What do you need to be doing to be successful in this calendar year? What is happening out there? Are you going to be ready and focused? What is happening out “There”…………………. Bill Sayers About the author: Bill Sayers speaks, coaches, leads education sessions and provides management consulting services to a variety of companies. For the past five years Bill has run his own sales consulting practice. He has recently completed the writing of his new book – “Funnels and Forecasts – The Great Game of Sales”. He has been a professor at George Brown College teaching Personal Selling Skills to the Sports and Event Marketing Graduate Program, and is on the faculty of Canadian Professional Sales Association and Canadian Management Centre. Read More >> Related Articles: Are You a Sales Professional or Semi-skilled Laborer? How to Achieve Cross-Selling Success Selling the Way Your Customers Buy Sales Lessons Learned from a Raccoon Customers For Life Articles by this Author: Who’s in your Community? What will your Legacy be? Who Makes It About Price? Selling Products vs. Service What Do You Fear The Most In The Sales Game? Are You Listening? The Revenue Trap Getting Out of a Sales Funk Managing Customer Follow up How are you Presenting Yourself? The Sales Partnership What Are You Writing Down? View all articles by this author   Next > [ Back ]

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