Local, national and global economies all have their ups and downs. When
the economies that affect you are doing well, it usually results in a
seller's market – in other words, demand is high, so it's relatively
easy to sell your product. When your economy is low, though, look out –
you're now in a buyer's market, with low demand and many competitors
trying to sell to your prospects.
Economic woes are not the only cause for a buyer's market. If your company is suffering from a major impediment – say, a competing company that slashes its prices or an industry-wide scandal that scares off prospective buyers – you may also find yourself struggling for every sale. A buyer's market is hard on salespeople because circumstances out of your control have suddenly made your job much tougher. Since many salespeople are very focused on staying in control, a situation like this can produce a level of frustration all out of proportion to its actual effect.
You can't change the economy or the industry, but you can change your reaction to it. And taking appropriate action will make it much easier for you to sell successfully in these circumstances.
First, take a long hard look at your sales approach from prospecting all the way to closing the sale. There are usually ways to tighten up your sales strategies and make them more effective. Generally speaking, the worse a buyer's market gets, the more leads you have to contact to end up with the requires number of closes. So you need to ramp up your cold calling and other prospecting methods to get yourself in front of as many leads as possible. If you normally aim for 100 cold calls per week, make the time for 150 cold calls for the next three weeks, and then evaluate how many of those calls you were able to turn into appointments. If you still don't have enough appointments, bump your number of calls up to 200 per week next time.
Second, if the buyer's market is caused by a widespread problem such as a recession, your prospects are going to be affected by it as well. They will probably be stressed and overworked just from keeping up with their own jobs and financial worries. Revamp your sales presentation to emphasize comfort, security and helpfulness. Since your prospects are scared, presenting yourself as someone who can help them with their problems will be very appealing to them. And while you're adjusting your presentation cut the length by at least a quarter – busy prospects will be less willing to sit for a long presentation.
If you're in B2B sales you'll probably find yourself facing a more complex purchasing process, especially if you're selling high-end, expensive products and services. Like consumers, businesses react to financial difficulties by cutting back on purchases. You might find that instead of convincing one CEO or purchasing officer, you now have to pitch to an entire buying committee. And if your decision maker(s) have to get approval from an even higher-level, then the whole sales process will take much longer. And that means developing a solid sales plan is more important than ever. If your average sales cycle doubles during a buyer's market, you must take that into account when you're plotting your sales activities.
Finally, a tough marketplace is a great time to focus some effort on your existing customers. After all, if you can't get as many new customers as usual, the only solution is to grab more market share from your current stable of customers. That means customer service should be a major priority. If you've taken good care of your existing customers, they should have a fairly high level of trust in you – and as a result, they'll be more likely to consider upgrading their current product or even buying a few additional ones.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
Economic woes are not the only cause for a buyer's market. If your company is suffering from a major impediment – say, a competing company that slashes its prices or an industry-wide scandal that scares off prospective buyers – you may also find yourself struggling for every sale. A buyer's market is hard on salespeople because circumstances out of your control have suddenly made your job much tougher. Since many salespeople are very focused on staying in control, a situation like this can produce a level of frustration all out of proportion to its actual effect.
You can't change the economy or the industry, but you can change your reaction to it. And taking appropriate action will make it much easier for you to sell successfully in these circumstances.
First, take a long hard look at your sales approach from prospecting all the way to closing the sale. There are usually ways to tighten up your sales strategies and make them more effective. Generally speaking, the worse a buyer's market gets, the more leads you have to contact to end up with the requires number of closes. So you need to ramp up your cold calling and other prospecting methods to get yourself in front of as many leads as possible. If you normally aim for 100 cold calls per week, make the time for 150 cold calls for the next three weeks, and then evaluate how many of those calls you were able to turn into appointments. If you still don't have enough appointments, bump your number of calls up to 200 per week next time.
Second, if the buyer's market is caused by a widespread problem such as a recession, your prospects are going to be affected by it as well. They will probably be stressed and overworked just from keeping up with their own jobs and financial worries. Revamp your sales presentation to emphasize comfort, security and helpfulness. Since your prospects are scared, presenting yourself as someone who can help them with their problems will be very appealing to them. And while you're adjusting your presentation cut the length by at least a quarter – busy prospects will be less willing to sit for a long presentation.
If you're in B2B sales you'll probably find yourself facing a more complex purchasing process, especially if you're selling high-end, expensive products and services. Like consumers, businesses react to financial difficulties by cutting back on purchases. You might find that instead of convincing one CEO or purchasing officer, you now have to pitch to an entire buying committee. And if your decision maker(s) have to get approval from an even higher-level, then the whole sales process will take much longer. And that means developing a solid sales plan is more important than ever. If your average sales cycle doubles during a buyer's market, you must take that into account when you're plotting your sales activities.
Finally, a tough marketplace is a great time to focus some effort on your existing customers. After all, if you can't get as many new customers as usual, the only solution is to grab more market share from your current stable of customers. That means customer service should be a major priority. If you've taken good care of your existing customers, they should have a fairly high level of trust in you – and as a result, they'll be more likely to consider upgrading their current product or even buying a few additional ones.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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