1) It's time to decide if you really want to be in this business.
Don't spend a lot of time on it, just ask yourself the question. When things get tough, it's always a good question to ask.a. If the answer is, "I love what I do, even now," good. Now you can be more committed than ever to being successful at what you do. It's important to routinely re-commit to the things we're doing. You don't want to get to the end of your career and regret that you didn't pursue your real dream.b. If the answer is, "I'm really not enjoying this anymore - my heart's not in it," then it's time to make some big changes.
c. If the answer is, "I still love what I do - but I need to make more money," keep reading. That's what this article is about.
2) It's time to gain a deeper understanding of the concerns your customers have when they are making the buying decision.
When people are less free with their spending, the concerns they have during the buying process loom even larger in their minds. These "barriers to the sale" can more easily stop a sale.
The good news is, buyers who are in hesitation mode are more open to describing their concerns to you, if you ask them the right way. The Appendix in the book rivers of revenue goes into great detail about how to interview potential customers and current customers. It shows you how to find the right people to interview, which questions will give you the best response, how to conduct the interviews, and what to do with the information once you've gathered it. You can use these calls to understand what their concerns are, what else they've done to solve their problem, what they want from someone like you, and what they would consider a fair price for your type of service.
During the call, you must resist the temptation to sell to them - even if they invite you to. Save that for another call. This call should be strictly an interview call, where they talk and you just listen. You only say enough to get them to talk.
3) It's time to look at the processes you are using to find new business, complete each sale, and all of the "paperwork" associated with each sale.
When times are good, a little inefficiency here and there doesn't hurt you much. But when things are slow, you must increase your selling efficiency. Because selling is usually run by sales types, the process of selling is usually shortchanged. Sales types hate thinking about processes; they find analysis is boring. They'd rather sit through a Wagnerian opera than dissect and improve the processes associated with selling.
What you need to do is thoroughly examine the typical sale, from start to finish. Where do the leads come from? What happens to them when they come in? How are they given to the salespeople? How quickly do the salespeople follow up? (Note: If you're not responding to a prospect's email within a half hour, you've already lost the sale to a faster-moving competitor.) How do they follow up? What happens then? What questions are asked by the customer during the sales process? Who's involved at the customer end? What clinches the sale? What happens afterwards? Is the customer thanked for his/her business? Is the customer asked for a testimonial? Do you make it easy for the customer to refer others?
No matter what the economy is doing, knowing the answers to these questions - and making the changes needed to get things working more smoothly - will result in higher revenue.
4) It's time to look at what your competitors are doing and implement some of their better ideas.
We can all learn from our competition. If you routinely visit competitive websites, you will find things that make it easier for the customer to understand what is being sold and easier for the customer to buy. If they are doing something better than you are in these areas, improve what you are doing. This will help you now, when times are slow, and even more, when business picks up again.
Whatever you do, don't slow down with the rest of the economy.
It's such a temptation to become a victim when the press is screaming "RECESSION" wherever you turn. But, this is not the time to take a snooze, just because you assume everyone else is asleep.
This is the time to tiptoe out of the Recession Zone and start focusing on making it easier for your customers to buy. This is the time to re-commit to your life's work, to learn everything you can. This is the time to give your revenue machine an overhaul. You'll sell more - now, during the slow time, and later, when people start spending more freely again.
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