Selling in a Tough Economy

By Brad Ristas: bristas@rayandbarney.com

Wow! That’s both a statement AND a question. Well first and foremost, rest assured that if you can sell ANYTHING in this business climate, you can sell ANYTHING!

Is that encouraging? I happen to think so.

If you haven’t figured out by now that Selling is an Attitude and a Discipline, then your boat has left the dock and there’s a good chance it isn’t coming back for you, at least for awhile.

So, what do you do? First, you decide if you have the chutzpah to even be in this game of Sales, representing anyone or anything. Second, you need to be fundamentally excited about your Products AND your Services. This excitement feeds directly into the Compassion you have for the bigger picture. The bigger picture is defined as the ability to show that you and the Products/Services can be transparent to each other. Companies usually buy from individuals first, not other companies selling them something.

Most companies have cut back their overall buying activities and I certainly don’t need to remind you about the overall employment picture. If you enter every deal with a Compassion for a process that works, and the defined need from the customer perspective, then this means you have done your due diligence with the client, and the rest of the deal is simply the details.

Seriously, do your homework before you pick up the phone or send that email to a prospect. Put yourself in their shoes for just a minute or so. Why do they have to return your call or answer your email? Answer: They want to….You differentiated yourself by showing Compassion, Conviction, and intersected with Preparation in your contact to them. You also kept it simple, and they respect this. Although they might be hit on from other Sales Reps on a regular basis, they haven’t heard quite the way you have articulated their own needs differentiated by your straightforward Compassion for what you do.

So don’t look for a magic formula and certainly don’t hold your breath for an economy to really turn around markedly in the near future. Take on the challenge of the game right now and know that if you practice a little more what we have discussed above, when this economy does turn around, and it will, you will be even more prepared for the windfall!
Happy Selling.

Brad Ristas can be reached at bristas@rayandbarney.com