Sales and Sales Management Blog

As Bob Dylan said, the times they are a-changin.  My generation is entering what may be the second major cultural change era of our lifetime.  Much of the change that came out of the first era, the 60’s and early 70’s, didn’t turn out so well.

The first major era of change was brought about by my generation’s rebellion to the status quo.  This second era of change, if it happens, will not be brought about by President-elect Obama, but rather by the financial mess we’re facing.

No one knows what or to what extent this economic crisis will bring fundamental change to the US and the rest of the world.  Most of the predictions are dire, some catastrophic, and like most predictions, they will probably miss the mark by a wide margin.

Nevertheless, it looks like the table is set to see some very fundamental social and economic changes as we go forward.  Like all change, we’ll eventually find as we did in the 60’s and 70’s that some of the changes were good, some were terrible.

On this Thanksgiving, we face significant challenges.  Some have lost their jobs, many are wondering if they will lose them.  Home values are declining; the stock market fluctuates at a dizzying pace; everybody and their dog is lining up for a government handout.  Investment and retirement accounts have taken a tremendous hit.  Fear and indecision now rule in many homes and businesses.

For many of us in sales, the current selling environment seems hopeless.  We dread getting up in the morning.  We have to work harder to find prospects, work harder to earn their business, work harder to meet their demands.

It seems fruitless.  I know the difficulty each salesperson is facing.  I work primarily in the financial services industry.  Over the last months, I’ve seen over 60% of my major clients either go out of business, be absorbed by another company, or cancel contracts because they don’t have the funds for outside training.  Companies like Countrywide, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Merrill Lynch, UBS, and others are no longer in existence in their original form or are drastically cutting costs, including training.

Yet, we have much to be thankful for.

We in the US live in a country that despite the economic situation is still one of the strongest economies in the world, an economy that has weathered many other crises, from the Great Depression to the 18% interest rates and double digit inflation or the 70’s and early 80’s to the real estate/savings and loan debacle of the late 80’s, as well several small recessions.

Companies are still making purchases, signing contracts, doing business. No matter what we sell, there is still a tremendous amount of business out there-we just have to find it.

Much, if not most, of our competition is getting weaker. Our competitors are facing the same obstacles we face.  They have the same issues, the same depressing news, the same tendency toward hopelessness and lethargy, the same inclination to pull back on prospecting and marketing.  If we overcome the tendency to slow down and feel sorry for ourselves and instead pick up the pace and become more active, we have the playing field almost to ourselves.

We have the opportunity to build a strong sales business that will create a lifetime of superior income and security. For those of us that persevere, aggressively seek out business, and build strong relationships built on honesty and trust, these economic downturns are an ideal time to build our business.  We must stay focused.  Instead of pulling back, we must increase our prospecting and marketing, sharpen our selling skills, improve our customer service and account management skills.  We must cut out the fat while increasing our investment in business building areas.  While the competition is going into hibernation, we must strike out with a well thought-out, aggressive expansion plan.

Business is tough, no one will deny that.  But the business is still there and we have the opportunity to build our business while our competition sleeps-and we should be very thankful for that.