Weathering The Seasons Of Sales Success

I was speaking at a “Managing Through Turbulent Times” manufacturing conference last week that was being hosted by the Department of State and Regional Development.  It was the second in a series they are hosting and the theme for this conference was ‘opportunity upturn in an economic downturn’.

While chatting with some of the delegates during a break, it quickly became evident to me that some of the business owners were really struggling in the current economic downturn, and yet others were having some of their strongest results in years.

Floods And Drought

At the time of writing this article, most of the east coast of Australia is being hit by torrential rain – and it’s been raining here in Sydney, non stop for 3 days.  Many towns are flooded with 9000 people being evacuated from the township of Grafton.

And yet, at the same time it’s being reported across the press headlines that Australia’s crop production is one of the lowest in five years due to the lingering effects of the drought.  The city of Melbourne in Victoria hasn’t seen much rain for years, and are on high level water restrictions.  I understand that there are some towns in the central west of NSW where there are children under the age of ten who have never seen rain fall on their farmland.

Why the weather report and what’s it got to do about selling?

Well, I was flicking through my original copy of Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins the other day, and as key messages that I need to receive always seem to find me just when I need them most, Robbins, like many other developers and coaches of human potential wrote about the four seasons as a metaphor for personal motivation.

Rather than looking at the economic downturn as all gloom and doom, using the seasonal metaphor suggests that we focus on the fact that spring always follows winter.

O.K……I’m not sure the metaphor really works that well, because the means after Autumn things are going to get real cold and potentially that could mean another downturn…..not sure I’d be looking forward to that.

However, what is a reality, is that some businesses are booming at the moment, and yes, others are struggling.  And yet, I’m wondering how many of the businesses who are currently struggling and how many of the salespeople within those businesses are currently struggling because of their ‘buy-in’ to the tough-time-syndrome?

Here are a couple of questions for you to consider – What if times weren’t tough?  What would you be doing right now if times weren’t tough?  What would you be doing differently, if times weren’t tough?

Selling Defined

My definition of selling is an important reminder to us all about what it really means to sell.  The definition is “Selling is a process of building trust relationships, with the aim to create reciprocal value on a continual basis.”

As you consider this definition, allow me to finish the article with some further questions for you to challenge yourself about the ‘season’ that you’re currently operating in:

1. Are you following a sales process?  Are you actively building rapport, asking questions, showing value, identifying obstacles, confirming and closing sales and staying in touch to create advocacy?

2. Are you building trust relationships? Who are you contacting?  Why are you contacting them?  Other than those you are currently seeing, who else do you need to be seen by to build your sales success?

3. Are you creating reciprocal value?  How are you creating value for your clients before, during and after a sale? What is your reason, purpose, your bigger WHY that will ignite the power of the universal law of reciprocity?

4. Are you planning, preparing and implementing value-focused contact initiation strategies on a continual basis?  Is your diary filled with sales development meetings and opportunities? Are you confident that you’re doing everything you need to give you the best opportunity to succeed at the levels you would like to achieve in your sales?

As we approach the 2nd half of 2009, these are timely questions for us all to be asking of ourselves and answering.

My Dad had some wonderfully simple bits of wisdom that he often would surprise me with.  One of my favourites was “There’s no such thing as bad weather – just bad clothes and choices.”  This always brings a smile to my face when I remember it.  If it’s raining – put on a rain coat.  If it’s hot, dress lightly.  If it’s howling a gale keep indoors and get busy.

What ‘season’ are you operating in?  How much of the season are you creating? What choices are you making that are creating the outcomes and results you’re currently achieving?

As Tony Robbins and most of the wisdom literature keeps telling us – it’s the choices we make that determine our destiny.

Onwards!