Professional sales is a great business to be in if you can be successful. Some people think that they are too shy, that sales people have to be gregarious to succeed. That just is not true. You do need to be assertive, courteous, honest but not pushy. The thing that helps successful professional sales people is that they really believe in their product and that it will aide the consumer in some way.

Professional sales people are knowledgeable about their product or products. Knowledge will increase your motivation and self-assurance. You need to be able to answer any question a consumer has. If you do not know an answer, tell the consumer you will find it out quickly and get right back to him or her.

You might want to advertise to a specific group or to a general audience. You need to develop your sales pitch. There will always be a” Doubting Thomas” or some one that likes being the “devil’s advocate”. They ask ridiculous questions and seem to want to have a debate with you. Be polite and courteous but if the conversation is condescending and is not going anywhere, excuse your self.

Professional sales people get to know the consumer, they are friendly. The more you know about the buyer the better chance you will have a successful sale. Ask the consumer what they are looking for in a product. This is called asking probing questions. If you are genuine and friendly the consumer will not feel like you are too personal.

Professioaal sale people know who their competition is. When your buyer brings up your competitor’s product you will be prepared to prove why you have a better deal. Figure out what is their motivation to buy is.

A professional sales person knows how to manage their time. For instance, do not waste too much of your time with someone who is not really interested. Identify obstacles that waste your time. Learn time management techniques such as list making. Structure your time. Spend a certain amount of time with each prospect, if they are buying, spend a little more time, if not, move on.

Professional sales people have a good marketing plan. They have strategized and know who their prospects are. Do some research to determine if there is a demand for your product on the market. If you are using Internet marketing use eye catching, proactive web site techniques.

A successful professional sales person has a good attitude, motivates people and gets things done. This person makes him or her self invaluable to their employer. Professional sales people have a strategy and they execute their plan.

It’s not necessarily true that small business tends to slow down when there’s an economic downturn.  In fact, small businesses that are run well can actually do quite well during slowing of the economy.  Now we’d love to believe that we’re all running our businesses well, so let’s just check and see some of the best things to do during these times to maintain our stability.

Follow a Business Plan

The most important thing, above all, is to revise your business plan.  This is the essence of your business.  Have you gone a different way?  Do you need to change anything?  Is it a good idea to add new directions that you’ve not already considered?  Read over what you’ve got from the point of view of someone just starting out.  Make the changes you need to that seem to be a good idea.  You will probably even think of things that are integral to the growth of your company.

Look For a Coach or Mentor

Networking is the key here, that’s it.  Get a mastermind group with a broad base of professional skills and they can help you make the important decisions.  These guys are great for advice, and new ideas.  People to consider are lawyers, public officials, accountants, business managers, and executives.  Create your own “inner circle” of skilled and influential advisors.  These are people who you can rely on for valuable information about the environment in areas you don’t have any direct experience.  The benefit is exponential and should be shared to mutual benefit.  Social networking clubs like linkden.com are great for establishing these connections and you can even stay in touch using Skype if you’re not physically able to meet regularly.  Make sure to keep privacy a key concern, and objective analysis the main focus.  You’ll get many great solutions and partnerships from these relationships.

If you don’t have a mastermind group, get one.  It’s one of the most valuable support systems you can establish for when things get hard.

Make Client Satisfaction a MUST

You need your customers, and they know it.  They keep you in business.  Treat them with the respect they deserve because you wouldn’t be there without them.  Listen to them more, and you’ll discover the most important things to them… then provide them.  Get creative in finding ways to satisfy your customer needs.  Do a survey and ask.  Remember, it’s easier to keep a customer once you’ve got one, than it is to go out and get more. (And cheaper!)

Develop the customer relationships you already have

Keep your current customer database up to date, and satisfied.  Contact the customers you haven’t seen for a while.  Seek new ways to do more to satisfy their needs.  Maybe offer a new range of products?  If you can get long term clients, you’ll have more security.  Happy customers will be more likely to commit to long term agreements, and often pay up front for better deals.  The security is worth it.  Look for long term deals with customers you already have.  Continuity is the key.

Marketing and Promotion

Cutting advertising expenses is the LAST thing any business should do in an econimic downturn.  Remember, marketing GETS you customers, it’s money well spent.  Get out there and market your arse off, get more customers and sell better than ever.  People are seeking better solutions, get the word out and they’ll come running.

Look for new revenue sources

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  Make sure you have many alternative sources of income.  The more places you can get clients from the better.  Don’t just rely on walk-ups and call-ins.  Get more stability by finding at least 3-5 more ways to attract business and keep it.  Maybe offering a similar product, or something that complements something you already provide.  Make sure you don’t spread yourself too thin.  But keep an ear to the ground for things your clients need and ask for.  If there’s a theme, there’s an opportunity asking to be tapped!

Build a Team

Get to know the people closely related to your business.  The places you buy your products, the people in other departments, or similar trades.  Get an alliance with them and it’s possible to cross sell or do joint ventures.  Some of the best partnerships come from the necessity brought about by tough economic times.

Get More Customers!

You’ve probably been selling to the same customers for a while, so what’s to stop you from looking for a bigger piece of the pie?  Does your product fit a bigger audience?  Is there another use for the skills you have?  Think laterally and look for another niche to offer your services.  Maybe something as simple as a translation of your sales material can open up to a whole new community.  Think out of the box.

Know When To Say No

Look for the wastage in your processes and policies.  Tighten the reigns and control spending.  Track down all owed money and get the collection process in place.  Make things more efficient.  Look for discounts on your products and services.  Bulk buys and group buys are a good way to save here too.

What needs to be done right away, and what can be done later?  Look after your relationships with finance companies and suppliers.  Seek deals and negotiate better rates wherever possible.

Make sure you know the value of your customer and consider lowering start up costs to build more customer relationships.  Remember, if you’re having a tough time, they probably are too!

If you do well by the few, they will attract others.

Watch Your Customers Habits

Watch for little signs that something has changed with your clients.  Are they spending more/less, buying up, or holding off?  If you know what’s going on for them, you’ll notice their behaviour if something changes.  Get in touch with them if you notice something, and offer to help.  Keeping your customer in business will keep you in business!

Keep Your Employees Busy

It’s tough for everyone.  Many business fire staff to lower expenses, adding more work to the remaining staff.  Keeping people active is a great way to make sure productivity remains high, business increases and there is no need to reduce employee numbers.  This can also lead to very creative money saving ideas coming from innovative and inspired staff!

Reward strong efforts with public praise.  Let everyone know the good things that are being done and by whom.

These are good steps to develop strength in your organisation regardless of whether or not there is a recession.  You will make more money, improve staff moral, and have a more efficient problem solving machine for your customers.  Get back to the basics and make sure your business is healthy long term.

Daily money making activities is about discovering the activities or actions that are earning you the most money and putting them first on your list of ‘things to do.’ My theory is that if you’re focused on getting the money making stuff done, the other things will just seem to get done as a mater of course.

The idea is to resist procrastination and get started doing the essence of you work. This would be called the one principle of a good work ethic, i.e., if you are writing a book, you don’t sit there shuffling papers around your desk . . .  or if you are a sales rep, you don’t just research you product, you get in front of people who are likely to buy from you and you sell the your products.

There is an 80-20 principle I like as well. It’s simply the principle that 20 percent of the things you do are the things making you money and the other 80 percent you could do without. It’s about finding out what your highest 20 percent money making tasks are and spending your time on these jobs. The other 80 percent can be either delegated or completely discarded.

I am talking about simple things such as writing a list of things to do today and then crossing off all but the most important, then rewriting the list with only the top three most important thing on it and doing those. (You can hand the remaining task to someone else to do.) . . . or, if you absolutely need to do the other things, too, set aside one hour of the day to blast through he less important things all in one hit.

Many good sales professionals have a great team working for them who help them keep their calendar booked up with prospective client visits so they do nothing but sell. That’s the environment we’re aiming for. It’s ideal for growth and profit. There’s nothing worse than being scattered between tasks when you need to be focused on the prospect during a presentation.

When you walk into a prospective client’s office, leave everything else outside the door, and I mean everything. Stay focused on what you are doing, if not, the potential client will see you are ‘elsewhere’ and wonder why he or she is not important enough to warrant your full attention and probably go with someone else who does give them their full attention.

Problems are another item that takes away from the task at hand and making money. Try to avoid bringing your problems into the clients office, like I said, leave them outside the door, pick them up on your way out, they will still be there. Hold a meeting with your team to work on the problem; many heads are better than one, if you can’t figure out a solution on your own.

If procrastination is creeping up on you, stop and ask yourself, ‘is this making me money or am I just avoiding something?’ if the answer is you are avoiding something, take a deep breath or go for a short walk, clear your head and get back to work. Stop the procrastination in its tracks, take it away from your desk, stick it in a draw and leave it there until you are ready to deal with it.

Remember the “A” “B” and “C” list of what you should be doing and this should also help you with your ‘Daily money making activities’ and keep you on track.

“Plan your progress carefully; hour-by hour, day-by-day, month-by-month. Organized activity and maintained enthusiasm are the wellsprings of your power”.                 Paul J. Meyer

To succeed in a down economy, you’ll need to step up your sales game. Here are eight adjustments you need to make to keep selling during these tough times.

The affects of the 2008 economic stimulus package presented by the President and Congress are long gone and there’s talk of another one. The news about the $700 billion dollar “bailout” and global recessionary trends are dominating the headlines. Add to that the distress caused by election year politics and we, as professional salespeople, have been challenged to remain focused and productive in a slowing economy. Economists are predicting a tough calendar 2008 fourth quarter and a sluggish 2009, but our role in sales dictates that we need to attack rather than react.
Selling in a tough economy requires extra effort, better planning, more control of your sales cycle and tenacity. Remember one thing: The top 2% of all salespeople automatically turn up their activity a couple more notches when things get tough. By doing so, they’re the ones who’ll be standing tall when the economy turns around. The top 2% do this because:

Below are eight ideas to help you sell like a “top 2 percenter” in a tough economy:

Double and triple your call activity
Honestly, your competitors do not have the stuff to compete under these circumstances. Average salespeople buy into the “woe is me” philosophy and decrease sales activity. The top 2% know that an economic slowdown is an opportunity to edge out competitors.

Re-allocate your field time
Work more with your “A” accounts and in lieu of your “B” and “C” ones. Your purpose should be two-fold: 1) Your top producing accounts have the capacity to buy more from you; that’s what makes them “A” accounts; and, 2) You’ll be securing your position with these accounts from potential attempts by the competition to wrest them away. Don’t allow that to happen! Remember, this business cycle is affecting your competition too and they’ll be aggressively looking at your “A” accounts as a source of new business.

Examine prospecting efficiency
Both rookie and veteran sales professionals tend to let their prospecting slide when times are good. As a result, their prospecting skills and prospect targeting abilities get rusty. This is a good time for you to hammer out your prospective customer dimensions. In other words, delineate what your ideal prospect looks like. Then, identify key prospects in your area and proceed to develop your capture and execution plans.

Fire stalled prospects and move on
Your income and success depend upon calling on true prospects and current customers who can (and will) do more business with you. Assess the prospects you are calling on and don’t be afraid to “fire” them, particularly if your extra effort is not showing any results. Remember that you have a business objective for every call you make. If you don’t, your call will be reduced to a social nature and you don’t get paid for those.

Go the extra mile for customers and increase value-added activities
You need to be creative in low or no-cost ways to help your accounts cut costs or stimulate new business. Go out of your way for your top accounts. Now is the time to establish yourself as a source for best practices. Share ideas on how your other accounts have benefited.

Make every call count
Be prepared to make the most of every call. What value are you deriving from each customer visit? Who is controlling the call – you or the customer? Experience and research have demonstrated that formal pre-call planning generates more successful outcomes for all sales activities. You should never take sales call effectiveness for granted – especially in tough economic times. The days of “blowing through” a call are over. The simple fact is that you are paid to move the customer to the next stage in your sales cycle. In today’s economic climate, you’ve got too much at risk not to plan for success.

Now, more than ever, craft a strategy to overcome such objections as:

Write a long list of discovery questions that will uncover hidden opportunities.

Plan to succeed
You will not survive an economic slowdown by simply hoping that you sell more or your current customer base buys more. Account planning, territory planning, and pre-call planning are the keys to efficient selling in a down economy. It’s time to review account plans or develop them, if you haven’t already. Account plans are your road map to selling more to your “A” accounts. It may be time to reassess pricing or bundling in order to pick off some of your competitors’ offerings.

In addition, you should ask yourself the following questions:

Reassess your priorities
This is not the time to perfect your golf swing or take extended time off. This is the time to dig in and take charge of your sales activities. By doing so, you’ll be able to survive the current tough times and will be positioned to reap the benefits when the economy bounces back because you’ll be ahead of your competitors who didn’t!

Jim Kasper is the founder and president of Interactive Resource Group. Mr. Kasper has over 26 years of practical experience in direct sales, sales management, sales training, and marketing. Contact him at www.salestrainers.com or call 800-891-7355.