Everyone Is a Part of Your Sales Team

If you don’t include your current clients in your referral-sales team, you leave money on the table—every single day. If you ask them, they will refer you. But, you must ask.

Get upfront and honest with yourself. Ask (and answer) the two most important sales prospecting questions:

1. How many client relationships do I have? (Translation: How many people do I know in all of my current and former client organizations?)
2. With how many of these clients do I have great relationships? (Criteria for “great”: They return my calls.)

Savvy sales professionals have at least 100 client contacts. If just 20 percent offered you referrals, you’d have 20 amazing new contacts. Once you actively cultivate them, they become part of your “sales team.” Can you see where this leads, and how much business you could generate?

Take a few minutes and imagine your new sales life when you talk to prospects who want to talk to you. When you receive a referral introduction, you:

• Are pre-sold (They know you and the results you deliver.)
• Have already earned trust (One of the hardest things for salespeople to gain.)
• Gain instant credibility (They know you’re not just there to “sell” them something.)
• Shorten your sales process by at least 25 percent (You decrease your cost of sales.)
• Convert that referred prospect to a new client more than 50 percent of the time (You decrease your prospecting time and increase your client-facing time.)

Really.

It’s Who You Know

Most salespeople have numerous current or former customers who they know pretty well, well enough to receive a steady stream of referrals. But they leave untapped referral riches at their fingertips.

How many of your clients have you asked for referrals? When I question sales professionals, the usual answer is “not many” or “hardly any.”

Your Clients Will Help You Make the Sale

Here’s the hard fact -most clients think of us only when they need us. It’s up to you to get them thinking about you between orders. Your clients may not automatically offer referrals: Regularly remind them that you exist, so when a referral opportunity arises, you’re the one who gets it.

The clients you serve well-the ones who know you, like you, and trust you-truly want you to achieve sales success. After all, they know your work and the business results they’ve achieved from your solutions. Referring you makes them look good to their customers and business partners.

Our clients will refer us—if only we ask. With a little “instruction” you can empower your clients (your Referral Source) to refer you. Teach them how to introduce you (How do you want “what you do” to be described?). Teach them about your Ideal Client, and provide them with the answers to these critical questions:

• What business issues do you solve?
• What is the function of your Ideal Client? (CEO, VP, IT, Marketing)
• In what industry or geography do you work?
• What size company is your sweet spot?

The more specific you are, the easier it is for a client to refer you.

Referral selling sounds too good to be true. But it’s all true. Referral selling works. You choose how to spend your time. Get back in touch with your clients, ask them for referrals, and ask how you can help them. Your new sales opportunities will amaze you!

It’s time to ask.

There’s nothing like getting the gang together. Salespeople have great combined power and energy when they gather in person and share successes, ideas and information. At conferences, they learn as much through conversations with peers in the hallways as in their sessions. But there’s no “hallway” on the World Wide Web.

Make the Live Connection

The digital world – as great as it is – threatens personal connections. Humans need face-to-face contact with others. Even with whisper-light computing power and immediate, 140-character Twitter posts, we are a face-to-face species, one that thrives on interpersonal communication and being in the presence of like-minded individuals working together to accomplish results. E-mail, texting, social networking – none of that takes the place of an in-person connection.

So if you want to get ahead in your career – and especially if you want to sell – put down the mouse and step away from the computer. Come out from behind the cloak of technology and learn to speak to people, whatever their language.

In an era when companies are canceling sales meetings because they believe webcasts and videoconferences are just as effective, they actually need to do the opposite – schedule more. Since the start of the recession, many companies have slashed business travel budgets by 20 to 40 percent, viewing it as expense rather than what it really is – an investment.  Face-to-face meetings aren’t luxuries. Even in our technology-driven world, nothing replaces a handshake and in-person interactions for both building and maintaining business relationships. In fact, 95 percent of business people agree they’re the key to building long-term relationships, according to a Harvard Business Review Reader Poll. And a 13-year study of American businesses by Oxford Economics (released last year) shows that for every dollar spent on business travel, organizations report around $12.50 in increased revenue and $3.80 in new profits.

Win the Numbers Game

Now more than ever, as businesses seek to operate more effectively and efficiently, they are depending on analytics in order to thrive and survive. Firms that recognize the relationship between business travel investments and increased sales, and then act on that knowledge, will see a big impact on the bottom lines.

One of my clients shared with me about a potential deal she was trying to work with a major prospect, but she couldn’t get the decision-makers on the phone. I strongly recommended that she schedule an in-person visit. Fast-forward two months. She not only met with potential buyers, but also got the opportunity to present to 60 people (who were notified the day before) and now has four strategic projects in the pipeline. She called me (elated) to say thank you. The personal visit, she said, sealed the deal.

Last summer I tacked a 60-mile drive onto the end of a vacation to meet with a prospect. That business-development visit resulted in two speaking engagements, which never would have occurred had I not taken the time to visit and build a new, mutually respectful relationship.

You don’t have to hop on an airplane. Drive your car; get on a bus; take a train. Just meet face-to-face with every major client and prospect. You will accelerate your sales process by at least 30 percent, spend less time prospecting (who wouldn’t want that?) and attract more quality clients.

Face-to-face contact will give you the edge over your competitors every time. You make the effort, you win.

Think about it: How have in-person, live connections impacted your sales business? Join the conversation, in the comments below.

Show Up

Woody Allen’s said: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Showing up counts. The more often you show up, the more visible you become, and the more people know you and recognize you.

Opportunities abound at the Holidays to meet new people at a very social and happy time of year. Invite someone you enjoy to go along with you—perhaps a new acquaintance or someone you haven’t seen in awhile. They make new connections, and you both win.

Many sales people refrain from actively networking. When I tell my clients that I expect them to attend at least one business networking event a week, they gasp. Am I asking them to do something so terrible?

We encounter so many people who network poorly. They shove business cards in our face and ask us to do referral marketing for them. They are loud and pushy and fail to understand that referral networking means connecting to people—one person at a time.

Get Involved

Consider networking an essential tool in building your Business Referral Network. The contacts you develop because you attend networking events emerge strong. You not only attend business networking gatherings, but you volunteer. Every organization needs and welcomes volunteers. Think about ways to contribute. Even if it is a small amount of time, you develop lasting relationships because others know your work, you deliver what you promise, and keep your time commitments.

Once you get to know people and they get to know you, you discover many opportunities to provide business referrals. Refer someone to a potential client, alliance partner, or to a person in a similar business. Give a personal referral—to an accountant, banker, or mechanic—a resource to help the other person. We become referral marketing sources for each other. How perfect!

One salesperson told me that she stopped going to certain networking groups because she didn’t receive any sales leads. She sounded desperate to me, and I bet she came across that way in her networking interactions. I told her if she relied on sales leads as a measure of networking success, she attended for the wrong reasons. Networking is building relationships and expanding our network of resources. Ultimately, we want to refer business back and forth. But that only happens when we take the time to get to know people. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Period. End of story.

Build Your Business Referral Network

Referral networking means building relationships and being genuine. You network to make friends, sell a product, promote your company, find a job, find new clients, learn the latest from others, or gain more visibility in the business community. Business networking opportunities exist everywhere—meetings, professional associations, alumni groups, sports groups, community groups, weddings, parties, and any place people come together.

Set a goal and attend at least one networking event per week, where you meet potential referral sources. In fact, my referral marketing strategy includes proactive networking. This is a non-negotiable. Attend a breakfast, lunch, or evening networking event—or all three. Get out of your familiar places. Go where you clients go, go and hear an exciting speaker, attend professional association meetings, ask your colleagues what events they attend. Just show up!

Want great networking tips? Learn from the Mingling Maven, the leading authority and original expert on how to work a room: Susan RoAne and get her latest book, FACE TO FACE: How to Reclaim the Personal Touch in a Digital World (check out page 50 for a mention of yours, truly.)

Three Networking Goals

Manage your networking goals. My three goals when I attend a business networking event:

1. Meet interesting people
2. Learn a tip from an engaging speaker
3. Have fun.

When I achieve at least two of these goals—and I make a point to do so—great things happen!

So go out there, build your Business Referral Network, meet terrific people, and watch your business soar!

“Ideas and guidance come from the most unexpected sources-if you’re open to receiving it. Anne Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox, once told Fortune magazine that the best advice she ever received was from a customer who attended a breakfast meeting she conducted. ‘When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed,’ the customer explained, ‘you gotta do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again.’ ”

Get Out of the Ditch

“The pragmatic translation of this homespun advice: The first imperative is survival. Second is figuring out what happened. Then, learn from those lessons and put a plan in place to recognize the signs in the future so you never make the same mistake again.”

Understand the Ditch

The Economy is rebounding slowly. Will companies make the same mistakes again? We’ve ridden many economic waves-1987, 2001, now-and when things pick up, we quickly forget lessons learned and go back to the way we used to work, and we believe the economy-and our business-will continue to boom.

The National Bureau of Economic Research reported in December 2008 that the U.S. economic recession officially started in December 2007-that’s nearly 2 years ago. No one predicted then how deep a ditch the cow was in. And, our heads were in the same ditch as the cow.

However, some good news surfaced during this recession. People talked, they wanted to connect and exchange creative ideas. They challenged conventional thinking and adopted new ways of working. Continuing this exchange of ideas in a slowly growing economy is essential.

Alan Greenspan predicts economic growth will hit 3 percent or higher, but unemployment will continue to increase and will pass 10 percent. Greenspan told the ABC program “This Week” that he expected 3 percent growth in the third quarter, up from the 2.5 percent he previously predicted. A slowing or halt in job losses is different from reversing the rise in unemployment, Greenspan noted, adding that the nation’s unemployment rate-currently 9.8 percent-is “going to penetrate the 10 percent barrier before heading down.”

Economic pundits remind us that unemployment is a lagging indicator in an economic recovery. Uh, oh, the cow is still in the ditch.

“We are in a recovery, and I think it would be a mistake to say the September numbers alter that significantly,” Greenspan said, adding: “This is what a recovery looks like. … It’s premature to act on this type of information.”

Stay Out of the Ditch

So, what to do? I act exactly as I tell my clients to act:

1. Ramp up activity. Triple your activity-but not just any activity. Focus on the activity that produces results in the short and the long term. Talk to people-past clients, new clients, prospects, peers, and colleagues. Everyone wants to talk. We share information and insights about the economy, the valuable lessons we learn, and the smart strategies we then engage.
2. Show up. Attend networking events. How many? One a week, minimum. For me, I attend 2 or 3 a week. It’s energizing, I learn, and I develop new and exciting business relationships. Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Show up. Period.
3. Forge new alliances. Everyone works differently now because the business landscape continues to change and evolve. As business issues become more complex, the solutions become more complex. Companies partner with other companies to deliver relevant solutions. Sometimes, they even partner with competitors (see, “Deepen Your Client Relationships & Grow Your Business with an Unexpected Referral Partner“, April 2009).
4. Narrow your niche. Yes, this business strategy produces immediate results-anytime–but particularly in a challenging economy. Why? The generalist no longer counts. Companies hire experts. The client expects measurable results from the person he hires. The client keeps his job, the company grows, and everyone wins. The more granular, specific, and definitively you position your business expertise, the faster you obtain new, profitable business.

The cow makes its way out of the ditch slowly. We need to get out of our ditch quickly. Get out there, show up, talk to people, get creative, and become the expert. Position yourself for the rebound. But don’t get fooled. Don’t go back to the way you used to work. Use anything and everything to boost your sales and ensure that you and your clients never land in the ditch again.

No shovel needed.

Your Affinity Network

There is a non-traditional source of referrals that we don’t often consider. I call it your “Affinity Network.” These are your natural, everyday cultural, geographic, and special-interest connections that can lead to new and increased sales.

Think about people you know, with whom you share the same cultural background (or geographic area or country). There is an affinity – a connection – among those with a common custom, perspective, or manner. In the United States, the South, the Midwest, New England … each has its own social, business, and historical culture. People from these locations often share a certain manner of speech, approach, or perspective. Think about it: Tapping into this Referral Network can provide a natural connection to new networks and new business-development opportunities.

What about others who share the same political agenda or passion for travel or sports? You feel an immediate connection to them – a natural liking, inclination, or feeling of identification.

Tap into this connection and build your referral business through your new Referral Network.

The Cultural Connector

Cultural connections can be a powerful lever in creating new sales opportunities. Think of a British businessman working for a company in the United States. The company has an important sales lead in the United Kingdom. Who would this company send to explore the new opportunity? Given the choice, it wouldn’t be someone from Texas or New York or Asia or Latin America. Smart sales execs would send the Brit, because he would more likely be perceived as “one of them.” This immediate network connection could potentially seal the sale. The sales approach, conversation, and tempo of new business development would more likely be in keeping with the client’s culture. Familiarity breeds comfort, breeds trust, breeds new sales opportunities.

I was working with the Asia-Pacific sales group of a large organization. I needed to know more about the cultural nuances involved in building relationships and referrals in that part of the world. That part wasn’t difficult to discover; I simply asked the client for some background. My biggest challenge was to make an immediate connection with the group. I began by telling them that I was fortunate enough to have made a trip to China a few months before and that I had learned two words in Mandarin – “hello” and “thank you.” I recited those two words, and they all laughed and said that my accent was really good. We connected immediately.

The Travel Connector

Travel is one of the greatest connectors. No matter what your nationality, if you are traveling in another country, you immediately gravitate to people “from home.” One of my hobbies is hiking. My sister and I travel together every year – typically on great outdoor excursions. Recently, we traveled to Patagonia. We stayed at a fabulous lodge and went on organized hikes twice a day. On our last day, I was hiking with a couple from New England. It turns out that I was familiar with the man’s industry and, in fact, I was good friends with one of the key leaders in his professional networking association. We exchanged cards (yes, I always carry business cards) and I continue to stay in touch. In fact, I might hear from him when he reads this newsletter.

The Sports Connector

And what about sports? It’s not just a “guy thing.” Before I visit a client in any city in the world, I find out how the local professional sports teams are doing. We can exult if they’re doing well and commiserate if they’re doing poorly. Football, basketball, baseball, soccer, cricket … there’s something going on all year long. And if you’re traveling in the Midwestern United States, know your college ball!

Get Human, Get Personal

You get the picture; if you can establish a common interest, the networking connection is immediate … and significant. The faster you can tap into the various connections you have, the faster you will become accepted and build your new Referral Network.

In this era of distinctly social networking, the more personal and human your connection with people is, the more valued the connection will be. Your new Referral Network will become a powerful source of new sales for you. Your sales prospecting will never be the same.

Tap into your Referral Network: Leverage your personal network and connections to propel your sales!

The quote I hear is: “If I wanted to sell, I’d have a sales job.”

A few things are happening:

• Retirement. Baby boomers are retiring. Kind of. (”We really don’t want to, so perhaps we’ll consult for awhile. At any rate, we’re not as available as we used to be.”)
• Budget cuts. Everyone is asked to do more with less.
• The connection. Companies are finally acknowledging that everyone in an organization knows someone who could be a connection, or link, to a new client or client network.

Sales Is Not a Dirty, Five-Letter Word!

Most of us hadn’t planned to go into sales as a career. In fact, until a few years ago, colleges didn’t offer program degrees in selling. Things are changing.
Selling has received a bad reputation because of stereotypes created by a few “bad apples.” The stereotypical image of a used-car salesman is that he is a pushy, arrogant, egotistical dealmaker. And a bad dresser, to boot. These qualities don’t serve the sales industry well.

Good sales experts are just the opposite of this clumsy, thoughtless, ugly stereotype. Think of a time when you left a selling interaction and thought to yourself, “That was a really good salesperson.” The positive attributes are universal:

• she listened
• asked good questions
• cared about me
• gave me options to think about
• was interested and genuine
• Isn’t that who you are?

Sales Is Not: Winning a Deal at Any Cost

Sales is about doing what is best for the customer at all costs. It is always about creating measurable business results for our clients. If you can’t help your clients with their business, you shouldn’t be doing business with them. Be willing to walk away from situations that aren’t right, and when you may not be the right fit for the client.

This doesn’t mean leaving a client in the lurch. It does mean offering a referral to someone who has the expertise you don’t.

Sales Success Is Leveraging Your Relationships

You know lots of people from many different areas of your life. Consider your community groups, hobbies, volunteer organizations, sports, service providers, family, neighbors, and friends. The list goes on and on. Companies are asking you to leverage these relationships by finding out who these people know and what their network is.

You’re not asking your contacts to do business with you. You want to know whom they know (and how and when they can refer you).

It’s a dramatically different dynamic. People are delighted to help.

You just need to ask. (Read “If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Sell” (Back in the Black newsletter, Feb. ‘09)

Sales Success Is Redefining the Concept of “Sales”

I want you to change how you think about selling. Several clients tell me they don’t “sell”, and we can’t use the word “sales” in our discussions. I respect their point of view, but I also help them think differently about sales. Good salespeople are authentic and genuine. When you are sincere, care about your clients, and ask your contacts who they know, you are selling in the only way I know how. As a respected professional.

What do you think about sales now? We all have to “sell” to succeed.

Are you willing to help your organization grow?

Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of life is showing up.” He also said “Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.” No matter how you slice it, showing up counts!

At holiday time, you have an exceptional opportunity to meet new people at a very social and happy time of year. There are all sorts of networking events to attend. Invite someone you’d like to know better to go along with you. They will have a chance to meet new people, and you both win.

Here are some tips for building your Business Referral Network, which I touched on in last month’s Back in the Black Newsletter: So You Don’t Like to Network (Nov. ‘08).

Business Referral Networking

Networking Prep Work

Just as you would prepare for a business meeting, you need to prepare to attend a networking event.

• Put monthly attendance on your calendar and pay for the event. By paying in advance, you create a commitment. (If you haven’t paid, you might decide not to show up. Give yourself incentive to network.)
• Set a goal for each networking event. If there’s someone in particular you want to meet, make sure you get introduced. Or perhaps you want to take away specific business tips from the speaker or meet a client.
• Travel solo. If you go with someone you know, split up, so that you both can meet new people. You can’t put referral networking into place if you stay with the people you already know.
• Plan your personal introduction. How will you introduce yourself in a way that’s intriguing and will make people want to hear more about what you do? Create a short, five-second “blurb” that engages your audience. (For example, a colleague of mine is a content strategist, writer, and editor. Her intro blurb is: “Making the world a better place, one word at a time.” It’s light-hearted, easy to understand, and opens the door to a conversation … and maybe a referral!)
• Prepare insightful questions. Always have a few questions prepared to begin a conversation. You could ask if other attendees have been to this business networking event before, or have heard the speaker before, or you could comment on something in the news – just stay away from politics.

Networking Interactions

Look for friendly conversations, introduce yourself, and join the group.

• Move graciously from group to group. Tell people how nice it was to meet them, and let them know there are some other folks you need to meet. (They’ll understand. They’re at the event for the same reason you are.)
• Look for a person standing alone and talk to them. The person standing alone is often uncomfortable. Work your referral networking magic by making him or her feel comfortable. Who knows? The man or woman standing alone could be your next client.
• Ask, “How can I help you?” Only ask if you mean it. People don’t expect this question, and sometimes they don’t have an answer. At a minimum, you will now be viewed as a referral marketing resource.

Proactive Networking Actions

• Have a system for organizing your referral marketing contacts – where you met them, what you agreed to send or to do, and when to follow up. Be sure to follow up with what you promised.
• Send a hand-written note. It only takes a few minutes and your personal touch will be remembered long after the business-networking event.
• Set realistic goals: This means committing to meeting two or three really good people and finding out about them. I like to have a “substantive” conversation with only two or three people. That’s it. If the referral marketing conversation is intriguing for both of us, we make plans to meet again and continue our discussion.

Just relax and have a good time. Most people are just as uncomfortable at business referrals as you used to be. Use these tips, and you’ll be great at building your own Business Referral Network!

There has been a longstanding mantra in sales: The more “No’s” we get, the closer we are to a “Yes.” Well, that’s garbage in my sales book. It’s old news, tired and worn out. It’s time to retire and bury this mantra.

Think about it: Why would you spend your valuable time talking to people you know will say no? This mantra about getting no’s emanates from prospecting systems that no longer work. It’s an old-school sales formula: make 100 cold calls, perhaps talk to 20 people, set eight to 10 appointments, and get one deal-if you’re lucky. Really, cold calling 100 people? That’s a lot of no’s, and a lot of time. It’s not a winning sales strategy.

Panning for Gold

There other prospecting activities that sales professionals count on, such as advertising, trade shows, marketing leads, web inquiries, and mail campaigns. All have a dismal conversion rate, averaging anywhere between 3 to 10 percent. Let’s be clear: these are visibility and credibility activities. They are important to build your brand, but they don’t make the phone ring off the hook. I’m not against them. In fact, I believe in establishing, building, and maintaining brand. However, I am against salespeople expecting earthshaking results from this type of sales activities. Customers react to these activities, they don’t engage.

Do the Math

Here’s the irony in how many sales professionals spend their time: When we’re referred and introduced to a qualified prospect-someone we want to meet and who wants to meet us-we get a new client a minimum of 50 percent of the time, and more likely 70 to 90 percent. There is no other marketing strategy that comes close to these sales results. It’s not about the number of no’s. And it’s not just about the number of yes’s (although they are really important).

It’s about connecting with people, learning about their businesses, and finding out how you can help them, so even if you do end up with the 30 percent who don’t become clients, these people will still be glad to brainstorm opportunities to refer you. And you will have even more yes’s. And you’ll set yourself up to win, and win big.

Tap Into Your Success

Remember that it’s not just about the number of leads, but the number that are qualified leads. Activity is important, but only if it’s quality activity. Mindless activity that focuses only on quantity is bad business. Referral selling is about using your past successes and your well-nurtured relationships to build your business. It’s like having your own private sales force putting you in touch with people you want to meet and who want to meet with you. Referral selling leverages your successes instead of endlessly starting over by prospecting for cold leads. Your prospecting will never be the same again.

Getting to YES

Don’t be hoodwinked: stay away from the no’s. When you go for the gold, you’re not satisfied with silver and bronze-or worse yet-no medal at all. Go for the yes, get those referrals, and just say no to no’s!

You’ve heard it all before: Sales experts talk and talk about creating value. If we just create enough value for our clients, they will buy-whatever the price and whatever the economy. What’s new about that?

Yes, the economy is lagging and budgets are cut. Yes, we have competition. Yes, clients are postponing decisions. So now what?

Offer New Ideas to Woo New Clients

Sales experts have always talked value. Now we need to put ourselves in our clients’ shoes and become creative. We must get in and get started. Think smart, not big. It’s always smarter to have a smaller piece of something than a big piece of nothing. Begin with a smaller project, a reduced order, or a regional-rather than global-implementation. Get in, and get to know the client. Let them get to know you. Get to know their business.

Create Metrics to Breed Referrals

Sit on the same side of the table as your client. Work together to determine the best way to get started. Always, always, always create metrics with your client. How do you, together, define success? Get agreement that once the current project is successful-according to the metrics you’ve agreed upon-the client will work with you to identify other opportunities within his or her organization. A successful project breeds a successful relationship … and successful referrals.

Negotiation as a Sales Strategy

Price. Aha! This is the big hurdle. Yes, the client will want to negotiate on price. That’s her job-to build business while watching the bottom line. How many times have you submitted a proposed price to a client and had her say right off the bat, “Great! Where do I sign.”? It doesn’t happen. We always want to get the best deal, so why wouldn’t our clients?

If you must adjust your price, adjust the scale of your project or the deliverables as well. Always get something in return for a reduced rate and write it into your agreement. Maybe the client agrees to write a testimonial or promises a referral to another business unit in his organization or to someone they know at a different company. Maybe you barter some of your services. Bartering is an age-old way of doing business, and it makes sense in many cases if you want what your client has and he needs what you have. Perhaps the client has software that your company needs, or a consulting methodology that could propel your business. You get the picture. Work it out.

If you can’t work things out, be willing to walk away. It’s a tough decision, but it may be your best decision. You’ll be off to the next client who values what you offer and is willing to pay for it. And offer those valuable referrals!

What are you waiting for? Get in and get started!

Regardless of what the experts say about a “real” recession: American consumers are behaving as though we’re in a recession. And we’ve just begun to see the “trickle down” effect of our slowing economy. Don’t let the lagging economy trickle down on you and your business. Recession-proof your business with these 8 Killer Steps.

In March, I shared my 5 Killer Steps to Recession-Proof your business:

1.       Broaden Your Business Perspective

2.       Make Your Business Nimble and Innovative

3.       Dazzle Your Current Customers

4.       Prioritize for More Sales

5.       Become an Expert

Read the March 2008 Newsletter: Recession-Proof Selling

In the last few months, I have spoken to many audiences on Recession-Proof Selling, and conducted a Webinar on the topic. The exciting replay is now available to you with companion slides and a written transcript.

Learn more about the Recession-Proof Your Business Emergency Kit

Bonus! 3 More Killer Steps!

Now it’s June. And I have 3 more Killer Steps to share with you. I’ve used these steps all along-they are business lifesavers in any economy.

Killer Step #6: Keep Your Network Going Strong

Network like crazy. Attend a minimum of one event a week. You never know who you will meet and what you will learn. Woody Allen said that 80 percent of life is showing up. He also said 70 percent of success in life is showing up. Show Up! It counts.

Never let your network go down. Networking is an essential activity in making connections and building your business.

Talk to people and find out how you can help them. How is their business doing? Are they being impacted by the lagging economy? Don’t email, call. You make connections by talking to people, spending the time to have a robust conversation. Pick up the phone. It’s the best way to spend your time.

Killer Step #7: Don’t Cut Price

There’s a lot of chatter about cutting price in a lagging economy- businesses are cutting back, they don’t have money for your project. Consider how to “get in and get started.” Divide your offering into smaller chunks, get results, and create traction. If you do decide to adjust your price, always get something in return. Cutting price and getting nothing back isn’t a winning strategy.

Let your client know that you would like to find a way to work together. Remember, nothing is traditional anymore. Think of new ways to solve old problems. Work together with your clients and collaborate on a solution.

Killer Step #8: Commit to Building Your Referral Business

What if you could reach your market without hard costs-no marketing budget, no direct mail budget, no advertising budget, no trade show budget. The only budget you need to worry about is your Time & Referrals Budget. Your time. Your time to ask for referrals. Referrals are always terrific, but they mean even more in a lagging economy. There is no line-item cost to referrals.

In addition, you are pre-sold, you have credibility and trust, you ace out the competition, and you will get a new client well over 50 percent of the time. There is no other strategy that comes close to these results, and at no cost.

We’ve just begun to see the “trickle down” effect of our slowing economy. Don’t let the lagging economy trickle down on you and your sales business. The companies that take charge and compete will win! Just like traditional indicators have changed, so have traditional responses. Nothing is traditional anymore. What can you do to be non-traditional?