Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse

BNET TalkbackShare your ideas and expertise on this topic

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

•  
  1

  ennyman

  11/12/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse

  It's well known that economic downturns are a way of weeding out the weaker siblings in the economic gene pool. These are tough times, but unless companies deal with their problems in good times, they can end up eaten by the predators lurking at the edge of the herd.
  (My apologies for the miscellaneous mixed metaphors.)
  e.

•  
  2

  jensipin

  11/12/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse

  Our sales team has run into the "bad economy" excuse in the past few weeks...
  
  What are some proven sales tactics that have worked either against or with this excuse?

•  
  3

  jongreer

  11/12/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse

  Good question -- you're going to run into this a lot in sales, and let's face it, sometimes it will be the truth no matter what [think what it must be like to be a hot tub salesman targeting homeowners]. But other times, you've got to look at it the other way: what WILL they be spending $$ on [they must be spending on something] and figure out if you can fit yourself into THAT budget. Another tactic: stress the money-saving aspects of your product/service: how it replaces other expenses or lowers future expenses.

•  
  4

  NorthstarFlorida

  11/12/08 | Report as spam

  Tactic for giving a sanity check for excuses

  When clients I coach begin to use "Universal Quantifiers" like the word all, or "Cause-Effect" explanations I have found it effective to simply reword the phrases as questions and see if the data supports the "excuse".
  
  For example, if the claim is "Sales are down because of the bad economy" then there is an implied "all" in that statement. I like to ask "Are sales down in all areas because of the economy?" The answer is almost always no. Exploring the "exceptions" may reveal that the areas that are doing better can be because of anything from the salesperson, the market segment, the pricing for that client, the communication, the service....
  
  Another approach to take in response to the "Sales are down due to the bad economy" is to ask "Did the sales dip begin with the bad economy?" Looking at the data with the team should be able to confirm if the economy was a contributor and if so, how much. Jon Greer gave a great example above about Circuit City. An examination of the data would show that Circuit City's problems began before the "bad economy".

•  
  5

  prmavencolorado

  11/13/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse

  Regarding Jensipin's question about how the sales team should handle the "bad economy" excuse, if the they are selling advertising or other marketing services there are ways to try to fit into their budget, no matter how small. I once heard a local retailer say to a group of his peers, "I am curious, why is it the same people who say they don't have money to advertise somehow find money to advertise their going-out-of-business sale?"