Sales Systems For a Recession – 5 Things Your Business Needs Now

It’s getting down at this time of reccession, as we all must think on a way forward in our desiring business.

head me on of this SALES SYSTEM FOR RECCESSION by BETH LANE a sales coach and an experience business operator. Read on…

It’s often true that the more there is to do, the more gets done – and vice versa. When business is slow, ironically, that is the time that details can slip through the cracks in your system.

Here are five systems you must have in place to succeed in tough times:

1 – A System to track and recognize your Successes.

Listen to enough dire news from the public media, and you will have a hard time crawling out of bed each morning. Without some way to daily counteract the sensationalist news, a downward spiral will occur.

Remember, ‘Our assumptions about our world become our world’. Stephen Mitchell

Establish a place to post your successes, and also, your partial successes on the way to the larger ones. Success is a relative term so you can measure it any way you choose! Each completed step in a process can be a cause for celebration. Recognize and communicate appreciation for the contribution of others – your staff, partners, sales people, customers who give you referrals.

2-A Systematic Marketing Plan to generate new business.

Marketing is critical. And smart, systematic marketing will pay off now and in the future. If you have not been doing any marketing at all, you will really be feeling the pinch about now. If you are marketing already, consider expanding the ways you market.

Track where your customers come from. If you have never really looked for this information it is time… What you find may surprise you. Put more effort into proven areas, then branch out further. Strategize, brainstorm and consider hiring an expert to help you analyze your marketing strategies to maximize your money and time.

3 – A System to track and follow up with your Prospects.

Now is not the time to allow any prospect to slip away without taking action.

To enhance your marketing efforts, establish a system, whatever sort works for your business, to re-contact prospective clients. At or soon after the time of initial contact, use your system to note possible areas of interest, best ways and times to reach them, common interests, etc. Set a time with yourself to re-contact them.

Require accountability of yourself and your staff on follow-up efforts. Review these efforts weekly.

4 – Systematize your Sales Process

Each customer must be handled individually, but a sales system will ensure that you cover all the necessary points, and provide all needed information, and opportunities to purchase. It seems that the very best sales people are completely natural, and unstructured. But at a deeper level, they know that there are a set of things that must be covered for a sale to take place.

At the very least, be sure your contact with each potential customer includes these five things: relationship building, uncovering the customer’s need; how you will fill that need; the timing; and the price.

Know a system for welcoming and handling any objections, and multiple ways to ask for and conclude the sale of your product or service. No matter the personality of the client or sales person, these five things remain constant, needing to be addressed for each and every sale.

5- A Superb Customer Service System is mandatory.

Gone (for a time) are the days when an unhappy, difficult customer was easily replaced with a new prospect. You cannot afford the luxury of unhappy, unsatisfied customers Studies have proven that a happy customer may or may not report his results. But an unhappy one is 10 times more likely to spread the word about you.

Set up a system to check with each customer after the sale and delivery. For an on-going service, set up checks periodically to see that customer expectations are being met. Review these results, and make spot checks on your customers as an extra bonus to see that all is well. The more contact and relationship you have with your clients, the more likely they are to recommend you.

The time and effort you put into these systems will bring your great rewards. Do not use the tough economic times as an excuse for neglecting to remedy something so vital to your personal economy.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Sales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.