It Is Time To Change Your Activities and Increase Your Sales

Over the past year every salesperson, regardless of product, company, experience or success has been impacted by the changing economy. While the majority of salespeople have floundered, some have flourished. Spencer Johnson in his classic parable, Who Moved My Cheese, has presented to the world a new understanding for dealing with change. In our current economy, no story could be of greater impact on salespeople than this simple fable involving four little characters and their approach to change. As Dr. Johnson relates, change is universal since we are all confronted with change. The only variable to change is how we deal with it. Nothing could be so profound for salespeople than the way this story deals with change. I believe that those who have found success, in spite of the failing economy, have applied the principles discovered in the charmingly written and exceedingly simple story, Who Moved My Cheese.

Nothing is more revealing of a salesperson’s skills and abilities than their individual performance. There is no doubt that sales results are influenced by the strength of the economy or of a salesperson’s specific market niche. In a booming market even a novice salesperson is capable of delivering a strong performance. As quickly as the phone is answered, a salesperson can write an order. About the only skill needed is the ability to pick up the phone and then deliver what the customer has ordered. Most business owners have no idea how poorly trained their salespeople are until the market begins to soften and selling skills are actually required to make a sale.

A few years ago I called on the president of large window manufacturing company. We talked about the necessity of sales training to improve the performance of his salespeople. He was in total agreement in principle but when it came right down to enrolling his people in our training program he declined. He looked at me and said that he knew his people needed training. He even went so far as to say that they were pretty lousy salespeople. However, the building market was so strong that even though he salespeople were in need of improvement, they were selling every window the company could produce. Their production facility was working three shifts per day, seven days per week. There was no way they could produce any more windows. Training the salespeople would only increase lead times and cause their customers to be unhappy.

I mentioned the example of salespeople and their performance in both strong and weak markets because the weak market requires a change on the part of the salesperson if they are going to continue to produce stellar results. As in the story of Who Moved My Cheese, Hem would go to cheese station C every morning, even after all the cheese was gone, hoping that it would be there. Hah, on the other hand, spent each day wandering through the maze looking for new cheese. He realized that since the cheese was no longer in cheese station C he needed to find another source. Meanwhile, Hem would get up every morning and do what he had always done, go to cheese station C expecting to find cheese but none was to be found. He was unwilling to change, to do something different in his quest for cheese.

For every salesperson within the sound of my voice, the cheese in cheese station C is gone and it is not coming back. If you want cheese you are going to have to quit doing those activities you have done in the past and do something different. You are going to have to go out into the maze and look for new cheese. In other words, in this current economic market you will not be successful doing what you have done in the past. These challenging economic conditions require different activities to achieve the results of the past. Here are five areas of focus that will help you find new cheese and increase your sales beyond your wildest dreams:

1. Get up early every morning and work smart and hard at selling. Don’t believe for one minute that just because the economy is worse than it has been in twenty-five years that your sales can’t be your best ever. Believe in yourself and then work to make it happen. You will need to work harder than you have ever worked before.

2. Review your sales process and then follow it diligently. Don’t become complacent. Prospect every day. Find new opportunities to tell your story. Present solutions to problems and prepare quotes for the sale of your products or services. Follow-up with each opportunity, resolve concerns and ask for the business.

3. Focus your activities on the very best potential opportunities. Remember, current customers present the best opportunity for new sales, repeat sales and referrals. Look beyond your current product base and discover potential niche markets for your products or discover new products that could complement your current product lines. Think outside the box.

4. Set goals for your daily, weekly and monthly activity. Establish activity goals as well as performance goals. Set goals for the number of calls, appointments, follow-ups and quotes you will make. When you are doing the right things on a daily basis you will finish the month with the right results. Keep a monthly goal sheet that identifies those customers and prospects that will allow you to reach your goal. Setting a goal without identifying where the goal will come from is a waste of time.

5. Ask everyone you contact for referrals. Let them know that receiving referrals is the way you make your living. Everyone knows someone they could refer you to. Demonstrate that you are working hard to provide the service and products they need. When the prospect or customers is satisfied with your performance they will gladly give you referrals if you ask. Never let a day go by without asking for and receiving at least one referral.