Selling More in a Difficult Economy

Selling More in a Difficult Economy:

We've all had days like this, but there are things you can do to keep from getting frustrated

Sales—they’re the lifeblood of any business. Without enough sales, a business will fail. It doesn’t matter how great your service is if people don’t know about it, don’t know the value, and don’t trust you.

As Scott Ginsberg (The Nametag Guy) says, unless people know those things, “It’s like winking in the dark.”

Not only do buyers need to be aware of those things, but everyone in a firm should be involved and have a stake is sales success: sales teams, marketing teams, customer service staff, administrative staff, etc.

Here are a few ways to shed light on the fantastic work you do and start selling more.

Get the Attention of the Media

If you can get the attention of the media, you can get the attention of buyers. But getting the attention of the media requires skill and strategy. Most important, you have to think like a journalist, writes Bruce W. Marcus in his article How to Write the Working Press Release. You have to think about what they consider news, how they like to be approached, and the publication’s editorial style and substance.

“Publicity, which is a basic purpose of the media release, uses the release as a basic tool. It’s not an end in itself, despite the artistry of a good release,” Marcus writes. “Its purpose is to communicate—an idea, a fact, a product’s value or superiority. It should inform, it should be read by a target audience, it should clarify or persuade. And it should get published. Granted, good PR is more than the press release, but it all boils down to the media—to telling the story.”

That means you have to do your homework before blasting journalists with your press releases. Make sure the publication covers your industry, uncover the best editor or writer to contact, understand what types of articles they publish and who their audience is. When you’re ready to reach out to a journalist, tell your story in a concise manner, considering what the subject means to your audience.

Increase Marketing’s Role in Generating Revenue

The time has come for marketing teams to transition to revenue marketing—to play an active role in helping to generate revenue for their companies, says Debbie Qaqish, in her podcast interview 7 Vital Skills of a High-Performance Revenue Marketing Team. They need to not only get leads to the top of the sales funnel but also pull those leads through the funnel and speed up the sales cycle,” she says.

To do that, organizations need a revenue marketing team that has seven essential skills or roles: a vice president of revenue marketing, a business analyst, a power user or marketing technologist, a nurture specialist, a content specialist, a creative specialist, and a tele-qualifying competency for the “marketing qualified leads,” Qaqish says.

“The whole notion of how marketing is transforming from being a cost center to a revenue center is absolutely here today for the B2B marketer,” she says. “And as you think about that transformation, as you think about your own unique journey to revenue marketing, understanding what skills you need, what skills you have, and then how to address that gap is going to be a critical activity for you.”

Motivate Your Sales Team

The past few years have been challenging for most organizations. They’re trying to make do with less. Smaller budgets and smaller staffs, but bigger stress and bigger worries. Those don’t bode well for sales teams trying to sell to such organizations. And they, too, can get worn out and deflated.

There are things companies can do, however, to keep their sales teams—and the company as a whole—motivated, writes Ken Thoreson in his article Eliminate Sales Fatigue Using These Executive and Sales Action Plans.

“Making sure your organization is focused, energized, mentally tough, and able to exceed its goals begins with a focus on communication and a series of actions to build belief within your sales team,” he says. “If you can do that, other parts of the company will also improve. That’s because sales organizations are the critical ingredients in building a total organization’s culture of expectation and success.”

Thoreson suggests a firm have two types of action plans: executive action plans, which help keep the company informed and motivated, and sales action plans, which address sales fatigue and keep the sales team motivated. Both include reinforcing the positives of a company—their goals and their accomplishments. (Read his article for the specifics of what to include in those plans.)

“It’s all too easy to get bogged down with lost sales, missed project dates, and other problems,” Thoreson says. “Regularly reinforcing the positives goes a long way toward keeping everyone’s belief and passion strong and moving in the right direction. These efforts will build a culture of success, a sense of mission, and common teamwork.”

Build Peer Relationships with Prospects

Once you get the attention of a prospective buyer, you don’t want to lose it. And you don’t want them to treat you like a commodity. There are plenty of competitors out there that they can turn to if they don’t like you or don’t think you provide much value. What you want to do is create a peer relationship with the prospect, says Andrew Sobel in his article Ask, Don’t Tell: Power Questions that Build Peer Relationships and Unlock the Sale.

“Your behavior and demeanor at the outset have to telegraph that you consider yourself a peer,” he says. “Remember, if you don’t believe that, why would your client? And if you’re not peers, how could the client accept you as a trusted advisor?”

Power questions that can help you do that include:

• “I view this as a chance for us to get to know each other and understand each other’s business—and, potentially, to identify an issue of mutual interest where I could add value to your business. From your perspective, what would be the best way for us to use this time?
• “I’m curious. What in particular interested you in meeting with me?”

“So, skip the ‘Oh, thank you so very much for meeting me. I know how valuable your time is and how busy you are!’ Walk in as a peer, an equal,” Sobel says.

Photo by Alex E. Proimos