Tips to make it ok to sell during a down economy

I have had many questions asking if it is ok to be selling during a down economy.  I've also ready many post on social media about this topic.  Here's the thing, as business owners our goal is to stay in business and ideally generate wealth.  We can't achieve either of those if we are not selling.  

The question shouldn't be is it ok to sell because the answer to that is a resounding YES!  The real question should be, how should we be selling.  The how we should be selling is the same way we should always be selling in good times and in bad.

There are 4 types of sales people:

• The order taker
• The Product Pusher
• The Problem Solver
• The Over Seller

The Order Taker is very passive.  They simply wait for a customer to place an order and then they fulfill it. A good example of this is someone at a fast food restaurant who says how can I help you and waits for the person to place their order.

The Product Pusher on the other hand is more aggressive.  They are only focussed on the produce and talks about nothing but the features and benefits.  They have a goal to sell and often use high pressure tactics to make the sale.

The Problem Solver is solution oriented. Their goal is to help the customer find out what they needs.  They tend to ask a lot of questions to really understand the customer's situation.

The Over Seller will promise the world just to make the sale.  They tell the customer whatever they think the customer wants to hear even if the product or service cannot meet those expectations.

As you look at the four types of sales people above, it is no wonder that sales has a very negative connotation.  The way we should always be selling is as a problem solver.  In fact, we define selling differently than most.  To us, it is 'professionally helping people to buy'.  In order to help people to buy, we need to understand their wants, needs and problems.  We need to understand what their end goal is and how they plan to use our product or service and what other products or services will be used in conjunction.  We need to understand what their budget is and how long they will need the product or service to last.

Those who are great at selling invest time and money in continuing to grow and develop as sales people.  They attend conferences, read books, have a coach, etc to hone their skills.  They understand that people buy from people they know, like and trust and that the purchase decision is 80% emotional and only 20% logic.  Therefore, building rapport is very important.  There are a number of ways that we can build rapport with others:

• Asking Questions - people love to talk about themselves.  If you spend 90% of an interaction asking questions and having a customer talk about themselves they will walk away feeling that it was a great conversation.
• People like people who are similar to them.  So we should spend time understanding our customers communication style - for example are they verbal communicators or visual.  Then we should match and mirror their styles. DISC is another great tool here.  If someone is a high C and prefers a lot of information prior to making a decision then we give them a lot of details.  Conversely if they are a high D and prefer little detail, we want to ensure we don't overload them with facts.

Here is an article on tips to increase your average dollar sale.

Here is an article 5 strategies for selling during a recession.  

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