Are there down-times in your sales career?

If yes, then maybe something here will help you.  Let me tell you what “down-times” mean to you.  You should be positively excited about these current economic times.   Down-times offer you two reasons to be at your best.  First, economic down-times reduce the number of “lookers” or non-buyers depending on how severe the economic downtime is, and secondly; down-times easily differentiate the skills between the trained and the untrained thus accentuating the professional’s results.  You could say that good times have arrived for the professional salesperson.  Let me explain.

If you believe you are selling during rough economic times, you have to be more self-aware and fight the temptation to believe that people aren’t buying.  Usually the first indication of a sales person making this mistake is the quality of her “meet and greet.”  If you’re in the wrong mental space and give people an old tired and boring meet and greet, they will quickly turn you off and go elsewhere.  “May I help you?” just doesn’t cut it.  Every customer is indeed different, however there are basic principles of professional sales that apply to all customers consistently.  Customers are on the go and know what they are looking for.  The number one thing customers are looking for is a professional salesperson.  Your meet and greet is your opportunity to set the stage for a positive successful customer interaction.  Customers expect to be treated with warmth, sincerity, and empathy.  They want to be appreciated.  Nothing says you don’t care more than a same ole boring, “may I help you?”  Not to mention that it begs for the immediate automated customer response of, “No thanks.”  In order to fulfill the customer’s service expectations and make the proper first impression, you have to be on your “A-game.”  Wouldn’t it be nice to go to a retail store and have a sales person (clerk?) meet you with a smile and say something like; “Good morning sir, welcome to XYZ computer store–what brings you in today?”  An interesting but appropriate meet and greet improves the first impression customers have of you.  It also helps you control the process in order to smoothly make the transition to those critically important questions you want to ask.

A professional knows that she is not capable of judging a book by its cover.  She knows that each and every time she prospects or approaches a sales opportunity, she must be on her “A-Game” regardless of what the customer looks like or says.  I have often said, if I ever meet anyone that tell me who’s a buyer and who’s not a buyer, I will gladly pay them a huge amount of money just to stick by me and point them (the buyers) out from the crowd!  Since I have yet to meet anyone with that level of skill and sales discernment, I, like all of you, must assume that everyone is a buyer unless you have first-hand direct irrefutable evidence to the contrary.  I can’t count the number of people that I sold a car to on the very day I met them that initially told me to “never mind, we’re just looking,” or “don’t waste your time on us, we’re not buying.” Get the picture.  During down-times, the percentage of real buyers looking for customer service is greater.  Why would you want to believe anything different?

Let me know how you’re handling these perceived economic tough times.