Do Not Deny Hard Times

Tough Times

Advice from a management guru for leading a sales team when uncertainty is high.

Be open with information - good or bad. By providing information when you have it, you will build trust with your salespeople. Even if the information is negative, they would rather hear it from you first than from a prospect or customer or competitor later.

When an organization decides to make layoffs or implement a hiring freeze, the impact on morale can be deadly if nobody manages the change process. With no avenue for release, bad feelings and troubling concerns tend to fester and worsen. One of the most powerful lessons I've learned is that what you resist persists. Management needs to talk to those who are affected by bad news and say, "We know this is tough. How can we help you?"

Help salespeople to be creative in using resources. Whenever you ask people to do something different, they want more resources, more money, more facilities, or more equipment. 1he reality of business today is that, to stay competitive, most companies have to produce more with less. Salespeople need to realize they are not going to necessarily get more resources, but they still need to get more done.

Sales managers need to build an environment where creative employees can get more from limited resources. For example, recently my organization has made a tremendous use of interns. We get high- quality work done, and they get a valuable learning experience. If you give employees adequate information about a problem, they will be more creative in determining ways to deal with it.

Cost cutting is everyone's job. A lot of times you may not have to cut budgets or people if everyone can take more responsibility for cutting expenses. If you level with salespeople and say, "Unless we find ways to save on expenses in the next six to twelve months, we'll have to make cuts," most salespeople will respond with ideas.

Recently, I was at one company that was handing out rewards for cost-cutting measures. One woman had saved the company more than $30,000 a year in paper and fax time by suggesting the development of a stamp for the upper right-hand comer of the first page of each fax to indicate the recipient and sender, etc., rather than using a separate cover page. Since the firm sent and received an enormous amount of international faxes, this simple idea saved thousands of dollars.

You need to make sure that cost cutting does not come from the top but is given to salespeople as an opportunity to help the organization and everyone in it possibly even to save jobs.

If you have to cut salespeople, cut the ones who have low morale and production. Salespeople who have a poor attitude in the good times are even less likely to produce significantly for your company in tough times. Such salespeople tend to do the most damage in an organization with complaints and criticisms. They further erode confidence and productivity throughout the team.

Since one of the areas where organizations have gotten fat is in people watching other people, eliminate all such positions. Any position that takes away from the potential empowerment of salespeople (or any other employees) should be considered for cutting. Most people use only 30 to 40 percent of their abilities at work. I feel the main reason for this is that they are not given the responsibility or the opportunity to use more. Instead, they have to use energy to check with others and are often stymied or stopped by bureaucrats, policies, or procedures.

I love to ask, "How many of you would rather be magnificent than ordinary at work)" Most people, given the fact that they have to spend 8 to 12 hours a day at work, would rather be magnificent. Why doesn't it happen? Because in most organizations employees are not permitted to take the initiative to do what's best. They have to spend that extra 60 to 70 percent of their working time watching their posteriors.

Hard times are a chance for people to be magnificent. If you deal honestly with salespeople and have high expectations for what they can do, they'll come through for you and your company.

- DK. KEN BLANCHARD