Our Opportunity Is Now!
by Gerhard Gschwandtner
Founder and CEO - SellingPower.com
Last week I was asked to give a speech to a group of business leaders. As I waited my turn, I listened to a presentation delivered by an economist who predicted doom and gloom, after which the audience looked somber and depressed. When my turn came, I commented on the difference between economic science and the profession of selling. “Economists are looking in the rearview mirror. They analyze the past. Salespeople observe the world through headlights that focus on where we will go in the future. While economists watch what happened, salespeople make things happen.”
Economics is based on science, and selling is rooted in faith. Science has proof but no certainty. Faith has certainty but no proof. I see the recession as a demanding teacher who has assigned more homework to us all. In speaking to many sales leaders during the past months, here is what I’ve learned about what it takes to win:
1. We all need a new mind-set. As the battle for sales intensifies, we cannot allow negative emotions to creep into our consciousness. Buyers can smell fear a mile away, and fear will quickly translate into a lower price or a lost sale. Salespeople who are optimistic pursue more opportunities and win more sales.
2. We need a new leadership focus that helps people deliver better results under greater pressure. Horst Schultze, the CEO of a chain of luxury hotels, said, “I will not accept the explanation of a recession negatively affecting our business. There are people still traveling; we just have to get them to stay in our hotel.”
A great leader is a dealer in hope. The brilliant director Robert Altman said, “The role of the director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.” What’s critical is to persuade people to reach deep within themselves so they can deploy the amazing talents they never thought existed.
3. We need a better skill set. The recession has bent our sales funnels out of shape. CSO Insight’s new survey of more than 1,200 sales leaders shows that it now takes 20 to 30 percent longer to close a sale. The survey also shows that 22 percent of deals result in no sale, while 30.7 percent are lost to the competition. Better skills inevitably lead to greater sales.
4. We need to deploy Sales 2.0 technology that can help us achieve two goals. First, it can accelerate the sales cycle. The more the economy slows down, the more we need to speed up our sales process.
Second, it can boost sales productivity. Review the article on page 73 – “How Sales 2.0 Innovation Leads to Sales Acceleration.” There are more than 1,000 Sales 2.0 tools available on the market; we’ve selected the top 30. Each one of these tools can lead to significant productivity gains.
This recession is a defining moment for America. In crisis there is always opportunity. Let’s do our share to put the country back to work – one sale at a time.
Our Opportunity Is Now!
