Sales Training for the Recession

The recession has affected most businesses. Some have gone to the wall. Some are hanging on by the tiniest of threads. And some are doing fine, thank you very much.

With the majority of businesses screaming for more sales, it's the sellers who are now under the big spotlight like never before. They are front end in this bloodbath of a downturn.

In the last couple of years the good guys have changed tack to align with the demands of the buyers. And yet, many sellers seem to refuse to accept this. They plod on with selling techniques that they were taught 5, 10 or even 20 years ago. They are so "off-beam" with what they are doing, that it's no wonder that their results have continued to decline. Of course, many will justify this decline by reasoning that there's more competition, we're in the worst downturn since the Stone Ages etc

Smokescreen excuses for sure - the problem lies very squarely with the seller and his way of selling ie his methodology.

He must change to adapt to the market and the changes in the buyers. He must realise that, for many direct sales businesses, the market has altered dramatically in the last few years, let alone the last 10 or 20! Mr Prospect is now very well informed. He has "Watchdog" and "Salesmen from Hell" type programmes on the TV. He has consumer reports from magazines such as "Which?" and he has built up an armoury of information provided by trade journals, the internet and his friends and neighbours.

Mr Prospect is a changed man. He will eat salespeople alive given half a chance. Long gone are the days of the tough sellers taking candy from a baby. Today's buyers have teeth!

And it's these teeth which have scared many a salesperson and nudged them into giving up and returning to a regular 9 to 5 without the stress they were getting in the sales arena. In fact, around 60% of those who take on a direct sales position will quit within 6 months!

For sure it's a tough job and is not for those who freak out when they hear the word "No". But, it's a wonderful career with very high rewards for those who get their act together.

The core problem is that many sellers still expect to carry on with the knowledge bank of 10 years ago, with old hat techniques and a tendency to work with crossed fingers!

The part of the sales process that creates the most problems is the "close" - the bit where the seller says "OK, let's get this going Mr Buyer" and Mr Buyer tries to wriggle away from making a decision! It's eyeball to eyeball psychological warfare. The seller must get the order to earn his commission. The buyer wants to be 200% sure he's doing the right thing.....