How to Sell in a Recession
Bernie Tracey’s talk provided a great opportunity to reflect on how to respond in a positive way to the challenges posed by the current economic climate.
Notes from the Dublin City Enterprise Network for Women presentation - Bernie Tracey - Beacon Coaching Consultancy
First of all, as an entrepreneur, you have the advantage of having more control over your destiny.
When things aren’t working for you, need to change the way you think – come at it from a different angle.
- Opportunity to gain advantage over your competitor.
- You might be able to offer more attractive offering than an existing supplier but avoid unrealistic pricing. Some trainers have cut rates by half.
- Customer relationships made during recessions tend to last.
- Tough times reveal our true strength and weaknesses.
She recommended thinking about how successful leaders think. She recommended a DVD called The Leaders (CNBC - The Leaders - The Secrets To Their Success). Her conclusion is that they focus on solutions rather than problems. She used the image of a garden with weeds coming out. You need to make sure that you’re not trying to grow new plants on top of the weeds but you may need to step back and change things in a more fundamental way. Great leaders surround themselves with positive people.
She would recommend “Think and Grow Rich” Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Published in 1937, it is based on interviews with the most successful businesspeople at that time and is a classic.
She got the attendees to do an exercise in which they sent down their Product Offering and then gave a Glass Half Empty and a Glass Half Full version. She recommended that people should focus on benefits and the Glass Half Full version in their elevator pitches next month.
She encouraged members to work though an exercise to define their existing/new product and customer base:
- CURRENT PRODUCT OFFERING
- CURRENT CUSTOMER BASE
- PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMER BASE
- NEW PRODUCT OFFERING
- CURRENT CUSTOMER BASE
- PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMER BASE
She recommends not waiting for business to pick up but take initiative, make a new offering if you see an opportunity but don’t move too far from your core business. Ask – what else could I sell to my customer base?
Her sales tips were:
STEP 1: Consultative Selling rather than Panic Selling.
Try to EXCEED customer expectations all the time. Everything you do should be about building a relationship not just sales at any price. Try to give them something extra that does not actually cost you anything.
STEP 2: Take advantage of Online Tools
Remember that under 35s use the web for everything so you need to be online.
• YouTube -249 million hits in last 30 days – short clips such as recipes are useful for taking traffic to your website
• Social Networking sites such as Facebook (129 hits in last 20 days)
• Twitter – 22 million hits in last 30 days
• eBay
• Blogs
Bernie mentioned a website you can use to check traffic to a particular site: http://www.trafficestimate.com/results.html
Two members mentioned that their blogs were working well for them, particularly in terms of taking traffic to their websites:
Grainne Duggan: http://www.grainneduggan.com/blog/labels/art%20and%20soul.html
Mary Varilly: http://blog.truecolours.ie/
STEP 3: Sell to People who are most likely to buy.
Buyers do not like to go out of their comfort zone, give them 3 good reasons to buy from you and make sure they are emotional i.e. BENEFITS rather than features. You can expand your segment but don’t try to move too far away from your base.
STEP 4: PROBE DEEPER
You need to have courage! If the prospect says we want to save money.
Your Response : ‘I understand this is important in this current climate, can you give me a specific example’.
Or “Can you let me know where greatest pain is for you at the moment?” This helps to build relationships.
STEP 5: THANK YOU LETTER
Thank you letter – people normally send only if they buy from us.
BUT for whatever reason they decide not to buy, always send a letter (not an email) thanking them for their time and tell them you will keep in touch.
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