"Top Sales Rep gets slammed, shot and beaten up by this down economy"

"Top Sales Rep gets slammed, shot and beaten up by this down economy" - This was in the subject line of an email I received from Sharon in San Diego.

How tough is it to be a salesperson in today's economic environment? How do the best deal with it?

I contacted Sharon to learn more about her situation. She is the #1 sales rep for a national direct marketing company. If the #1 salesperson is feeling like this, imagine how everyone else is feeling. To put things in perspective, she sold over $1 million dollars in advertising last year which is truly amazing when you consider her average sale was $ 3,000.00

When I asked her what she was feeling and how she was dealing with this economic environment she said, "I am not scared, or nervous or mad. I am more discouraged than anything else, but I am trying to work harder and smarter to overcome it. My self talk is that I am a winner and I know that I am a warrior! I won't give up, ever!"

There is no doubt that Sharon means what she says.

"I am keeping an open mind and trying new things, new ideas," she said.
She's right. Tough times demand innovation, but new doesn't always work. Maybe that's why Sharon, the go-getter is feeling so beat up.

"I tried an automatic dialer that made 190 calls to perspective prospects and got zero appointments. The responses began to sound the same . . . "I'm tightening down until we see what happens." "I am going to cut back on everything even my advertising." "I am not taking a paycheck . . . I have no money to advertise my business." I found that I was sympathizing with these prospects and feeling bad for the situation that they now found themselves in!"

So what do you do?

One thing that Sharon mentioned that I thought was particularly encouraging was that their national franchise was investing in additional sales training. Unfortunately, when times get tough, training is one of the first areas that many companies begin to cut, but not here. She told me of a training class that she had just been to that emphasized keeping in touch with your customers. The real gist of the training was to sit down with your clients or prospective clients and ask them "what has changed?" Who is buying your service? Why? How do you sell your product? How can we do it better? What niche do we have that will help in this market environment?

One line that she learned in this recent sales training to use while calling to set up appointments was, "I have been thinking about your business lately and I have some ideas I would like to talk to you about." Then, when you are in front of this prospect or client, you can then really pull back the dialogue on what is happening right now that is different.

She said the percentage of successful appointment calls using that line was dramatically improved.

The question she learned helped.  But the real key to her success has been the rethinking of her role.

But that doesn't ease the pressure.

"I feel that people are looking at me to set the bar, to serve as an example. I don't like it when I see others giving up. I have a sense of pressure, not that it's negative, but pressure nonetheless to perform, not only for myself and my family but for my company. I am responsible for more than 50% of the revenue that comes into my office. I have to earn my seat."

"So what had to happen in my approach and attitude was to turn that sympathy into empathy. We are in this economic upheaval together. We can't just put a "Closed for the Day" sign out; we have to pull through this with attitude. Therefore, asking your prospects questions about their business to get to the root of this current issue, ask them what they think they need to do, find opportunity, and then make recommendations that will help them survive is what's needed.

Contract size is definitely down versus previous year, but it is a numbers game. I must find the market share. I must increase the number of people I talk to every day. I have to stay convicted in my belief system that I can make a difference in the client's livelihood I have the honor of working with on a daily basis. What better accomplishment than to have someone point to me and say that I helped them through one of the toughest periods they have ever experienced. That's awesome!"

In the last 4 weeks, with this system of appointments and questioning, Sharon has been able to average $16,000 in sales. At this pace, this could translate into over $300K in incremental sales. Sharon said "I'll take it!"

It’s obvious that Sharon has the right attitude. UPtimists expect to win. That’s their mindset. Success becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you’re not an UPtimist by nature, you may have to fake it until you make it.

Click here to read some comments I’ve received regarding Sharon’s experience.