Is the recession over?
How’s the recession going for you? Officially it was over a
few years ago. Word from the government and media is that we’re good. Are we?
I had a chat with the President of a company based in South
Carolina the other day. He told me that his business has flat lined. He has not
grown sales in a couple of years. He asked me if the economy had recovered in
my world. My answer was “not really.”
As we talked we came to agreement on a couple of points.
First of all, there are fewer opportunities for business now than in better
times. The pie is smaller. Secondly, the best salespeople and companies are
doing pretty good. They are just beating the competition with superior product
knowledge, sales skills and lots of quality sales activities. We used to say
that the fast eat the slow. This is still true.
I met with executives of a nonprofit manufacturing industry
support organization a couple of weeks ago. They told me that a lot of regional
manufacturers are really struggling because much of their legacy business has
gone away and they don’t know what to do about it. The phone and fax have
gotten quiet. Outside salespeople used to go on their milk runs and collect
purchase orders. That has gotten a lot harder to do. Doughnuts aren’t the
answer anymore.
What is the answer?
The answer is training. Ongoing training of you and your
employees will empower you with an advantage over your competition. Sure, there
is a lot of competition. I agree that the potential in many markets is smaller
and tougher than it used to be. But I know, first hand, that companies can grow
and prosper under difficult circumstances. That is if they work at gaining and
maintaining a competitive edge.
How am I keeping my staff on the leading edge? We meet every
week. They learn something at our meetings. They get regular infusions of sales
techniques, product knowledge, industry knowledge and more. Sometimes I make
the presentations, other times someone from engineering or production tackles a
topic. I invite our suppliers to join our meetings. They teach us the details
of their products, their competitive and differential advantages. They teach us
who buys and why. This knowledge is power. My team just has to add a bunch of
quality sales activities to win the day and make their numbers.
Me? I’m reading business and sales books in my free time. I
have dusted off a handful of oldies, but goodies. The message of these great
books is often remarkably similar. Once in a while there is a new idea or
two…tasty nuggets of sales goodness. In reality, the truth is the truth, always
has been and always will be. The fast eat the slow, the strong eat the weak.
What recession?
Dedicate yourself to learning and earning in 2014. It will
work out for you. Let others deal with their recession? I don’t have a
recession and you don’t have to either. 
