Is The Recession Over?

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.