You Can’t Cut your Way to a Profit
Most companies have taken action through this bad economy to trim the fat and right size their operations. It had to happen, and the companies that cut early and cut deep ensured their survival. Restructuring, headcount reduction, cutting expenses, continuous improvement, you name it, 2009 will go down in history as the year that less was more.
While corporate leaders were doing all the right things by restructuring and cutting costs on the inside, many are now looking up and wondering where all their customers went when they weren’t looking. Operations have been streamlined and are leaner than ever. Now it’s time to bring the customers back!
Whether you lost customers to competitors, to the economy or because they just stopped buying – it’s now time to get them back. Let’s revisit Sales 101, review the fundamentals and get back to the basics.
The Three Pillars of Selling
Knowledge – Take the time to understand your customers. If you don’t, they will quickly see that you are trying to sell them something rather than provide them a solution. No one wants to be sold anything. People and companies want to buy a product they need. Know your customers.
Self Awareness – Look in the mirror and figure out who you are, how you project and how others perceive you. Now look at your company and the product or service that you represent. Figure out how to align all three of these images to truly create a competitive advantage. In a world where trust, relationships, and honesty will win the day - who are you and what do you represent?
Discipline – The best sales reps in the world are the ones that understand that they run their own business. Their degree of success directly correlates to their volume of effort. Distractions are everywhere, make sure you are maximizing your time towards the goal of bringing in the order.
