You may have noticed recently the change in the tone of conversations about the New Zealand (and world) economy. With significant layoffs globally, crypto and equities markets crashing and inflation hitting new highs, it can seem almost impossible to sell your product or service in such tumultuous times. 

Business leaders globally are all doing the same three things:

  • Reducing discretionary spending and cutting immediately any unnecessary expenditure.
  • Reducing the costs of essential items either through negotiating with providers or looking elsewhere.
  • Reducing potential downside risk (focusing on the short-term but with consideration of the future of the business).

It can seem daunting when your customers are all doing those things, but the show must go on and uncertain times are full of opportunities if approached with the right mindset. 

Here are three simple steps you can take to maximise your sales success in tough times:

Step 1: Critically assess how you are talking about your product or service.

The same messaging you were using in a growth market will no longer work in the current downturn, where business leaders are all focused on reducing costs and mitigating risk. Strategies to consider include:

  • Get rid of any language that signals a nice-to-have, and don’t talk about growth if your potential customer is not in growth mode. Make sure you tailor your message to where your customer is at right now. A good example of this is "an efficiency gain" is a nice-to-have but a "cost saving" is a must-have – despite being the same thing!
  • Focus new messaging on reducing costs and extending business runways. Your buyer is most likely already in the mindset of cost cutting, so speak to that. 
  • Double down on any focus on risk mitigation. If there is an element of your product or service that reduces risks for your customers in some way, enhance the focus on that. 
  • If you are priced as a premium product/service and have competitors that offer similar value for a lower cost, you might need to re-evaluate your pricing model. In a downturn, people are far more conscious of how much they spend on everything – for example, if you are buying a car right now, you will likely purchase a Toyota over a more-expensive BMW as they both can get you from A to B.

Step 2: Be empathetic – empathy is the name of the game.

Your customers’ and prospects’ worlds may have just been turned upside down. You aren’t the only one feeling the pain. Think about how you approach communicating with your customers and prospects. Also be prepared for a change in tone or enthusiasm for things that were previously top of mind. 

Stop using the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ and instead focus your messaging on your clients and prospects. Show extra concern for them and do what you can to reduce churn as much as possible; it’s far cheaper to keep clients than to win new ones. 

Be a leader to them and also look for ways you can help them; add further value and make them feel appreciated. Ask your customers lots of questions. Find out what’s going on in their world and what their priorities, challenges and goals are. Be curious.

  • Be understanding if deals you thought were going to conclude are now delayed. Look for ways to be accommodating, such as through creative payment terms or rejigging offers. 
  • If you still aren’t getting anywhere and if now is no longer a good time, respect that. Be concerned about how they are doing; ask them how they are getting along. 
  • Respect the time frames that people give you, and then schedule a call at the time they suggest. 
  • Suggest, again gently, that you will reach out again in the coming weeks to check in to see how they are getting on and look to resume conversations.

Step 3: Adopt an appropriate mindset.

It’s understandable to be stressed when targets aren’t being hit or when your board is piling on the pressure but there are two ways to look at the current situation…

  • Panic, bury your head in the sand and hope it all goes away.
  • Be decisive, make changes and look for opportunities.

People can sense your state of mind, even over the phone or zoom calls, so work on building your positivity so that it radiates out of you. Two simple ways you can increase energy and resilience while remaining calm are: 

  • Get daily exercise (and encourage others to do so, too). 
  • Breathe. There are different approaches here, but conscious breathing has been proven to calm the mind and the body. 

People will be drawn to your positivity, your confidence will inspire others, and you will come out the other side stronger.

Difficult economic environments are always a scary prospect; however, the more uncertain the environment, the more opportunities there are. Remember that many of the world’s most valuable companies – Airbnb, Uber and Slack, to name just three – were founded and grew in recessions. Keep on selling!

What to do next

If you would like to have a chat with Apprento about either finding top sales talent or accelerating the performance of your sales team, reach out here for a 30-minute strategy session. Fill in your details here.