Hibernate or Dominate?
Unbearable news from the sales front!

By Dan McDade, President of PointClear

The popular image for tough economic times is the hibernating bear.  When resources shrivel and conditions turn harsh, the bear retreats into isolation and dreamily awaits the return of abundance, gradually getting leaner as he uses up his hoarded capital.

The popular image is that bears are not terribly bright.

Faced with economic contraction, many companies pull inward almost reflexively, protecting their market position even as they dissipate it.   Investments are reconsidered, initiatives are deferred and improvements are postponed in fear of jeopardizing the status quo.

Other companies recognize that the status quo may be at least partially responsible for the tough conditions.

Those companies are ready to take advantage of their competitors' retreat to differentiate themselves, becoming poised to take a larger share during the down time and as markets begin to thaw.  They see economic contractions as the best time to invest, initiate and improve.

It's up to you to be front and center.

Accelerating sales in lean times requires a different go-to-market strategy.  With broad markets in retreat, broad marketing doesn't pay off.  Coordinating sales and marketing efforts to a seamless focus on what prospects need and when they need it can put you in front of prospects with needs before competitors wake up.

Who is on the hunt in this landscape?

Regardless of environment, your product's most compelling benefits remain unchanged.  Assuming that you had targeted effectively prior to the downturn, companies in your established prospect pool still have the greatest reason to buy.  But not all of them will.

That pool must be approached analytically to refine it down to those who are most likely to be active.  Segmentation analysis must be performed on firmographic, industry vertical, financial, demographic, geographic and seasonal data as well as  business or regulatory  trend information to pare away those prospects that will take your time but never take action.  You must also apply analytics to the crucial elements of your prospects' business to uncover the pockets of growth that inevitably occur during downturns.  What resources have dropped in price?  What business practices have changed? Even the hardest-hit categories have growth areas that benefit from economy-forced substitutions or sudden over supply.  Find those companies that cater to the new reality or rely on newly-abundant materials, and you'll find prospects on the prowl.

You can also use this information to lead your market.  There are always early adopters, those who recognize and capitalize on change.  Behind them are a second tier of prospects, those in similar business circumstance who are either slow to perceive the promise of their new market position or who allow risk aversion to inhibit potential.  Providing such businesses with thought leadership creates a bridge to action, positions you as a partner and cuts down on the competitive cycle once the sales process is engaged.

It is not enough to divine which companies have scented their new possibilities and sighted their goals.  To speed them to market, you must extend your research to the target itself.  It will no longer suffice for marketing to make the CEO comfortable with your brand image or for sales to concentrate on the most accommodating target.  Every stakeholder involved in the buying decision must be identified and engaged with messaging that is focused on his or her specific role, interest or objection.   Diving deeply into the prospect's business enables you to motivate every branch of the decision stream and rapidly embed your value proposition among the people who make sales happen – the buyers.

What are they thirsty for?

An old Chinese proverb says that hunger is the best sauce.  Prospects are much faster to bite if you position your product as the feast for their famine.

Centering your sales message on your product's superiorities won't get you there.  You must make the sale about the prospect, not the product.  Ask questions instead of giving answers.  Listen, don't talk.  Eschewing monologue for dialogue opens the conversation, exposes business pains and identifies opportunities.  Exposing those elements brings them top of mind, makes the ache sharper, the need more urgent.

It also gives you the information you need to highlight the aspects of your product that are most likely to assuage those pains.  You won't waste time addressing issues or benefits that are irrelevant; your process will be pulled ahead by their need and pushed forward by a focus on what matters most.  That combined energy propels you through the sampling phase to the meat of the opportunity for both you and your prospect.

A final burst of speed

A pro-active, analytical marketing approach and informed, customer-centric sales process have brought your prospect to the brink of a decision.  Typically, the decision will be between your product and either a competitor or an alternative option for action.

Recognize the roadblock and make your solution jump over.  Make yourself a partner in developing the optimal choice.  If price is an issue, innovate your terms.  In addition to discounts, consider modularizing your product to phase in payments over time, or offer pay for performance metrics to instill confidence.  If another route is being considered, offer more information, market comparisons and trends, ROI and efficiencies to add value.  Revisit the pains you have uncovered to motivate decision making and reinforce the relevance of your offer.  Highlighting the costs of indecision increases the appeal of action and pressures the hesitant to commit.

Speeding sales in a slow economy means shifting your attention from the lumbering to the lithe.  While the bear slumbers, the ermine changes the color of its fur to match the wintry landscape, shifts its territory, hunts different prey, and emerges as the image of swift, cunning opulence.  Evaluating and meeting the changed nature of your business opportunities and altering your hunting strategy can highlight new quarries and help you cut to the chase.

We appreciate our sponsors:

• ActOn Software
  Applied DM Research, Inc.
• CartoonLink, Inc.
• ClickPoint Software
• eti Sales Support
• Event Technologies
• Exceed Sales
• The Hill Group
• ITN International

• Invenio Solutions
• InterlinkOne
• LeadLife
• New Business Strategies
• The Pedowitz Group
• PointClear, LLC
• Sales Benchmark Index
• SalesFUSION

• Sales Leakage Consulting
• Sandler Training
• Validar Inc.
• The Vanella Group
• VanillaSoft
• Velocify
• The Velos Group, Inc.
• Vorsight