The economy IS improving and business is responding even though very slightly. Now is the time for business owners to kick their sales teams out of the office and calling on prospects. No excuses! CEOs should direct that relationship-building calls are mandatory. Prospects are not going to scream for sales people to call but they are listening to those who call in person. By September the opportunity will be clear to all and it will become once again a mad scamble for prospect time and attention. Trust me! I’ve been through a bunch of recessions. So get your sales folks out into the field.

Now is the time to closely review the strengths and weaknesses of each sales team member. Before the economy improves, which it is doing now, you should look at who you can do without and start searching for better quality replacements. Lots of good talent on street for other reasons and smart CEOs take advantage of this. If you don’t know who is good, marginal or poor except for sales records, look into more objective, deeper assessment tools. The cost and time is little, especially when compared to future potential sales increases.

This is a great time to ramp up your business growth activities. Most businesses are still in their fox holes waiting for some magical sign that it is ok to go out and sell. BUNK! Now is the time to get out there and sell. History has proven this time and time again. For those who dare to forge ahead NOW will win very BIG within 4-6 months. Why wait for everyone else to get their confidence back and increase your competition? Get out their and sell their best customers. I’ve been through several recessions and I’ve seen this action work many times. So go for it!!!!!

Most executives dream of greater success and even take a step or two towards that goal. However most are distracted by another idea that seems to be easier and therefore abandon the current course of action.

My advice is to select one behavior change and work on it until you are successfull in doing that one behavior change. Finding greater success comes quicker when a person or company focues on accomplishing  one behavior change at a time.

Most business owners do not take the initiative to learn what their leadership/management strengths and weaknesses are…until it is too late. They are convinced their own assumptions and opinions is all that is needed. After all, it’s their money and their business at stake. Having started three business myself I am here to suggest that this is a trap that ego leads most of all towards. Please take the time and investigate your own personal strengths and weaknesses…OBJECTIVELY. You WILL be surprised and you will learn what you can do to increse your business’ sales revenues.

Virtually all sales people aren’t totally open with their employer. Some rely on this to protect their job. As a business owner it helps immensely if you conduct behavior and skills assessments on each sales person. These will tell you a great deal about their abilities and links very well to their perceided performance. I will be happy to give you details and contact information so you can conduct these yourself. Please don’t wait until a sales person quits….good or bad ones. Be proactive.

Most CEOs don’t know what they really need to know about why their business is not growing. They run heavily on ‘assumption’ and ‘opinion’. It is a no-brainer to hire a professional to query employees, customers and prospect and get the REAL insights about sales for your company. Would you pay $2,500 to increase your sales by 10%?

These can be hard times, especially for CEO/Business owners but when times get tough, the tough get going. Now is the time to drop your poorest performing sales team members. Bite the bullet and let them go. Odds are in your favor that you will find another, better one quickly.

The US has been through 14 recessions since World War II. Looking back on them there are several important lessons to learn, regarding business sales revenues. Business owners and CEOs should learn that unemployment is a lagging not leading indicator. Look closely at your industry’s revenue numbers. Sometimes the turnaround comes sooner than you think. Proven many times, the companies who are pro-active in a recession reaps much, much more sales when the recession begins to turnaround.

Being pro-active in a recession is hard but how does the old saying go: When the times get tough, the tough get going.

In these challenging times sales are more difficult to build. Here are two tips that have worked for my clients: 

Tip # 1 - Focus selling efforts on most profitable items in your inventory. Talk with customers who buy these and discuss ways you can better fulfill their needs and your sales. You may have to bundle more than one thing together to give a ‘bargin’ price without having to cut your price or profits. Ask, listen and then speak to your customer. 

Tip # 2 - Give your sales team assessments that tell you and them where they need to improve in order to be a better sales person. Nobody but nobody is perfect. In trying times you as the owner need to retain your BEST sales people and eliminate the poor performers. There is no time to “train” especially when there are so many great sales people unemployed.