Every business has its up and its downs. The business ebbs and flows from time to time sometimes because of things that are out of the sales leaders and even his/her companys hands.

For example, in the residential construction market a business slowdown maybe driven by unexpected jumps in interest rates and/or an industry wide new housing inventory adjustment downward driven by home purchase cancellations and reduced speculative building by large national and regional builders.

Somewhat sudden and unexpected soft markets can and almost always translate to sales problems in any or all of the following areas; increased competition (for less volume), price erosion and share loss. Those three things equate to lower revenue and lower gross margin resultsrevenue and gross margin the leaders of your company are counting on you and your team to deliver.

When the market suddenly or unexpectedly goes south, sales leaders need to adjust their focus, how they spend their time plus their thinking and their behavior.

Here are ten tips for sales leaders who find themselves in a down market;

1. Reality is this, senior leaders dont adjust the goals or their expectations of sales teams due to shifts in the market environment. Senior leaders expect sales leaders and their teams to figure out how to deliver their sales goals such as revenue, gross margin, share gain, etc. despite the unexpected changes and more difficult business situation.

Kick up communications to your team. Make sure your team understands what they are responsible to deliver including revenue, gross margin, share gain, etc. goals/quotos.

2. Drive the importance of urgency into the team. Explain that their personal time management is paramount in a down market. Explain there are no do overs when it comes to the calendarif a day is wastedit is gone. Make sure the team understands they are working against the clockif the team falls behind, there is more pressure to deliver downstream when there is less time remaining in the year. Every team member must be totally focused, accept accountability and be both passionate and committed to deliver extraordinary results every single day.

3. Another reality, it is easier to pick up share at existing accounts vs. starting from scratch to convert target accounts where you have no share. If you have 50% share at an accountput a sales proposition in place that will persuade your customer you deserve a higher share based on the value, resources and solutions your company provides.

4. Evaluate your distribution networkperhaps there are companies who have been interested in your line and wish to become a distributor for your company. Now is the time to determine if there are opportunities to add distribution in your territory. If so, move quicklyyou dont want them to pick up your competitors line.

5. Lean on your relationships with the principals of your key accounts for additional business. If the relationships are strong, you really should be able to go to the owner or the leader of your account(s) and explain; a) you would like to discuss what amount of discretionary business may be available in his operations, b) that based on your partnership over the years you really need his/her personal support and cooperation. Specifically, you need to understand specfic short and long term needs your company could provide. And c) gain agreement that when you deliver those needs you will be rewarded with additional revenue.

This is a terrific opportunity for you to trade; more and improved product and application training for his/her team, co-op advertising and/or assistance that will improve his/her customer's inventory turns and cash flow for additional revenue.

6. Communicate your teams results against their goals frequently. Establish a consistent scorecard format for communicating the status of your business and use it every month. Also communicate successes, best practices, results throughout the organization. Establish and maintain high visibilitysell your teams commitment to deliver the plan up the organization

7. Expect the unexpected. For example, clearly, one thing that would be extremely disruptive is unexpected turnover within your sales team especially in a down market.

Replacing someone in the field takes timeyou have to find a person, then the new person has to start from ground zero to build relationships, gain the trust and confidence of his customer base, learn the product line, understand competitors and their tactics and strategies. It could take up to six months before a replacement starts contributinga lot can happen in that six month period if you are not prepared for it including share erosion, loss of relationships, loss of momentum in important programs, etc.

Do you have a personnel backup plan in place in case that should happen?

8. The definition of insanity"doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting different results! Think about options/alternatives regarding how your team is deployed and what the benefits of redeployment may be to your revenue and GM results plus the personnel growth and development of your team. Once you have a plan in place, implement quickly to gain the benefits as soon as possible.

9. In the area of coaching, ask this question... am I spending enough time providing feedback to my sales team? Are my coaching/teaching efforts focused on the things that will help my team deliver their critical outcomes? If notwhat do I need to do differently? What resources do I need to provide my team to make them as successful as possible as quickly as possible?

10. NEVER EVER USE FEAR TO TRY AND MOTIVATE THE TEAM. Fear simply does not work. Employees resent an environment where leadership injects an atmosphere of fear into the mix to try and motivate the organization. People simply will not respond positively to fear. They will not work any harder on the issues they face or the goals that have been established. They will more likely work harder trying to find another job in another division of the company, outside the company or simply quit.

Selling in a down market requires even higher levels of employee sensitivity, it requires more communications, it requires more sharing of best practices and it requires more celebrating of successes.

Selling in a down market requires that you consider reshaping how you spend your time and that you focus on the most significant issues and opportunities that will at a minimum result in; a) required revenue and GM results, b) better, faster development of your organization and c) that will ensure you and your team deliver all of your critical outcomes.

Selling in a down market really is all about leadership! Take time to identify important leadership opportunities that are in front of you and that will make a difference in your teams results and your companys success.

About the author: Thomas DeGroff is President of Aiuto Consulting, a communication and sales training company located in Scottsdale, AZ. Mr. DeGroff retired from Owens Corning, a Fortune 500 company, in 2006 after 35 years of service as a Region Sales Leader responsible for delivering over $250 million in revenue. Owens Corning is the worlds largest producer of fiberglass insulation and other residential, commercial and industrial construction products.

http://aiutoconsultingllc.com

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