The economic downturn is here.
I’m hearing the same message from nearly all clients, business owners and my spies in the sales world: sales are down.
This isn’t a shock. The better question is what can you do about it?
Here’s a summary of some good tips for surviving this new recession:
- Profit actually matters again. Growth is the objective in a bull market whereas profit is king right now. Research leads and customize your message to highlight profit and efficiency for a small target market. For a larger target market, prioritize personalization over volume by focusing on sub-levels of your market. Understand how you can grow profit of your customers and explain it concisely. (Predictable Revenue)
- Frame your solutions towards CFOs. How can you reduce their costs, help them grow revenue predictably, mitigate risks, or improve customer satisfaction? (Gong)
- Go high early and often. Sales cycles have lengthened and more approvals are necessary to close. Early in the sales process, have your CEO send a note to the prospect’s C-suite offering to align on priorities. As the sales process continues, engage VPs and executives from your company and theirs, getting them on calls together to discuss business cases and ROI. (From an IRC interview with a sales executive; SaaS $300k+ OTE)