There are millions of people who are currently engaged in sales, either professionally, in business, or from home. It doesn’t matter if they sell multilevel marketing, real estate, clothing, automobiles, or financial services, among others. All salespeople have one thing in common and that is that at some point in their lives, they will face a crisis, a downturn or a drop in sales. Jason Simon, a FinTech and eCommerce expert, explains how eCommerce platforms can resort to certain lifelines to avoid sinking in the waters of a sales crisis.
Sales slumps can range from a few hours to several months and are often very frustrating. “Downturns can be caused by internal psychological factors of the seller or by external factors beyond our control such as an economic downturn, a natural market cycle, a political condition, etc.,” Simon says. “Although sales slumps are inevitable, you simply don’t have the luxury of sitting around waiting for someone to solve your life. If you chose the sales profession, you must learn how to act your way out of a downturn.”
Simon has dedicated himself to sharing some resources that have helped him and thousands of other salespeople around the world get through a sales slump in the best possible way. For starters, it’s important to avoid negative situations. Start by avoiding other salespeople who grumble all day long about how bad the situation is. Misery loves company, and the last thing you need is to feed your subconscious mind with these images. So, avoid the coffee pot or the refreshment area where these people gather to read the newspaper, waste time, and ruminate on their frustration.
“Sales can be defined as a transfer of emotion. So in order to sell, you need as much positive energy as possible. Avoid negative people, and after a sales process, don’t comment on why things didn’t work out or why the customer didn’t buy,” Simon asserts. “Try to focus on what you did right and how you can improve it. Talking about negative and unpleasant things only contributes to lowering your morale and motivation, just when you need to feel good.”
Set a deadline to overcome the sales slump. Start with the phrase, “The world is in crisis, and as of today, I have decided not to participate.” This is a time to be proactive, get out of your lethargy, go back to basics, use your creativity and make changes in your sales strategy. Start by increasing the number of daily contacts, qualify your customers better, change your market niche and try new ideas. There is nothing better than drastic actions to get out of a sales slump.
Commit to yourself. Getting out of a sales slump is not easy, but it is possible. Stay committed to yourself and your work. Make up your mind that this is temporary. You have had these problems in the past and they will probably happen again in the future. Analyze what worked for you in the past to get out of the crisis. Learn to adapt quickly to change and correct the path.
Daily marketing should always be fundamental if you commit to marketing as a daily routine activity, both in new times and in bad times. You will find that sales slumps will be less frequent because your customer flow will be steady and your pipeline will always be full.
“Only mediocre salespeople react to a sales slump and that is the only time they decide to market. Unfortunately, they find that their sales slumps are getting deeper and wider. If you want to avoid sales slumps as much as possible, spend an hour a day marketing and getting more customers,” suggests Simon.
If your own activity is not helping you out of the slump, don’t be afraid to approach your sales manager and talk to him or her about your situation. It is likely that by analyzing your situation from another perspective, your manager will get an idea of what is going wrong. Simon has long said that “talking about the problem releases tension and eliminates the sense of anxiety and isolation that comes along with falling sales.”
And finally, learn from past mistakes. Analyze and think about what factors have affected you in the past, what mistakes you made, and how you moved forward. Keep a record of each situation that will help you in future situations.
Sales slumps are inevitable, but they don’t have to be so frequent or last so long. Never give up. Exercise your creativity and strive to get ahead.