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You need to think of yourself as the cavalry coming to the rescue.
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If these statements sound familiar, you are not alone. Every salesperson has heard them dozens of times. You probably use them yourself. Sometimes these are said as an easy way to get rid of you for various reasons. Seldom are they totally accurate assuming that the company you are calling on plans to stay in business, and that your product or service fills a need for your prospect or customer.
In a slow economy, companies are obviously looking for the best use of the money that is available. There are certain expenses that generally can't be avoided such as basic utilities, rent, payroll, taxes, etc. Now your customer has to decide what is the best use for what is left. You need to think of yourself as the cavalry coming to the rescue with your product/service that either makes money or saves money (nice if it does both). Now comes the ugly part. Every salesperson that calls on your prospect or customer also feels like the cavalry coming to the rescue and will fight for a piece of the action.
The primary focus of getting business in all cases - but especially in tough economic times - is to get your customers to move your product or service to the top of their priority list of expenditures. This is not a simple task; they have a lot of needs and issues vying for their time and money.
Here are some suggestions that may help:
- Call as high in the company as possible where the individual you talk to can spend money without other's permission.
- Question thoroughly so you are sure of the customer's needs and expectations of results.
- Be creative with financing, leasing, terms, and conditions, etc. (This may require involvement of your management team.)
- Handle objections confidently without being defensive.
- Several times throughout the proposal stage seek agreement from your customer that the benefits of your solution are realized.
- Be sure that the customer can appreciate the value that you, your company, and your product/service bring to his/her company.
- Lastly, cost justify, cost justify, cost justify!!!
Remember that your customers are being pulled in many different directions. They need your help to invest their money wisely where it will have the best return on their investment. Good luck and good selling.
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