My husband asked me to write this blog.  He has been in sales since 1976 as a manufacturers representative.  He has always said the first thing a company will do in hard times is cut their sales staff.  Yet he has always believed this is the last thing a company should do in hard times.

So my first thought on this topic was how is this supposed to relate to my client base?  I work with real estate agents.  I started thinking it has to be the same with them.  In hard times people don’t want to sell their homes for less than they paid.  My research has been interesting and I hope you find it interesting as well.

Over these many years of sales my husband has experienced many companies’ first choice is to down-size their sales force.  Yet without the sales force, where are the sales coming from?  And if you don’t have sales, where is the money coming from to keep the rest of the company employees employed?  Basically, no sales means no revenue.

Headlines such as this are appearing in newspapers and online more often in this recession: Report: Pfizer May Cut Sales Force by Nearly a Third, as reported in the WSJ Online.

While doing research for this blog  I found a video of a recent conversation between the CEO of HR Chally, Howard Stevens, with Neil Rackham.   Watch the video by clicking on Winning Strategies in Economic Downturns.

I found a few things discussed to be very interesting.  For instance, Neil Rackham says:  “In hard times people put a lot of effort into chasing every opportunity they think they can get.  They half sale to twice as many customers.  Successful companies target very specifically.  They chase fewer pieces of business in more depth. They understand their existing customer base is where they are going to be most successful.”

Another interesting article I read was “What is Your Recession Sales Strategy?” by Josh Gordon.

This survey reveals small to mid-sized accounts bounced back faster from a recession than large Fortune 500 companies.  This is due to the fact that smaller companies find it easier to change.

A key statistic that many companies ignore is it costs less to sell to an existing customer than to develop new ones.  So real estate agents can look at this aspect in their business as well.  Your existing client base is going to remember the service you were able to provide.

A key to a company growing during a recession is for marketing departments to cooperate with their sales team.  Businesses need to add products that their existing customers would be interested in or to bring back older products that still have some life.  

During a recession many companies will cut their employee base.  Due to this fact the remaining employees are working harder to get the same amount of work done.   Calling on a customer or client just to go in and have “face time” is a waste of their time.  But if the customer or client sees you as a resource to help them get their work done, the more value you will become to them.

So for sales people, real estate agents, small businesses, going after your existing clients or past clients may be the most beneficial to you. 

For real estate agents it is essential that you work on your contact management.  Keep in touch with your past clients, let them know you are still alive and are there to help them with all of their buying and selling needs.   If need be re-introduce yourself to clients you have not contacted in a very long time.  These are the people who are going to remember you because you sold them the house of their dreams.  But their dreams are smaller now that the kids have grown up.  Utilize a virtual assistant who can help you with these programs.

Here’s another feather in your hat!