My wife and I managed to jet off for a well earned break recently and headed off to Spain. We were enjoying a few days relaxing down in the laid back resort of Tarifa before heading up the coast for a friends wedding.
Immediately on arrival in Spain we had a sales training and business lesson that is absolutely worth sharing.
My wife had booked our car hire online and not seeing any reason to do anything else, she chose the cheapest provider. As soon as we had collected our bags and headed down to the car hire desks we saw a gigantic queue stretching from the desk of the desks. All of the other desks were completely empty.
I checked our paperwork, but knew deep down that we were destined for the hire desk that was backed up with eager holidaymakers.
To ensure your stability and sales success in difficult times why not adopt a business diversification strategy.
If you own a SPAR retailer consider a Subway franchise. If you are a huge department store, how about adding an old fashioned gents hair cutting and shoe shine shop.
I was recently tidying out some old paperwork and came across some notes I made when reading the Seth Godin Classic – “Purple Cow”. I think I made these notes back in 2006 or 2007 but they are just as relevant in todays business world.
We are faced with uncertain times and many people are fearing the worse about their ability to sell their products and services in his recession. It may not be easy but there are some proven ways that, if you work smart, will guide you in the right direction.
One of the key areas that I have worked with sales teams over the last few years is the ability to develop their ‘emotional’ skills in selling. No – this is not about removing their own emotions to overcome their fear of rejection. It is about developing the ability to appeal to the emotional needs of the potential buyer – whether they are selling to business or consumers.
When selling in a recession this is more important than ever. Especially if you are selling to consumers. Consumers are proven to be seeking out confidence and escapism. Businesses tend to seek out products and services that they have confidence in and gives them confidence for the future.
Think what this means to you?
How can you inspire confidence and appeal to the desire for escapism with your products and services. In my sales training business I have seen an increase in the number of enquiries from ‘stressed’ sales people and sale managers. They need things that will give them confidence in themselves, their products and services and they are also looking for confidence in the people they turn to help them through this period.
I was in the middle of doing some research in creative thinking for use in future blog posts when I decided it was time to take a break and watch Dragons Den.
The star prize for creativity went to Guy Portelli who managed to face the dragons and walk away with more money than he was asking for.
The dragons seemed a bit surprised that this proven sculptist would be asking for £70,000 for an almost guaranteed return of £250,000
It became clear, however, that Guy had his own plans. He had put his creative side to work and had thought about how he could launch his collection at the least cost to him and with the most control. Typically, art dealers would ask for 50% commission for the artist to use their premises, experience and marketing to gain access to people willing to pay around £20,000 per sculpture. They remained in control.
