04 November 2009 | Clark Owen

I recently had the chance to attend the third stop of our Miller Heiman Client Summit series and jotted down a few of my key takeaways:

• Without ignoring or refuting the negative impact that the recession has had on all sales organizations, salespeople and sales leaders use the bad economy as an excuse for lackluster performance and for weak activities, poor execution and inadequate effort. “We’ll wait for the economy to turn around before our efforts will make a difference.”

• One of the most common objections that salespeople accept from their customers is: “We do not have the budget right now.”  This is not entirely representative of the truth because, even when companies tighten their belts to control expenses, they still have money to run the business. It’s never a matter of not having budget, it’s a matter of fiscal priority.  If there is a clear ROI or payback on an investment, companies will spend the money – budget or no budget.

• Often during a down economy, executives and managers become very internally focused on cost cutting, reorganizing, micro-managing, etc.  The companies that are succeeding in a down economy are the ones who stay disciplined at being in front of their customers, particularly those that are key accounts and who represent a strategic relationship.  It’s the companies that understand the economics of customer loyalty that see big dividends pay off in current and future growth.  Some firms have a false sense of security and rely on the historical “run-rate” of their customer revenue during tough economic times.  They become complacent in their relationship and investments in those customers.  They assume that these customers are satisfied with their products and services and have no reason to leave.  They are right; but they don’t realize that the same customer doesn’t have a reason to stay either.  And when a competitor comes along who can provide more value, they’re surprised when they lose the account.

• One of the effects of a down economy is that it has made the buying process in general more complex.  Everyone agrees that sales organizations need to be customer-focused to be successful in today’s more sophisticated and competitive selling environment.  However, many sales organizations have an antiquated perception of what customer- focused looks like. As we head into 2010, we still see some firms define customer-focused as being relationship-oriented: the salesperson knows everyone in the account, providing timely support and follow up to problems.  According to research presented by the Sales Executive Council,  the most successful people in today’s poor economic conditions are salespeople who challenge their customers in a provocative and nontraditional way.  The Challenger salesperson, as described by the SEC, tend to be effective at not only understanding his or her customers’ needs, but in  helping shape customers’ perceptions of what could be.  They’re very flexible and creative in communicating how their products and solutions will impact their customer, both from a results standpoint and from a personal perspective. They tend to be assertive and behave as experts in their field, and they are successful in creating a sense of urgency to act, resulting in higher wins.  This is how the customer- focused salesperson of 2010 will differentiate him or herself to be really successful in a complex selling environment.

Our Conceptual Selling® clients are familiar with these ideas as they understand the importance of understanding and expanding their clients’ concept while differentiating and building credibility.

If you’re interested in getting more information on these topics, you may consider attending our fourth and final (read: last chance!) Miller Heiman Client Summit in Atlanta, November 10, 2009.

Clark Owen
Sales Vice President, Miller Heiman

photo credit: SarahMcD