The Sales Archaeologist

Have you noticed an improvement in the economy? Is it the same? Is it worse than ever?

There are numerous indicators that experts and the general population look at as they try to answer that question and they rarely do – but sales people have an interesting insight into what is really going on. At least some of them do. But the economy as it is called –often has different meaning and impact for different people and businesses.

If you are a sales professional how do you answer those questions? Hopefully you start by saying something like “most of my clients and prospects are saying……” and that provides you with the number one indicator. For you - the economy is your territory. The way your clients and prospects are buying is a microcosm of Wall Street. The business they are conducting internationally tells you how the global economy is doing.

Former speaker of the house Tip O’Neil was famous for saying that “all politics are local” and that meant that people needed to see the implication of the issues for themselves and then they needed to get involved. As a sales professional, your view of the economy should be local and your understanding of it should be linked to your interaction with your “community”. However if you are going to do that then you need to have deeper business conversations with your clients and our research shows that most sales people struggle with having a consultative dialog.

Think about your last sales call – regardless of what you sell did you talk about or ask any of the following business questions.

• What impact has the downturn had on your business?
• How has your role been affected?
• When you say things are (getting better/getting worse) what are you basing that on?
• Are you trying to get more done with less?
• How has this quarter been so far?
• Are you expecting further cuts?

Business questions help you understand how the economy has affected your prospects business and they lead you to a place where you can offer help. They show that you are a credible and trusted expert that brings more to the table than just a product or a service.

Regardless of how you answered the first question in this article – you probably need to start talking more business on your sales calls. Try it this week and watch what happens.