5 Tips for Accelerating Sales in a Down Economy

Doing more with less is what we are all striving for and making the most of the resources and opportunities you have is essential. Marketing in a recession isn’t about marketing less, it’s about marketing better and smarter.

When you need to generate more qualified leads than you had to in prior years due to longer sales cycles and more reticent buyers, here are 5 tips on working smarter:

1) FOCUS ALL YOUR MESSAGING ON VALUE

“Nice to haves” don’t sell in a down economy. If your offering does not include a strong value proposition that is realizable in the near term, it’s likely to be put on the back burner.

2) FORGET THE HARD SELL

The hard sell is even harder in a down economy. Working to become a trusted resource of information with a steady stream of quality content and information helps prospects learn and works to build trust.
Research shows that buyers in an executive position clearly choose the sales person who has not only been a resource but who has also developed an ongoing relationship with them, regardless of their timing to buy.

3) PERSONALIZE COMMUNICATION

In today’s economy, B2B lead generation is all about relationships. Relationships require personal interaction — personal and human engagement. Sending out a newsletter or white paper to hundreds of prospects is not enough to generate engagement and will certainly not get you the bottom-line results you are looking for. A lack of personal engagement with your prospects via any of your marketing interactions will lead to a disappointing ROI.
Companies don’t buy, people do. Don’t ever forget the human touch.

4) DON’T DROP THE BALL

Go the extra mile and make sure you are staying in touch and following up with your prospects. In our experience, it can take 6-9 “touches” before finally connecting with a prospect. There have been many times where we made one more attempt to engage with a prospect and were met with “I’m sorry I haven’t returned your calls. I am glad you called me back.” Dropped leads are a big waste of money for companies.

5) INCREASE SELLING TIME WITH QUALIFIED LEADS

Because of longer sales cycles, you can’t afford to have your salespeople spending time on unqualified leads. They must focus attention on opportunities that have the greatest likelihood of closing. Having a process to pre-qualify leads will help you identify active buying cycles and allow you to bring your top salespeople in at a later stage.