Will things turn around in 2010?

A lot of companies initially try to 'preserve' sales, even though they are cutting back on administration and production right now. That's because sales are the hope for the future. It is true that sales play the decisive role, but preserving it is not enough.

Several years of growth and success has weakened the companies' sales divisions, as sales in many cases has been a matter of dispatching products when orders are recieved. Good sales have secured strong positions in the companies for the salesperson, as well as high salaries, and it has sometimes led to an egotistical attitude held by the salesperson! But frequently the results hide the fact that customers have been purchasing - and not the salesperson actively selling the product. It has become a case of reactive selling as opposed to proactive selling!

The very basic sales tools have become weakened, and this goes for both simple and complex selling situations. Now all the following factors are needed again; canvassing, empathy for the customer and their situation, presentation and negotiation techniques. And we see that this task is a challenge for even the most experienced of salespeople, those that have years of sales experience, high seniority, pay and benefits. The sales work is not well-founded; it is too easy 'to find the holes in the cheese', and the hardships create insecure and unmotivated salespeople giving up all too easily.

There are plenty of excuses, and if you lose an order, it is obvious to blame it on the crisis. That is too easy. The real reason must be found and of course it could be that the solution we presented wasn’t right or that the competition was stronger than we thought – either way that could be down to poor selling! It's time to separate the sheep from the goats among the salespeople. Who has faith in the project and is doing something about it, and who is staying in their comfort zone, not willing to make the effort to win new business? The analysis of the company's sales results is of crucial importance. This is the right time to correct the approach, create the right culture, adjust the organisation and set a realistic wage level in the sales divisions.

Where are those whose role it is to leverage the salespeople - where is the sales manager right now? A lot of executives have not experienced hard times themselves. In recent years the job as a sales executive has mostly concerned administration, and in many cases salespeople have been allowed to mind their own business in their own private bubbles. This has resulted in the sales executive's relationship with the salesperson not being strong enough, with weak authority and insufficient managerial skills. It's very often the classic story of the skilled and successful salesperson becoming the sales manager yet he or she does not have the necessary skills to manage the sales team.

Something must be done. It is skilled sales management which must secure the results now and establish the foundation for the future. Tight control of each salesperson’s performances is required, but is has to be coupled with constructive awareness and frequent motivation. Under difficult circumstances focus has to be on customers and areas providing results, and it must happen creatively and with efficiency. In order for that to happen the sales management position must be strengthened and supported. It must have freedom to act and be moved to the forefront of the company’s obejectives.

There is a lot of talk about crisis in our companies and especially in the sales departments. There are a lot of opinions, but there is one thing everyone can agree on; it is a question of time before the tide turns. When? More and more people are saying: 2010 and just for that reason this is a good guess, but if the individual company is to get on the train when it starts rolling, then it is time to focus and invest in the optimisation and development of sales, sales management and salespeople.

Sales must make the difference. People create results, and with the right initiatives this year, we will turn things around in 2010.