Most salespeople may find little comfort in the control and convenience of being in sales in a tough economy. In the spirit of getting through a tough economy, here’s the top five tips learned from being in a cast for a broken leg.
Early in February, when helping my mom to complete her cataract surgery, I took a nasty fall resulting in a broken driving leg; my right leg. This experience resulted in the top five tips I learned from the first four weeks of being in a removable air cast:
1. When things get tough, it’s better to slow down before forging ahead.
Slowing down to analyze your best marketing approaches, your most wanted sales products or services, and putting creativity into your selling is imperative. Rushing through your “as usual” activities will not serve your sales recovery.
2. Learn to ask anyone for the help you need.
That advice, “ask for referrals,” doesn’t get too many results with a sticker on the back of an envelope or the phrase printed on the back of a business card. My introvert and shy friends please take this stretch: learn to ask for the help you need. If you need someone to make a call for you, ask. If you need someone to put in the good word for you ask. New sales in a down economy won’t happen with a passive approach.
3. Decide to follow a leader’s advice.
If you are on a sales team and your sales manager has some advice, particularly from a time they weathered a recession, then be open to putting their advice into action. Get a mentor, pay a coach, listen to a leader who has the experience.
4. Acknowledge your helpers.
When I called my husband to check on portability of health insurance, we determined he was my only way home to get me and my car home. I told my friends I was nominating my husband for “husband of the year award.” I was genuinely appreciative and grateful for all he was doing to help me during this restless time. What I didn’t even expect was his turning the notch up on his help. People want to go the extra mile when you remember them in meaningful ways.
5. Go slow again when the cast if off.
While not as dramatic as the cry “Freedom,” in the movie Braveheart, it was exhilarating when the doctor told me, “You can take off the cast now and drive.” Following his advice to “take it slowly, a little bit each day,” seems also wise advice to salespeople who get creative, hatch new ideas and want to triumph in a year that otherwise might lead their business – nowhere.
The tough economy is like a removable air cast. You can either stay immobilized and keep doing things the same. Or you can steadily and thoughtfully be consistent with a new approach for selling in a down economy.
Who knows? You may not want to return to the pre-cast days if you get better results.