As the economy continues to stagnate, small businesses are charged with the task of developing sales management strategies that will produce results, even in the face of recession. There are some special tactics you can take with your sales management strategies during the ongoing recession to generate revenue. The following five effective sales strategies will help you keep your business on the right track during the ongoing recession.
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Maintain Current Fees, Rates and Prices
Don’t increase any of your current fees, rates or prices, even if you had planned to do so before the recession. This is one the most effective sales management strategies that can help you retain your existing consumer base. Customers are likely to cut back on spending during a recession, and if you increase fees, rates or prices, it will draw unnecessary attention to them.
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Explore Old Leads
Old clients are a great resource for your business. One of the most tested and true recession strategies involves exploring old leads to generate renewed business opportunities. You can do this by contacting former customers directly and talking with them to see what they need at the moment. In a recession, strategies like this work best if you send some preliminary information by email, mail or fax, and then place a courtesy call to discuss it later. Give the client ample time to review the materials before placing a friendly call to explore old leads.
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Revise Your Marketing Campaign
One of the most important recession strategies you can implement is making critical revisions to your marketing campaign. Consider the number of hours in a week that you typically devote to your marketing initiatives, and then double that number. A beefed up marketing campaign does not necessarily mean a significant financial investment, but the added investment of your time will produce results. Your additional time will be spent making follow up calls, exploring new leads, and building relationships with potential clients.
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Give Reasonable Quotes and Place Affordable Bids
Sales management strategies don’t work in a recession if the customers you are serving cannot afford to do business with you. Now is not the time to quote high prices or make big bids. As a general rule of thumb, reducing your quotes and bids by 15-20% is one way to ensure that customers will buy and your business will be awarded contracts.
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Offer Additional Services
Effective sales strategies in a recession often involve providing a little something extra for the customer. This could be a promotional item or extended discount of an additional service. Customize your promotional offers and additional services to meet specific customer needs.
These recession strategies won’t turn your business around when used independently, but if you combine several of them, they can help you transform your outlook for the future. Adopt several of these sales management strategies in order to maximize results. Continually evaluate the effectiveness of each strategy, and make revisions accordingly.
