Sales in the New Reality – Shelle’s Top Tips

Things are not the way they were before. Since 2008 with the financial crash that went around the world, we’ve had disaster after disaster; and nothing will ever be the same again. We have uprisings that have happened, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, volcanos that have shut down all transportation in many countries — disaster after disaster. Not to mention the financial disasters in Greece that the European Union doesn’t know what to do about, and the possible melt down in the US in the summer of 2011. This is the new reality.

If you’re a salesperson, this is your challenge, since many people are suffering from what I call Mental Hibernation. It is as if they are frozen in fear, waiting for the winter to end. But the winter is not going to end. This is a new reality. And if your clients and your potential clients are stuck in this paralysis, you need to push back and reframe. The crisis is always on now. And as Paul Romer, the Stanford Economist said, “a crisis is too good an opportunity to waste”.

In these times you need to reframe your clients. This is absolutely key now. If they say: “we’ll wait and see”, you need to say: “you wait, you’ll be too late.” If they say: “we can’t do anything”, you need to say: “you snooze, you lose.” If people are not using this time to rethink their businesses or rethink how they’re going to do their work, they are missing a huge opportunity and may end up being left behind.

Here is an example from Japan. One of the participants from my sales and marketing program in June 2011 in Tokyo said: I work in the tsunami area and my job is to sell new houses. How can I sell new houses in this environment? People are just overwhelmed with what has happened to them. I replied: “That’s right, you can no longer sell new houses, you are in a different business now. You need to be helping people rebuild their lives. What else can you offer them to help them rebuild their lives? Can you help by asking the home building suppliers what can they offer to help the victims of the tsunami? What can they give them for free? Can you talk to the companies that have building equipment and get them get bulldozers in to help clear the land? Many people wait for the government to do these kinds of things and we all know in the new reality, you have to do what you can to take care of yourself.

As a salesperson, you need to be helping your people in the new reality think about the issues of top importance to them. So what you can offer your clients that they absolutely need now? What is important to them about what it is you do? If you are a nutritionist, now people really need to take care of themselves because all kinds of pollutants have entered the environment wherever you are.

How can you help people take better care of themselves, whatever it is that you offer? If you are a coach, you can position this important role by talking about how to help clients manage their own lives to not be victim in the new reality. So as a salesperson, think about what you can offer people, that they really need now. Don’t let your potential customers sit and stew or leave them in mental hibernation and paralysis and fear. Now is the time for you to come forward and help people get on with their lives.

This is the new reality.

Check out  www.ShellesTopTips.com  If you want some tips on communicating and solving some of the problems.

If you are interested in booking me (Shelle Rose Charvet) for a presentation, keynote or workshop contact me at [email protected].  Please visit my speaking page too.