I read “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan” from Obama’s economic team. Not the yawner you might think as long as you find Nostradamus or The Book of Revelations as upbeat…
Best case, the government delivers almost a trillion dollars to the economy quickly and our unemployment still grows to 8-9% and holds there for 12-15 months before it starts to get better. A little rough. And, by the way, that is the good news. That’s if we spend the trillion dollars. If we don’t, wellllllll…. Think 10%+ unemployment all the way into 2011. If you start to get depressed about this stuff, do what I did: I went on the road and saw a great client. Seeing great clients is as good as chocolate.
Seriously, in this yellow-flag period of the economy. (See this Thursday’s newsletter for the term), one of the key things that sales organizations need to do is to keep their positive attitude, stay strong about their own company and what their company does for clients and keep close to the market through the friendly buyers who will trust you enough to tell you the truth…
On your next visit to a good client–besides chit-chat and reinforcement, (don’t underrate either of those, they are good stuff)–ask a few penetrating questions, like:
- What are you doing different than your competitors to take market share right now?
- What is the smartest thing you have heard from your customers lately that they are doing with your product/service to give them an advantage?
- What companies do you admire in the way that they are approaching the market and their customers during this down economy?
Let me know what your penetrating questions might be that can increase the quality of your conversation when you go and see your best customers.