Revenue Journal®

A depression is one of the worst things that can happen to the economy - it affects just about everyone, in every industry, in every country. Recessions, on the other hand, tend to hit a particular group of industries the hardest, with lesser "ripple effects" on others.

What's happening now, as everyone knows, is that lending institutions have stopped lending with wild abandon. The first people to be effected by this are those in the real estate business - real estate agents, lawyers, title companies, and all the others who gain income from real estate activity. Their income - and their spending - decreases. Many decide to leave the business. There is a personnel shift from the real estate industry to other industries, where the money is still flowing. Until they are securely ensconced in their new positions, and have recovered financially, they are still cautious about their spending.

Recessions affect other industries, too, because of the recessionary drumbeat. The news media is always prowling around looking for the latest disaster. As you know, right now they're writing stories about the "subprime lending crisis," profiling people who have been affected. This steady diet of bad economic news affects everyone. Anyone who views their house as their main economic security will be more cautious about their spending. They will take longer to make decisions. They will want more information before making a commitment. They will more carefully compare one option against another, and will be more likely to postpone major spending decisions.

Consumer spending will slow, and so will business-to-business spending. People who run businesses are consumers themselves, and they follow economic news closely. They become more cautious about their spending, too. Their employees see the boss pulling back, and they tell their families, "Things are getting tight at work. Better wait on buying that new car."

This classic, recessionary mass psychology will affect your own outlook, the outlook of your employees, and your revenue stream.

So why am I saying that recessions can be good for you? Because they provide a unique opportunity for improvement.

It took a while before the Web really changed the way people bought things, but it has happened. Now people go to the Web first and research the heck out of a subject before they buy.

They scrutinize, analyze, and agonize. They Google and re-Google, fine-tuning their search term until they start getting the desired results. They know exactly what they want and they keep searching until they finally find it, then compare their options, read the reviews, and consider the price and the functions. Once they are satisfied they have found the right product and are comfortable with the company selling it, they place an order.

I'm sorry to say that, over and over, I am finding business owners struggling to make sales because their marketers - in-house or outside - are trying to use yesterday's marketing and selling methods on today's buyers, who have definitely moved on.

Buyers have specific questions. If you're not giving them specific answers, you're not going to capture those sales. All technology aside, this is the biggest difference between "old" marketing thinking and "new" marketing thinking.

The best way to illustrate this is with an example.

A group of consultants are in a conference room, pitching a new client. One of the consultants is making the pitch. We'll call him the salesperson.

So far, the client has been alert, sitting up straight, listening, eyes fixed on the presentation being displayed in the conference room. Then the salesperson says something that disturbs the client, and the client shifts in his chair. His brows furrow a little. His eyes are no longer open wide, but squinting slightly. His hand comes up to the front of his face, palm on his chin, fingers over his lips.

The client has just sent a signal to the presenter. It is an unmistakable signal, if the presenter is properly attuned to body language. The signal says, "Hmmm. Wait a minute. This doesn't sit well with me."

I'm in the midst of rewriting about 50 "sales plays" for a client. These are intranet-based instructions for salespeople making outgoing calls to potential clients. Each "sales play" describes the product or product combination being sold (the "offering"), the target audience for that offering, what's included in the offering, why the client should be interested, and suggested voicemail, phone call, and email copy that the salesperson can use when pitching the offering to a client.

Rewriting these sales plays is reminding me how impossible it is to be a salesperson who is depending on copy written by copywriters who have never had to make a cold call. The plays I'm changing, although each one is written about a different product, all use the same language. They all talk about the customer's need and the product's benefits.

Most business activities can be managed in a fairly straightforward fashion. You decide what you're going to do, you create a project plan - complete with cost and timing - you get the right people to execute the plan, you build in checkpoints, and then you set the wheels in motion.

The chances of these activities being successful are fairly high. The barriers to success are internal politics, unrealistic expectations, and mismanagement or ineptitude as the project progresses. These problems can be overcome with effective management. Politics can be squashed by managers who are forthright and goal-driven. Unrealistic expectations can be avoided by seasoned managers who have "been there, done that," and they know what can go wrong. Mismanagement isn't a problem when the managers gather accurate data and make sound decisions. Ineptitude shouldn't get in the way - even when it is well-disguised - because good managers can spot ineptitude a mile away.

EVA is a system that lets salespeople (or anyone else, for that matter) use their cell phones to call in after a meeting with a client and get all sorts of things done. They simply call a number, give commands (such as "create an email"), and start talking. Their voice is recorded, and later listened to by a human being, who enters the data into a sales automation or CRM system.

Salespeople can set up appointments, say what happened in the meeting--including next steps--and provide information for their expense reports. They can also instruct the data entry person to send an email to the person they just visited, as they are leaving the prospect's parking lot.