My good friend Joe Mattea, from the ILLICA Group, told me that there are two types of sales people: hunters and farmers. I have found this to be true, and moreover, there also seem to be Hunter and Farmer sales organizations.
Farmers carefully prepare the soil, choose and plant their crops with care, tend and nurture them, and enjoy their harvest. Farmer sales organizations similarly select their products with care, look after and tend to their customers, and reap their rewards in the form of continuing sales.Hunters are always on the move, actively pursuing new game. Hunter sales organizations are always actively on the road hunting for new business.
Farmers tend to be quite successful when times are good, but crop failure can take them down. The current tough economic situation is having the same effect on farmer sales organizations. Customers are closing up shop or cutting back spending, so sales are suffering.
So now is the time for balance. If yours is a farmer organization, maybe now is the time to take up hunting. Start looking for new sales opportunities, new customers, and pursue them aggressively. In time the economy will pick up, and your underlying farmer organization will be there to take care of the new customers that you found in your hunting phase.
The secret is balance. Nurture both sides of your business, and keep flexible so that you can respond to changing times.
Do you need help designing a more aggressive sales strategy to deal with these tough economic times? Give us a call for a free needs analysis.