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Meeting targets in challenging times

Meeting targets in challenging times

With inflation running high combined with the threat of recession, sales organisations face many challenges. In a recent article Sales Fitness Group Chairman highlighted three in particular:

Look after and retain your people.

Your best salespeople will be in high demand and may be facing personal pressures. Make sure you stay close to them. This is the time for effective sales management and coaching.

Diversify your portfolio

Some of your existing customers may come under pressure and reduce their spend with you – or worse! What would happen if you lost one or more of your most important clients. It’s not for nothing that investors place a high value on businesses with a diversified customer base. This may involve winning “new logo” business or strengthening the relationships with a wider range of your existing customers.

Defend what’s yours

This has many aspects but one is the need to defend margin. There are two sides to this – managing costs such as cost of sale and on the other hand being able to negotiate price rises with customers.

The ACE up your sleeve

Focus on three levers for sales success:

  1. Activity levels: You may need more sales activity in tough times.
  2. Concentration of Effort: Who should you focussing your efforts on in the midst of change?
  3. Effectiveness: How do the capabilities of the team need to adapt to meet new challenges?

Your best salespeople will be in high demand and may be facing personal pressures. Make sure you stay close to them. This is the time for effective sales management and coaching.

Some of your existing customers may come under pressure and reduce their spend with you – or worse! What would happen if you lost one or more of your most important clients. It’s not for nothing that investors place a high value on businesses with a diversified customer base. This may involve winning “new logo” business or strengthening the relationships with a wider range of your existing customers.

This has many aspects but one is the need to defend margin. There are two sides to this – managing costs such as cost of sale and on the other hand being able to negotiate price rises with customers.

Focus on three levers for sales success:

  1. Activity levels: You may need more sales activity in tough times.
  2. Concentration of Effort: Who should you focussing your efforts on in the midst of change?
  3. Effectiveness: How do the capabilities of the team need to adapt to meet new challenges?

We have solutions in each of these areas and hard-earned experience of weathering tough times in the past.

If you recognise any of all of these challenges let’s take some time to reflect on what’s happening together and explore the options to survive and thrive in these challenging times.

View Martin Allison’s article in Yorkshire Post Three steps for making your small business more recession resistant – Martin Allison | Yorkshire Post

SFG exists because we believe good selling does good – good for the customer, good for the company and its stakeholders, and good for the individual salesperson. Good selling means two things: selling with integrity and selling with professionalism. In a business world that is changing rapidly and radically the strategies, processes and skills that have served in the past need to change to deliver winning results in the future.

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