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When opportunity doesn't knock:
How to deal with a sales slump
By Jenny C. McCune •
Bankrate.com
 Even
the most successful enterprise can fall into a sales slump, either
because of an economic downturn or because a small-business owner
becomes too preoccupied with current business to worry about attracting
new clients. Here are steps to avoid a sales slump and what to do
when the worst does happen.
• Never stop marketing.
Sooner or later, neglecting marketing will come
back to haunt a small-business owner. The key is to build marketing
into your regular routine, says Tracy Schneider, principal of TLS
Marketing in Seattle. Set aside a specific portion of your workweek
for marketing activities and try and come up with marketing devices
that you can't postpone.
"Create marketing tasks that are so much a part
of your business that you don't even think of it as extra stuff,"
Schneider says. "Give a speech at a local business association --
you won't be able to put that off -- or put out a newsletter and
stick to your schedule." Keep in mind that landing an account can
take as long as six months to a year, so even if your company's
busy now, it may well need the work that you're recruiting today
six months down the road, the business consultant says.
• Build
on your success.
According to Austin McGonigle, president of
Success Cycle, a sales training company in Atlanta, it's easy for
a small-business owner to take it easy after closing some sales.
"There's this tendency to say, 'I had a wonderful sales day, nothing
else can happen today, so I'm going to quit early,' " McGonigle
says. "But this is the very best time to make a cold call -- after
you have had some successes." Use one success to lead to another,
he says.
• Be
diverse.
Companies that have too many customers in the
same industry or whose main revenues derive from too few clients
are bound to encounter a sales slump, says Ray Silverstein, president
of PRO President Resource Organization in Chicago.
The key is to have customers in a number of
different industries, or products that sell to different markets
-- without getting spread too thin.
Schneider, for example, divides her time between
hourly consulting and more comprehensive consulting-and-implementation
jobs. She knows that when times are good companies have money, but
little time. So when the good times are rolling along, Schneider
focuses on full-time implementation projects. During bad times,
when there's more of a demand for on-the-spot, hourly coaching,
she focuses on that side of her business.
• Plan
for bad times.
Business consultant Silverstein recommends setting
up contingency plans. "Figure out what you can do if external events
outside of your control slow down your business," Silverstein says.
For example, you'll want to cut down on unnecessary expenses and
figure out special promotions to encourage existing customers to
buy or use your service.
It's also a good idea to have some money set
aside to tide you through any sales slump, he adds.
• Make client and supplier
referrals part of your routine.
Regularly ask everyone in your network -- customers,
suppliers and business acquaintances -- for suggestions on what
customers to approach, Schneider says.
• Change gears.
When sales slump in one area, go after sales
in another venue. "When one market dries up, you need the flexibility
to jump to another field where the opportunities are better," says
Success Cycle's McGonigle. For example, when forest fires slowed
down the tourism trade in many Western states this summer, small
businesses that catered to tourists had to seek business elsewhere.
That could mean anything from moving a local fly-fishing expedition
company to a fire-free state to switching businesses -- from fly-fishing
trips to selling fly-fishing lures and other accessories by mail
order.
• Use a sales slump
as the pause that refreshes.
Downtime can be used to reflect on your business
and how to make it better.
Perhaps there are new products that you've thought
of bringing out, but didn't have the time to think through. Now
you do. Or perhaps it's time to move from one field to the next.
That is, perhaps this temporary sales slowdown isn't so temporary
and your company should consider moving into a new and more fertile
industry.
Unfortunately, any small-business owner will
encounter a sales downturn at some point.
Some owners make their own trouble -- they get
busy and cut back on marketing. At other times, external events,
such as a nationwide recession or an industry downturn, can bring
down the best of entrepreneurs.
Small-business owners who plan ahead and can
be flexible in their goals can ride out a slump and end up in a
better position in the end. As McGonigle says, within every adversity
there is an opportunity. You just need to know how to find it.
Jenny C.
McCune is a contributing editor based in Montana
--Posted: Oct. 9, 2000
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