Stuck In A Sales Slump? Don't Blame Your Customers.

“The customers just aren’t interested in buying right now.” If you’re in sales, at some point in your career, you’ve probably uttered a similar phrase, or at the very least thought it. Sales are slow, so it must be the customers who aren’t buying, right? Not always.

Though it’s common for businesses to experience sales ebbs and flows throughout the year, a significant slump is often due to a problem within the sales or marketing strategy. The good news? With a few tweaks to your day-to-day, digging yourself out of the dreaded sales slump is well within your control.

Just Keep Swimming.

Giving up is the easiest mistake you can make when facing a sales slump. Whether you truly have research to back you up, or your perception is just skewed, reducing your sales efforts can only hurt your chances of quickly escaping a sales slump. Instead, dust yourself off, get back on that horse, and get ready to close some deals.

You’ve heard the old adage, “practice makes perfect,” and this is very true even in sales. The more clients you engage, the more you share your sales pitch, the better you can identify what isn't working, refine, and come up with an even better strategy than before you entered your slump. Plus, if you do decide to just give up, you'll find yourself in front of fewer and fewer potential clients which will naturally result in a decline in closed sales (and revenue as a result).  As the wise Dory from Finding Nemo says, "When life gets you down you wanna know what you've gotta do? Just keep swimming."

Take a Break.

I know, I know. It sounds counter intuitive and contradictory to the previous point, but don't scoff at the idea just yet. Even the best sales people get stuck in a rut. Perhaps they've become too confident in their current sales strategy because it has worked so perfectly in the past. Or maybe it's simply the fact that the monotony of having similar conversations with every prospect is causing boredom. Whatever the case may be, sometimes the cause of the sales slump is you and the best thing is for you to take a step back.

According to a study by the U.S. Travel Association, Americans are using only about 77% of their vacation time, a staggering statistic that is at its highest in over 40 years. Workaholic tendencies aren't only detrimental to your overall health, but can actually speed up the burnout process. Taking time off to disconnect from work gives you time to relax and refresh so you can return to work with renewed excitement and a fresh perspective.

Ask For Help.

Pride can be your worst enemy. Sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact root cause for a sales slump. In these instances, asking for help may be the best way to find a way out of the slump. Whether it's from a mentor or even a happy client, getting feedback on your current sales strategy may help you identify weak points in your current sales pitch. 

If you're going to ask for help, don't forget to be receptive to feedback and demonstrate humility. The only way to truly turn around a bad slump is to identify the behaviors that could be a key factor in your sales slump and implement ways to improve.  Put away that ego and get ready to absorb an outside perspective - it just may be the push you need to approach your sales with a new strategy.

Re-evaluate your inbound sales strategy.

What if the cause for your sales slump isn't your performance, but something else entirely? If your inbound lead strategy isn't solid, even the best sales person is going to have a difficult time keeping sales up. If your company isn't actively generating leads, finding yourself in a sales slump may be the right time to consider performance based lead generation.

With a company like Contractor Marketing Pros, you can sit back and relax knowing we're doing the heavy lifting to find you qualified leads that are primed to buy from your company. After all, how good is a lead if they aren't seriously in need of your services? If you're ready to take the next step in climbing out of your sales slump, give us a call to get started.

Remember, even in the worst sales slump, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Every sales person experiences a slump at least once in their career, but with the right motivation and commitment, your slump doesn't have to last very long.