Selling in Tough Times

By Linda Bishop

"Selling in Tough Times," by sales expert Linda Bishop, tells companies how to implement an actionable plan to grow sales in a down economy.

"It is now official. The National Bureau of Economic Research has confirmed what many business leaders already knew. We're in a recession," Linda Bishop says, "This book is a practical how-to guide that tells you how to grow sales in a down economy. Some current customers will defect to low-priced competitors while others will press you to cut prices. To reach revenue goals, salespeople need to see more prospects, make better sales calls, and close more orders."

Linda Bishop was a top performer and commission salesperson for seventeen years before founding Thought Transformation, a national sales consulting company. By applying her knowledge of sales best practices, Thought Transformation experienced triple digit growth every year since it's inception.

"During economic upheavals, there are plenty of opportunities for salespeople who fearlessly pursue them. This book is a proven battle plan for everyone wanting to control their destiny and succeed, no matter what the newscasters report about the economy." says Bishop.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Bishop
• Release date: Feb 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9780980017830

Book preview

SELLING IN TOUGH TIMES

A self-help book to help motivated people reach their goals in any economy.

by

Linda Bishop

Selling in Tough Times

By Linda Bishop

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2008 Linda Bishop

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For Bill who has supported

my sales and writing efforts

in good times and bad.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda Bishop was a commission salesperson for 17 years. By the time she was 43, she had earned enough money to retire. After a few years of leisure, she missed selling and founded Thought Transformation.

Thought Transformation is a national organization that helps busy people grow sales through a combination of tools, training and tactics.

TTBooks.biz is the publishing division of Thought Transformation.

thoughttransformation.com

CONTENTS

1.     Economic Ups and Downs

2.     Inside the Buyer’s World

3.     Purchasing Behavior

4.     The Power of Price

5.     Three Tried & True Ways to More Sales

6.     Talk to More People

7.     Get More Opportunities

8.     Close More Sales

9.     Your Take-Away

Buyers, salespeople and companies referenced in examples are fictional. Any resemblance to real buyers, salespeople and companies is coincidental.

ECONOMIC UPS AND DOWNS

The economy expands and contracts. People love expansions because profits and paychecks get bigger. People feel optimistic and positive. They spend more and invest more, giving birth to new opportunities. The job market expands and unemployment shrinks.

In expansions, buyers open their wallets. They are happy to be up-sold and cross-sold and accept necessary price increases with minimal grumbling. For all these reasons, salespeople love expansions.

Economic growth is measured by changes in the Gross Domestic Product or GDP. This number represents the total dollars spent on all goods and services produced by our nation.

Ideally, the GDP grows at about 3 percent annually. At that rate, the economy grows fast enough to avoid recessions and slow enough to keep inflation at bay.

Growth is driven by increased supplies of production inputs—that’s a fancy term economists like to use when referring to labor and materials.

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Inflation is a general rise in the level of prices caused by increased demand for resources.

Wages generally creep up more slowly than prices. In periods of inflation, we pay more for less. Our standard of living declines.

Businesses facing inflationary price increases can’t always fully pass them on to consumers. When that happens, profits are reduced. Owners receive smaller returns and there is less to invest in new opportunities.

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When supplies increase, market competition for the input decreases. Often prices drop as a result.

We have all heard of the baby boom. After World War II ended, America experienced a spike in birth rates. These baby boom babies matured and entered the work force in record numbers.

The supply of workers increased. Employers had more choices. Since plenty of people wanted jobs, employers hired workers with higher skills at lower costs.

Better workers led to better productivity. More products were produced with less payroll expense.

Technological advances improve productivity, too.