I routinely hear business owners bemoan the economy.
"Oh, with the economy like it is sales are down bad!” or “I just don't know what I'm gonna do if sales don't pick up. Things haven't been this bad since I opened the shop 10 years ago.”
The grumping and griping goes on and on.
When all this first started my competitors in the contracting business I was running were complaining no one wanted to spend any money. I never had any problems, but a bunch of my salespeople and bunch of my competitors cried like a little babies.
It occurred to me the answer was in positioning and sales. We had the positioning part down no problems, but the sales part was giving a few of my guys trouble.
I worked with them, took them on appointments so they could see how I closed 90% of the folks I had an appointment with. I tried to train them, but eventually I had to let one guy go. He just couldn't get it in his head the economy didn't make a damned bit of difference to the customer, it only made a difference to him!
And there you have it. The secret to making a fortune is refusing to believe the “economy” matters to a properly prepared, well qualified prospect.
Now if you're not properly preparing the folks you're talking to, not positioning yourself correctly and just going out (or sending salespeople out) to talk to unqualified unprepared people, well you can blame that one the economy but it's just not true.
Admittedly, the economy has made the prospect pool smaller (someone who can't afford your product or service isn't a prospect.) and has made prospects more cautious, but once they decide they want something they don't care one lick about the economy.
So you have to step up marketing, you have to step up positioning and qualifying, and you might have to raise your prices. If you do, do it.
Here's the truth, prospects, true prospects, don't care about higher price, they care about value. And your value proposition is found in your positioning material. Your positioning material should precede the appointment. Sometimes by a few days, sometimes by a few minutes. Either way, it should precede the appointment.
If you're at a loss about how to position your company, you can get a start here: http://poolhustlersmba.com/getin-action