Hard Times: How to Keep Selling When No One's Buying

When times are tough, selling becomes tougher, making it hard to keep a business running. The things that worked for you before probably won’t apply in these different circumstances. Mother Nature, economic downturns, and catastrophic global events can completely change the game. When it comes to sales, you need to be quick to think on your feet to keep sales afloat.

Here are some strategies on how you can do this:

Develop a Positive Mindset

Lessen your exposure to negativity. A positive mindset can do a lot to aid you in keeping your sales going during hard times. You need to think, and you won’t be able to do that if you constantly worry about everything else.

Stay updated but don’t drown in the news cycle, conjuring up the worst-case scenarios. This will only hinder you from developing solutions for your business.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Review your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis is a simple but helpful framework to organize your thoughts and gain new perspectives. Through this activity, you can see what areas you need to improve and build on from previous successes.

Maintain Connections and Build New Relationships

Find out what your customers need and think about how you can help them. What value can you add to your product or service to assist them in their times of need? You can continue to work your connections with them by staying in contact.

Your approach should come from a human perspective to make them feel like you are listening and willing to help. Your relationship with your customers will help your sales immensely by giving you fresh new ideas and endearing your business to them.

And just because times are difficult doesn’t mean you can’t form new connections as well. By positioning yourself as a reliable and trustworthy source of support and information, you open yourself up to more people who can become future customers. Always think about the bigger picture rather than only focusing on small details.

Adapt to the Situation

When you’re down and low, go back to the basics. If you are having trouble seeing where to improve and rework your business, you can always revisit the fundamentals. You will have the temptation to search high and low for new ways to invite more customers, but your efforts might be wasted.

You already know what you can do. Just remember how you began. Most probably, the first time you started selling, it wasn’t easy. It must have taken some trial and error before you were able to achieve what you have now. Just think back on you can adapt those strategies for your current predicament, and you’ll have a good starting point.

Set a Goal and Keep Moving Forward

Staying in motion is key to surviving during harsh conditions, and the same is true for selling. Start by revisiting and rethinking your goals to see if they are still applicable in this setting and adjust accordingly. You might find that setting more realistic goals will help you focus on creating new sales strategies.

Summary

We can get comfortable and maybe even a little complacent, but reality can sometimes hit us like a truck. As hard as it may seem, these situations can provide you with an opportunity to evaluate your business and where you need to evolve. Selling during tough times can be a nightmare, but with creativity and determination, you can develop resilience.

There’s no denying how difficult it can be to adjust when the unexpected strikes. But there are ways you can prepare yourself and your business for these situations. To learn more about what you can do, book a free consultation with us to discuss strategies and opportunities for business growth during difficult times. Four Tree Coaching provides business coaching services that will guide you to success!