TSE 1052: How To Prepare Your Sales Pipeline For Economic Downturns

No matter what business you're in or what product you're selling, downturns happen, so today we're talking about how to prepare your sales pipeline for an economic downturn.  We're here at the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council's ROAR Conference, which is connecting minority-owned and women-owned businesses with Fortune 100 companies. Joel Burstein says that companies should be most aware of an economic downturn when the economy is good. The downturns in '01 and '08 were preceded by markets that were really,  but they grew so quickly that they weren't sustainable. When things seem too good to be true, they usually are. Consider the internet At one point, everything was successful. It didn't matter what the product was. The reality of the world at that time was that 22-year-olds owned five properties. If you drive your car as fast as you can for as long as you can, your car will eventually break. The economy is the same. The time to prepare for the economic downturn is when the economy is good. You do that by diversifying your clientele and diversifying your business. Clients who are looking are still engaged. You don't necessarily have to take your foot off the gas; you just have to think outside the box. Talk to clients Ask your clients how their world is going. They will have indicators, so if you ask them what signs they are seeing, they may be able to share signs with you. Realize, too, that not everyone's downturn is equal. Some people's downturn started in '07 while others started in '08. What happened is that we missed it. Your perspective depends on where your market falls. Some people are struggling today. It isn't that they're struggling tremendously, but their business is down. Perhaps it only lasts one quarter, or maybe it stretches into two or three quarters. Once that happens, it begins to have an impact. Have engaging conversations with your existing clients about what's happening in their markets. Because their markets are different than yours, you'll gain insight into the overall economy. Two-fold benefit Imagine an entrepreneur with a digital marketing company who has decent-sized clients. If she stays in touch with them she can accomplish two things: She can do some reconnaissance work. She can deepen her relationships. At some point, you sell without selling. You have to be in the relationship mindset rather than the selling mindset. You'll develop a deep understanding of what your client is facing and struggling with. Your client will remember you as the one who cared about how they were handling the downturn. Preparing for downturn Certain industries will survive recession better than others. Energy is a great example. Oil is another industry that survives recession well, as evidenced by the Texas economy while the rest of the country was in a downturn. People still need oil, and we forget that it's used to make milk cartons. It's also used for the oil and gears of manufacturing machinery.   Healthcare is another example. Hospitals have tremendous numbers of vendors because they are like self-sufficient cities.   Unemployment could negatively impact healthcare, but the government tends to step in so that people don't go without care.   Ask yourself which adjustments you'll make in order to survive the recession when it happens. Identify ways to gain traction in those industries that can survive recession. Add those behaviors to your daily, weekly, and monthly behaviors. Larger companies The EMSDC offers a great opportunity to expand a middle-sized business to a larger...