We often carry underperforming people in a good market. We shouldn’t because it can cost us our best people, who think: ‘How come they take the p*** and nothing happens while I’m busting a gut getting great results?’ They’re right, you know.  But we do… 

Because we think we can.  Good economic times take the urgency out of just about everything.

They make companies and the people within them flabby and lazy. They just do.  When challenge enters the picture, though, as it has now, shit gets real. Real quick. And suddenly leaders need to re-examine their people, their procedures and results, and make some bet­ter decisions. Yesterday.

No longer is it okay to walk past poor performance. No longer is it okay to walk past lack of activity. No longer is it okay to walk past presenteeism. The placement of responsibility in challenging times tends to come back to where it belongs, which I think is a good thing.

How we do what we do

The disciplines we develop in a down market when continued in an up one will turbocharge your success. You’ll have a revamped engine, and good economic times will fuel that engine to blast off!  And it starts now.

In a tight market, what will be the standout is how we make others feel. If the way we deliver our product or service through our core business directly improves the results for those we serve, our results will also improve. And that is way more valua­ble in a down market than product or price alone.  For those of you who remain sceptical about product and price, I have a question for you: if product and price were equal between two suppliers, and supply timeframes were equal, what would make you choose one over the other?

It’s who you like more. Who you trust more.

And we tend to trust those we like, but we don’t always like those we trust. Remember that.

It comes back to how we do what we do. How we are of service to those we serve. How we make others feel in the experience of delivering the product or service.

When we are intentional about that, we are willing to cultivate those skills and qualities that will deliver that experience and inspired to deliver that experience consistently well.  Simple? Yes, but not necessarily easy. Although it is easier than we think it is. How willing are we to make the necessary changes to create a different and better experience for all those we serve?

Change can be hard, but failure is harder. So is regret! Choose your hard.

When we tell ourselves it’s hard, we give ourselves a reason not to take action. Do you want reasons or results? In a down market, we need results. Don’t give yourself excuses why you can’t when there are too many ways and rea­sons why you can.  A tight market gives you the opportunity to make changes you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Five actions to take

These are my recommendations to any business that wants to get into shape now and ready itself for the mar­athon we’ll face when the market picks back up:

1. Right size your sales team and revenue enablement people (five people exercise).
2. Put everyone through an induction program to establish a customer consciousness.
3. Teach everyone how to uncover what matters to all they serve and how to unpack and measure value delivered.
4. Reinforce these behaviours with truths for each team, routines that support the right behaviours, and structures that reinforce them.
5. Ensure that leaders are models of excellence when it comes to a Culture of Customer™.

This is an edited extract from The Sales Revolution (Publish Central $34.99) by Ingrid Maynard.

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