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Introduction It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair . . . Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Even though Charles Dickens wrote this in the mid-nineteenth century about a different time and a distant place, the French Revolution, he could have been writing about the dramatic shift in the U.S. economy at the dawn of the new millennium. For some, this economy is “the best of times”; for others, it is “the worst of times.” Wall Street went from the “season of Light” to the “season of Darkness.” In the midst of the current economic uncertainty, there are those who look to the future with great trepidation; for them, it is the “winter of despair.” Others look to the future through the eyes of an optimist; for them, it is the “spring of hope.” That some people are able to maintain a positive focus and perform admirably and successfully, regardless of the conditions that surround their efforts, has always fascinated me. Faced with identical circumstances, some people rise to the challenge, tapping into the “best” in themselves, and achieve what others cannot even imagine. Consider this: In tough times, 25% of businesses fail, 70% survive, and 5% thrive. On a broader scale, some people play the cards they are dealt while other people fold ‘em and go home. Some people thrive on the challenge; others wilt in the heat of battle. The resilience of the human spirit is nature’s way of equipping us with the fuel we need to soar above whatever obstacles we encounter. Even though I began this project to help salespeople and their managers successfully navigate turbulent waters, I serendipitously discovered that those things which help salespeople and managers thrive in tough times can help anyone from any walk of life confront their adversities with courage and direction. Whether they rebounded from a business failure, survived a POW camp, or recovered from a life-threatening illness, every successful person I know has fought a major battle and won. They emerged victorious from strife, a graduate from the University of Adversity. When people discover the hidden strength within them to rise above adversity, they are forever changed by the experience. The strength they used to face adversity, they now summon for use in good times. This book is about the attitudes and strategies salespeople and managers can use to emerge victorious from tough times and tough markets. Although you may apply these ideas to other areas in your life, How to Sell and Manage in Tough Times and Tough Markets is a business book. I began this research in 1990. We were on the verge of another economic downturn. The U.S. had just rebounded from a deep recession in the early eighties, and the pundits were beginning to see signs of economic turmoil on the horizon. I scoured through mountains of trade journal articles, newspaper stories, and business publications to find any information I could pass along to my clients in seminars to give them hope for tough times. I interviewed successful business owners who seemed to shrug off tough times as an amusing anecdote about their markets that did not apply to them. I surveyed salespeople and their buyers to discover what was on their minds. I even relied on my background in psychology to help me formulate a model to help my customers through tough times. I tested these ideas with clients and they worked. People liked what they heard. I continued to amass information over the years, and the result of those efforts is the book you are reading. These practical ideas, laced with personal experiences of tough times, offer a multifaceted perspective on how to thrive in tough times. Consider this . . . w Troubled adolescence, w Fought in war at age nineteen, w Lost parents way too early in life, w Began sales career in a commodity industry, w Worked full time and attended college full time to graduate in 3½ years, w Started new business while attending graduate school to earn a Master’s Degree, w Started and ran two successful businesses during recessions, w Lost voice to cancer at age thirty, w Business was devastated in the Great Flood of 1993. These are a few of the challenges I have confronted through the years. What’s the point? I share these with you, not in a self-aggrandizing manner, but to establish some personal credibility for this topic. I am not comfortable sharing these events with other people; I don’t like picking my scabs in public. If these sound self-inflating, I apologize. I simply wish to illustrate a point. Everyone deals with adversity. There is no escape from it. How you choose to deal with your adversities determines whether you emerge as victor or victim. And there isn’t much future in being a victim. Many of you reading this book have dealt with adversities far greater than anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime. Some have emerged from these experiences battle-scarred and victorious; others have submitted to fortune’s will. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, “The hardest steel comes from the hottest fire.” One of life’s stark realities is that all people confront adversity; one of life’s richest blessings is that each of us has within us the power to confront adversity with courage and determination. We do have a choice in how we fight this battle. No one makes us a victim without our permission. Since 1981, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best organizations in the world. Many are world-class leaders in their industries. These companies range from Fortune 500 manufacturers to small distributors and service providers in a variety of industries: construction, industrial goods, financial institutions, heavy-duty trucking, automotive, healthcare, textiles, consulting services, food service, and petroleum, to name a few. I’ve learned as much from them as I’ve taught them. I was their student as well as their teacher, and I took a lot of notes along the way. As one company struggles to keeps its doors open during tough times, another company faced with equally challenging circumstances hires more people, invests in new technology, and surrounds customers with the message that they will ride out the storm together and things will get better. One emerges from adversity ready for growth; the other limps out of adversity, losing ground. Those companies focused on survival contract as the economy contracts; they cut and slash and hunker down to weather the storm. Those companies intent on thriving in tough times follow a contrarian philosophy of expansion during economic contraction; they invest and expand and surge forward, as if they had a mandate to grow—they refuse to participate in the recession. I look at these two companies and see fundamental differences in management style and company philosophy. The victorious company is led by a strong management team that has weathered many storms. These battle-hardened veterans learned valuable lessons and prepared for tough times. The struggling company is led by a weak management team that learned nothing from previous challenges and failed to prepare for tough times. How to Sell and Manage in Tough Times and Tough Markets is a book for salespeople and their managers. By reading this book and applying these ideas, you will learn how to thrive—not just survive—in tough times. Tough times brings out more of who you are. If you are a strong person, you will witness great strength in tough times. If you are weak, your weakness will be your greatest adversary in tough times. A persistent and intentionally redundant theme throughout this book is that you have a choice for how you want to behave in tough times: You may not be able to control the outcome of your circumstances, but you can control your input. This book is filled with dozens of practical, how-to tips and motivational thoughts. My mission is to inform and to inspire. Even though the focus is business, you will discover that many of these ideas have broad application for other areas in life where you face tough challenges. Learning how to effectively deal with tough times raises your confidence level and your competence level. The downside of failing to learn these lessons is that you allow yourself to wallow in misery that serves no purpose other than to keep you miserable. If this book helps you to stop and think before cutting prices, builds your confidence for confronting tough times, or inspires you to move forward, I’ve accomplished my goal. I’ve organized this book into five chapters. Chapter 1 provides you with background information on tough times and some historical perspective. I define terms, discuss the biggest mistakes salespeople make in tough times, what buyers really want from sellers, what buyers worry about in tough times, and the competitive realities of selling in tough times. Chapter 2 deals with the mental side of tough times. Half the battle is in your head, and the other half is on the streets. I discuss positive and negative attitudes, the characteristics of people who do well in tough times, and positive mental programming tips. Chapter 3 is for salespeople. I discuss behind-the-scenes and face-to-face selling tips for tough times. These field-tested and street-smart ideas give you the hope and help you need to persist when the economy is soft. Chapter 4 is for managers. This includes the four biggest mistakes that managers make in tough times and seventeen things managers must do to effectively lead their organizations in and out of tough times. Employees and customers look to managers for leadership in tough times. This chapter prepares you for the leadership challenge. Chapter 5 is closing thoughts. In this, I recap the dominant themes of this book and offer thoughts for the future. When I think about tough times and what it takes to rebound—to get up each morning, lick your wounds, and go out into the world for another go at it—I like to reflect on Abraham Lincoln and his challenges in life: 1831 - failed in business 1832 - defeated for legislature 1833 - failed a second time in business 1836 - suffered a nervous breakdown 1838 - defeated for speaker 1840 - defeated for elector 1843 - defeated for Congress 1848 - defeated for Congress again 1855 - defeated for Senate 1856 - defeated for Vice President 1858 - defeated for Senate again 1860 - elected President of the United States Lincoln took the helm of a country that was on a collision course of civil war. His greatest challenge was to preserve the Union, at any cost. When you consider the incredible challenges he faced throughout his life, you can see that all of these disappointments conditioned him for the toughest job any President of the United States would ever face. What makes his story more compelling is that during his presidency, he faced great adversity in his personal and professional life. From impotent generals to personal tragedy to disloyal aides, Lincoln rose above it all, preserved the integrity of the Union, and steered the country back on course to becoming the greatest nation in the history of the world. Had he quit, one could only speculate the destiny of the United States and the rest of the world today. His example serves as a beacon for what the human spirit can endure in life’s darkest moments. For his efforts, our nation owes him a debt of gratitude. As humans, we can draw strength from his example. As business people, we can learn from his persuasiveness, patience, and leadership. First Article on Selling in Tough Times
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