The rich, the powerful and those who attain their dreams and goals all know how to sell. Those who struggle financially and muddle through life living in mediocrity simply put do not know how to sell. In today’s economy, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and those in the middle are being forced to decide which group they will join. Those who proactively fail to choose will see their income and lifestyle slowly erode with the stagnant and deteriorating economy.
In The News….
Just last week the brokerage firm UBS laid off 3,500 financial folks and the US Navy is about to get rid of 2,500 Chief Petty Officers. Layoffs will continue to occur and will in fact accelerate. Sales organizations are not immune from this talent reduction tsunami. In July Cisco, Lockheed Martin and Borders announced a combined 23,000 in job cuts. Those announcements follow 41,432 in planned cuts in June – up 11.6% from May.
Meanwhile, state, local and federal governments have cut 142,000 jobs this year according to the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times reports that layoffs are at a 16 month high.
If you think that you are immune because you are not in any of the industries sited in these articles, you need to think again because a receding tide lowers all boats. Less workers means less people buying stuff. When Borders shut down it was not only Borders that was affected. All of their suppliers and advertisers and the sales people who work for those suppliers were affected. Some of them even wiped out and forced to close their doors when they lost the Borders account.
Let me put it bluntly for you –
I have recently been retained by a private sales training client of mine to build a sales force. Our strategy is not to hire an entry level sales person or one we have to provide a lot of sales training to. We are on a fast track and we are looking for proven winners who are already trained and who are greedy and have a need to make a pile of money.
Honestly, we are being very, very picky because it is an employer’s market and we can afford to do so. We are looking to skim off the top of the sales pile and only pick the very best of the best.
We are not the only company looking to do this. I have, in fact, suggested that all of my private clients assess their sales teams and get rid of anyone who is not a top performer or who lacks the potential and the desire to become a top performer. The company I am consulting for, like all companies, is being forced to be more profit driven and is no longer willing to take risks and waste money on mediocre performers. All but the best have got to go. If this does not serve as a wake-up call for you to get serious about enrolling in some sales training to improve your sales skills and increase your income, I don’t know what will.