When the Economy slows Down, It’s Time to Fire Up: Things to do to Champion Rough Waters

Every time the economy took a hit from the late 60s through the early eighties when I was on the street, I knew while the other reps were whining about why there were not getting the buys they always depended on it was my time on deck to show management why they made all the right moves in hiring me. Agencies were pulling back media dollars at their client’s behest, driving our GM and sales manager nuts. They told our owners how much money they could depend on and all of a sudden the lights went out. Sales meetings became sales beatings. All the other sellers developed a patch of excuses as to why they weren’t making budget not just for the month but the whole quarter. The traffic and business department had an unexpected holiday as did the production team. Going to work in the morning for the other reps was like walking into a revolving door. I had a little fear thrown at me by some of my clients but I told them if they stopped advertising the current customers they had been reaching we become afraid something really bad was happening and they would stop buying and their balance sheets would take a major hit. The new customers wouldn’t come or call either. It’s simple. When a business stops inviting people to come to their business customers stop coming.

Advertising in a slow economy is good especially when the competition stops. A business gets to improve their market share and steal customers away from their competition. When the economy comes back those businesses who maintained their consistency doubled and tripled their market share while their competition had to fight hard to get back to where they were before the downturn while those who stayed the course went far ahead. Steve Passwaiter of BIA Financial reminds us that Proctor &Gamble made a fortune out of boosting advertising during recessionary periods of 1987, 1990 and 2001. They hoped that their competition stops or slowed their advertising because they know that it would be a great opportunity to steal share. When a business stops promoting themselves during an economic downturn, they join the others who are waiting at the edge of the cliff and thus promote themselves into a deeper downward spiral. Look at the two graphs below. One graph depicts what happens to businesses when they stop using their marketing communication dollars to drive traffic.


It is a known fact that since we have witnessed the last three recessionary environments, 1987, 1990 and 2001, those businesses that remained consistent with their media marketing and branding doubled and tripled their share against competitors who took to the sidelines. The example below is what happens to a company when it ceases its advertising. (EDS, Inc.)

Downturns, troughs or economic contractions always find their way back up to spur peak economies.

The graphic illustration below highlights recessionary environments from the point of a contracting economy to its recovery and expansion.


Recession is defined as a period of economic retraction; when the economy actually gets smaller. Generally, two months of decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or a sharp rise in the unemployment rate, are red flags that a country is approaching, or in the midst of, such an economic contraction. In the example above, one can see the duration of a given economic period when the economy is at peak performance of GDP and when it begins to contract, recover and expand. (Wikipedia 2008, EDS, Inc, 2008)

During those times I spent in the street while I was on the offensive my colleagues were on the defensive and when I talked to them they looked defensive and relished telling stories about how clients were being tough on them and they began offering lengthy excuses involving their client’s objections…which in itself is a paradox. An excuse is a series of statements that a prospective client makes after getting bombarded by media reptiles offering a continuum of the “package de jour” day after day. All they really want is to get back to business and make money. Their objective in the excuse such as “ My budget is committed for the rest of the year”…..or I’m not interested”…is just getting you the hell out of there. An objection is nothing more than an unanswered question which, once answered is like in an obstacle course, driven out of the way. I always made it a point, in the face of economic troubles when my colleagues where whining to always walk in to a business looking confident, alert and happy and, after listening to their woeful stories about how business is slow, always had a creative idea to bring customers in the door or spoke mainly about how to improve their fortunes.

Many of our salespeople tried to ride out the storm and were just being protective with their existing accounts as opposed to getting out there reaching new business prospects. In place of going out and spinning engaging, compelling and captivating ideas to new businesses they spent all their time trying to keep what they had. To me, new business is something that must be done. What do attorneys or doctors do when they’ve solved a legal or medical problem for a patient? They too have to generate new business and they’re out there meeting people all the time in different environments. During rough times managers need to step up with incentives and let nervous salespeople know their work is appreciated and they are all in the same boat. It’s time to create some weekly goals for the team to achieve and to celebrate when they are accomplished. Incentive programs don’t cost money…they attract money. The goals should be a little challenging but once reached…and the company’s market share grows it’s nice to reward the folks who helped get there. When establishing incentives, managers should aim at the seller in the middle performance level of the sales team because Top Guns feel pretty safe and may not have as much drive as those who feel pressed by the economy and wonder if they’ll be part of the team when the recovery begins. They’re the ones who will respond to positive motivation first.

Incentives for current clients are a good timing element in a tough economy. Since many companies want to trim some of the fat out of their marketing budgets during those times perhaps a Frequent Flyer type program will encourage clients to hang in there with you and have the incentive to renew their contracts as opposed to putting it off until the economy sweetens. We have found it is easier to keep a client and keep them happy rather than having to bear the cost of losing them.

Create incentives for renewals. So many companies invest their energies on building new business which should always be the model of a prosperous business but during tough economic times, companies and their sales reps need to reach out to their clients and help them create more penetrating, creative and intrusive messaging to tweak response levels for them. By helping clients to grow market share during a turbulent economy also manifests renewals as it shows your relationship with them is a real partnership rather than just a sales number. Increased response levels are good collaborative efforts during recessionary environments but during good times as well.

While the economy is faltering, training programs are always helpful reinvest in reinvigorating the sales team and bringing in a street-smart sales trainer who has dealt with successful selling in recessions. Training should include not only a focus on new business development but include clues and techniques in dealing with tough customers during tough times. External sales training specialists brought in by the company demonstrates to the sales team the company is interested in their success as well as the company’s. Executive Decision Systems, Inc of Littleton, CO is the best and most formidable, street-wise media sales training organization in the U.S. They have bested the roughest of downturns in the economy since 1984. Their instructor has local-direct street know-how since 1967…which is 41 years of continuous proof of having dealt with dire times. Their phone number in Colorado is 303-795-9090.

During economic slow downs, there is a great deal of internal and external emotional stress. Some sellers who are on the bubble need constant reassurance they are doing well and helping to put out the proverbial fires in the marketplace as well as contributing to the growth of the company. Wise sales managers should always recognize their feelings of inadequacy and help them to feel they are making a valuable contribution even during troubled times when both managers and clients are also trying to adjust to the current instability in the market. Top Guns should realize that good hard work and new business replaces worry of lost income. Managers should also be on the lookout for sellers who seem to blow things out of proportion during times like these. That kind of doomsday thinking may affect the entire sales staff environment and manifest greater drags on budgetary commitments. Constant positive reassurances as well as having accomplished goals for which the team, as a whole, has received incentives in addition to a continuum of positive workplace environment helps belie the negative inflections. Stressing we are all on the same ship and rise and fall with the tide helps people to feel more balanced, centered and in control. Showing managerial stability and instilling confidence in the minds of staff during stormy weather rights the ship and keeps the topsails filled with air currents that blow toward safe harbors.

Let us be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.--
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Push on my friends, the sun is shining on the other side.

Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.