Prepare For Recovery

What are you doing to prepare for economic recovery? Do you have a plan?

We received this question on Facebook from a sales pro named Kyle. He writes:

I’m a long time listener of your podcasts. The question I have for you today is in regards to the company I represent. Currently I’m a sales representative in the sporting goods industry. The manufacturing line I represent is a third tier brand in the running category with a 2% market share. However they are an industry leader in the cycling world with a 35% market share. With retail in a very unnerving situation right now and running dealers reducing vendors in their stores my company finds itself on the outside looking in during this recession.

My focus is to still stay in contact (phone, email or in person) with these dealers some of which I have a long-term relationships with. What suggestions do you have for me to possibly gain more market share going into Spring 2010 in regards to the running category?

Kyle, this is an excellent question and I commend you for having both a short-term focus on what you can do Right Now and a long-term outlook with a strategy for building market share and increasing sales going into next spring when we are likely to be moving out of recession and into recovery.

Unfortunately, many salespeople who find themselves in your situation just give up in frustration because they are unwilling to invest the time and effort in a long-term solution and short-term solutions for outselling the recession seem too daunting.

With that in mind I’m going to answer your question in two parts: Part 1 – what you should be doing Right Now to outsell the recession and Part 2 – what you should be doing over the long haul to prepare yourself for economic recovery. Let’s start with Right Now.

The first thing you need is a business development plan. In your business plan you will want to list your key competitors and do a SWOT analysis on each of them. You will need to analyze each MSA in your territory and describe growth rates, population density, demographics, unemployment and future economic development. Then rank each portion of your territory based on your current market share and opportunity. Next take an objective look at your running product line and match it up to the product lines you compete against by price, quality, design, brand awareness, and marketing support. Finally, using the data you gathered set realistic goals for increased market share and develop a comprehensive plan of attack.  Though this may seem like a tedious task the effort is well worth it and will pay off. It is critical to your future that you plan right now.

Your next Right Now action is to create raving fans out of the retailers who do buy your running apparel. You need to get these retailers advocating for you when you are trying to open up new doors. To do this you simply need to treat them like gold and do whatever it takes to make them successful. Become a consultant and help them with marketing and sales strategy. Go into the stores and train their people. Go spend a day working in the store as resource for customers. Work with your manufacturer to develop incentives that increase profitability for these premier retailers. Over time these retailers will give you the leverage you need to convince others to give your product line a try or put it back into their stores.

Finally, Right Now you and your manufacturer must get out of the box. With little market share in the running category you’ve got do things your larger competitors don’t have to do. Develop incentives that are tough to say no to. Use your presence in the biking segment to pressure retailers who carry both biking and running gear to carry your running apparel. Take some risk and do the things your competitors are unwilling to do. This should result in increased sales in the short-term and, at a minimum, help you get your foot in the door with potential customers.

Your long-term strategy is just as you described in your question. You focus must be squarely on developing and maintaining relationships. We know that this recession is not going to last forever and at some point consumer spending will come back and retailers will start adding inventory. What you must do now is simply position yourself to win as the inevitable recovery happens.

I recommend that you stack rank your retailers in a meaningful way based on size, potential opportunity, MSA demographics, or any other way that helps you define and rank accounts by potential to help you reach your market share goals. Then develop a systematic process to develop, build, and maintain relationships with these retailers. Though your ultimate goal is to get them buying your running line, over the next few months you want to focus on making friends and becoming a resource. One suggestion I have is to develop a regular newsletter that highlights trends in running and retailing. This will help you both add value and connect with these potential customers.

However, the most important thing you can do is to look for ways to help them solve problems – even if it doesn’t have anything to do with running. People are extremely loyal to people who solve their problems and long-term that loyalty will result in business for you and ultimately an increase in your market share.

For more tips and strategies for outselling the recession get my audio book, Sales Guy’s 7 Rules For Outselling The Recession.

This is Jeb Blount, the Sales Guy. If you have a sales question please send it to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.com.