BY Rachel Cagle
If you’re like most sales reps, this past year and a half hasn’t been too kind to your sales numbers. The competition is fierce. And with consumers not buying anything unless they absolutely need to, sales have been fewer and far between for a while. However, don’t let a sales slump make you give up and just coast along until the economy fully recovers. That’s not how successful sales reps operate. Instead, try this strategy recommended by Selling Power to increase your sales to meet (or exceed!) your quota.
To Overcome Your Sales Slump, Be an Expert on Your Target Audience
Most of a sales rep’s precious time is spent tracking down prospects and turning them into leads. This process is time consuming, sure, but it’s time well spent. A problem many reps encountered early on during the pandemic was one they made themselves. When their prospects began turning down their sales meeting inquiries, the reps began to panic. Instead of taking the time to better qualify leads to identify more reliable sales opportunities, they began sending out mass emails and calling everyone they could in a desperate attempt to make a sale. It didn’t matter if the recipient was in their target audience or not. That panic made their sales slump even worse.
If you were one of those people, it’s okay. You can still get yourself out of your sales slump by improving your strategy. Selling Power says that you need to focus on identifying your target audience and then getting to know them inside and out.
Target Audience vs. Ideal Customer
Get to know your customer demographics, but don’t dive so deep that you try to limit your target audience to an ideal customer. For example, let’s say you’re targeting a tech-savvy demographic. Many sales reps in this industry tend to associate their ideal customer as younger, from the millennial or Generation Z demographics. While it’s true that younger consumers tend to be more tech-savvy, they don’t monopolize the industry. By focusing your efforts only on them, you’re neglecting a wide range of your target demographic. (And since other reps are likely doing the same, these prospects are ripe for the sales pickings.) This is exactly how a sales slump happens.
Focus on Needs and Goals
So, “lose the idea that there is such a thing as the ideal customer,” writes Selling Power. “A target market is made up of a much more varied demographic, so… drop all of your assumptions as to who your prospective customers will be as people.” Instead, define your target audience based on their needs and goals, regardless of age, gender, race, etc.
When doing your research on your target audience, it’s a good idea to look at your current clients. What do they have in common? What problems did you help them solve? Are there common goals you helped them achieve? And what type of company or industry are they a part of? Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ve taken the first step to overcome your sales slump. You now have more people to reach out to than ever before AND they’re likely to be interested in your products or services. What are you waiting for? Get started!