Sales are essential to the survival of virtually any business. Never is this truer than during an economic downturn. And when hard times hit quickly and unexpectedly, cash flow gets disrupted, revenue projections turn bleak, and business owners often become desperate for answers. That’s when owners of small to mid-sized businesses often turn to sales leadership consultants – and that’s also when these respected, trusted, and valued sales management consulting resources find themselves in higher demand than normal.
Why do sales leadership consultants often succeed during a period of economic crisis? Here are just a few critical reasons:
Sales Leadership Consultants are Lifelines
During good economic times, conditions make it easier for a broad range of businesses to succeed. In an economic crisis, however, only the strong are likely to survive. For businesses that don’t have a robust and resilient sales operation – built to thrive in good times and bad – a recession or economic depression can sink the ship. A sales leadership consultant, however, can be the lifeline that helps the business not only stay afloat during the storm, but ride the rising tide toward even greater success. This likelihood is magnified because many businesses will try to weather the sink-or-swim storm on their own and go under in the process, leaving fewer competitors in the wake.
Sales Leadership Consultants are Linchpins
A linchpin has been defined as “something (or someone) that holds the various elements of a complicated structure together.” Normally, this is the business owner and department managers. When times are good, it’s easier to maintain the status quo and not be overly concerned with reversals of fortune. But when times turn bad – and turn bad quickly – business owners who believed they didn’t need help before often finally admit they don’t have all the answers to deal with a new and threatening reality. A sales leadership consultant brings the bigger-picture perspective that can serve as the linchpin for the new and necessary changes in sales operations. This lets the business owner tend to other critical aspects of running the organization as they adapt to the “new normal.”
Sales Leadership Consultants are Navigators
When the foundations of a business – and the business economy in general – are shaken to the core, it’s “adapt or die.” This means that “business as usual” is a bad strategy for most businesses. Better strategies demand fresh looks at sales team structures, sales processes, sales compensation plans and many other foundational aspects of sales operations. More than that, however, they require the ability to quickly pivot and deploy these new approaches. A sales leadership consultant has the skill set necessary to assess critical sales situations, define new sales strategies, and implement new sales processes – and do these things quickly, while there’s still time to save the business.
Sales Leadership Consultants are an Excellent Value
Another reason business owners turn to sales leadership consultants during an economic crisis comes down to cost. Simply put, the fractional-time service approach of using an outsourced VP of Sales a few days a week can yield expert leadership at a fraction of the cost of a full-time sales executive – even one with far less experience and expertise. This provides exceptional value for the business owner desperate to hold the line on costs.
Sales Leadership Consultants are Crisis-Proven, Steady Hands on the Wheel
Many businesses haven’t been through a severe economic crisis, but sales leadership consultants like our Sales Xceleration Advisors have. Each Advisor brings decades of experience and expertise “in the trenches,” during which they’ve dealt with a variety of crises: severe economic downturns, product or service stagnation, the rise of strong competitors, emerging technologies, changing marketplace conditions and expectations, etc. Because of this, the sales leadership consulting Advisors at Sales Xceleration are well-equipped and crisis-proven to help businesses emerge on top.
Bottom Line:
In hard economic times, when fortunes change in a heartbeat and decisive action using fresh approaches is called for, sales leadership consultants provide solid solutions and a path forward. And because these sales management experts are crisis-proven, trusted, and valuable resources, they often find themselves in higher demand than normal.
To learn more about becoming a sales leadership consultant and serving the critical sales leadership needs of small to mid-size businesses – in good times and bad – click here or simply contact us at 844.874.7253.
