It doesn’t matter if the global economy goes bad around the country, around the block, or around your industry or market - because managing means making difficult decisions.
And as an owner or manager, you’re the best person who has to make them.
Even with small retail businesses such as jewellery stores, I know there are many sales management challenges, but during tough economic times, two always stand out.
First, maintain your staff's overall morale and motivation so that they continue to perform at the highest level possible, no matter the market conditions.
Second, fine-tuning the business to ensure optimum performance. Fine-tuning can involve thinning out the herd by laying off people, and obviously, any downsizing can significantly impact motivation and morale.
Mismanaging during tough times
When times are tough, you need to review costs, but not necessarily slash and burn.
Larger companies headed by non-marketing people, such as accountants or engineers, often use difficult trading periods to justify cost-cutting.
They terminate training, advertising, and staff - anything else they see as a cost to the company. This is a short-sighted view!
For example, the problem with cutting advertising costs is that it diminishes visibility in the marketplace. It stops people from buying, and revenue drops further.
The powers at the top, seeing less revenue, make even more cuts, and the downward spiral continues. When the cost-cutting gets to downsizing, the wrong people are sometimes affected as it’s tempting to sack highly paid salespeople.
Remembering the sales arrow
More importantly, in the digital age, can store and website design, marketing segmentation and customer navigation be accurately predicted and mapped through traditional demographics?
It’s easy to forget that the salespeople are the tip of a ‘sales arrow’. Like any arrow, it’s only effective when it hits the target.
Let’s look at what makes up an arrow. The tip penetrates the target, the shaft provides mass, and the feathers provide direction. Your salespeople are the tip of the arrow, products and services are the arrow’s shaft, and the feathers represent management.
As a retail sales manager, you must always keep the tip of the arrow sharp. Tough economic times are often an ideal opportunity to sharpen the arrow. While investing in external sales training and motivational meetings may be out of the question, don’t rule them out. It could make a difference.
Fine-tuning your staff
One of the most difficult decisions for a manager is parting ways with people they know and like. Deciding who goes or stays is a gut-wrenching experience for even the most seasoned manager.
Avoid the last-in/first-out approach, and certainly do not play favourites. If you’re going to reduce your staff, make sure you keep proven performers and those who have the potential to quickly develop into performers.
Desperate times, desperate measures
Desperate economic times - global or local - usually call for desperate measures, and apart from closing doors on the business, putting people out on the street is something to consider.
The key is knowing which people to keep and supporting them with everything you have while you weather the storm.
As the staff champion, you must be prepared for measures that could harm the business’ ability to operate effectively.
As a sales manager, you often walk a thin line between upper management and your sales staff.
It is equally important for you to represent the needs of your staff to management, just as it is to carry upper management’s message to the staff. It’s critical for your staff to see you as their champion, particularly during tough times.
It’s crucial that upper management sees you as proactive or part of whatever solution is required to weather the economic storm.
Taking risks is a part of business. Advertising cuts or other marketing measures that endanger the source of sales leads should be opposed if the reason for the cut is simply to save on expenditure.
It goes both ways, and you should always be prepared to cut staff members if needed.
The bottom line
If you see tough times on the horizon, plan and be prepared to make difficult decisions when needed if you expect to come out safe on the other side.
If you can stay ahead of the curve, even when it’s heading down, you’ll be in a better position to take advantage of the situation when the time comes and the market improves and sales increase.
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