You have generated the leads and set up appointments with qualified prospects. You have read all the sales training books and are ready to close some sales. You go on your appointments and follow the process you’ve learned. You build rapport, you ask the questions, you expose their pain, you offer the solution, you deal with the objections and you ask for the order. After all of that you still get “I want to think about it.” Or “I’m not sure this will work.”  Or “I have to review this with my (boss, spouse, colleague etc).  In the end you have difficulty sealing the deal.

In a recent workshop I facilitated I openly asked the business people in the room what they thought of salespeople. Now, mind you, most of the people in the room were business owners or employees all of which had a major role of growing their respective businesses. Here are some of the things I heard. “They lie.” “They’ll do anything to get the sale.” “All they care about is their own commission.” “They are irritating.” “I feel like I need to take a shower with antibiotic body wash after I deal with one” (actually, I made the last one up myself).

Managing your business during hard times is difficult. But managing people, the culture, the emotions, the behavior, can be doubly difficult when the business isn’t doing that well.  Especially if you had to let some of the staff go. How do you keep the team upbeat and motivated when all there seems to be is bad news? How do you get the best out of your people during such times? There is so much uncertainty that employees seem to be constantly looking over their shoulder. Here are some ideas that may help you.

As many of the people I have met know I am an avid golfer. Playing golf in this part of the country is primarily a summer sport unless you’re willing to layer up and confront the cold, which I am not. So what do I do in the winter months? This is where many people that I know are not aware of another passion I have. That is playing pool. I have played pool since my teenage years (some would say an ill spent youth) and take it very seriously. I have played every game imaginable on a pool table and constantly seek to increase my skills at the sport.