A successful sales process is still possible during economic downturns, even if it seems like all of your prospects are shutting their doors. You’ll likely apply the inbound sales method, where your process will become more focused on and customized for each individual lead.
In this post, hear from Dan Tyre, a HubSpot Marketing Fellow and expert on inbound sales, to learn why using the method is effective and important during a recession.
Why is investing in inbound sales during a recession important?
Inbound Sales is focusing on your prospect's needs and pain points and creating a sales process specific to their individual buyer’s journey.
You’ll learn more about prospects' problems and challenges and whether your product or service is a good fit, and you’ll make value propositions that demonstrate exactly how you can help them achieve their goals.
Inbound selling is important during a recession because people are more selective about their priorities and only invest in solutions guaranteed to maximize ROI. Budgets might be tighter to conserve resources, so an inbound sales process shows customers the value they’ll get from doing business with you.
Let’s go over some tips for inbound selling during a recession.
Inbound Selling During A Recession
1. Maintain connections with current customers.
Tyre says a critical thing to do during a recession is to let current customers know you appreciate their business and maintain the relationship.
You can apply the inbound sales method by ensuring their specific needs are met by your product or service. You can also check in and see if the current economic situation requires them to modify their use of your product, like if they have to downgrade their current plan to focus on fewer goals and conserve money.
2. Prospect in industries less impacted by economic turmoil.
When prospecting and looking for leads during an economic downturn, it can be helpful to monitor industries that are less impacted by economic turmoil and more likely to be open and willing to consider your offer. A valuable tip is to seek out businesses that offer products and services people will continue to need, regardless of current conditions.
For example, people will continue to need healthcare and may look for new providers if businesses are forced to close down. So, if you sell scheduling software, you can connect with healthcare providers and apply inbound sales by championing your product as a tool that will fix their unique needs — keeping bookings and customer appointments on track during a period they might have an influx of new patients.
3. Fine-tune your pitch for each lead and focus on how you provide value.
Tyre also says, “Start with a smaller original installation and prove the concept, then expand.” In other words, regardless of who you’re selling to, it can be helpful to fine-tune a value proposition to focus on specific customer needs and prove how you can help before taking the next step.
As mentioned, your prospects and current customers will be more selective about their investments during a recession to ensure they meet their needs without wasting money. You can apply inbound sales and always present value statements that are uniquely theirs rather than overall needs that your product can address.
4. Allow for longer sales cycles.
You might typically see a longer prospecting cycle because of smaller budgets, so businesses want to be entirely sure about the value you’ll provide them before making a decision.
Tyre says, “Moving the number of touches from four to even 6-8 can have a positive impact.” You’re allowing leads to think through your value proposition, reassess their business needs, and decide under a timeline that doesn’t feel rushed.
Over To You
An economic downturn doesn’t mean that customers don’t need to solve problems; it just means they’re being more selective about their goals and priorities, and there is a greater emphasis on ROI.
As a salesperson, a strategy for successful selling during a recession is to champion inbound sales and create a customer-centric process that proves why investments with you will be beneficial, even while conserving resources.
