Times are tough. The question is, who will survive? And of those who survive, who will be best placed to take advantage of the business that becomes available when things start to improve? Sales are one of the best places to be when times are hard - but not for everyone. People are still buying, but they are buying from the people they truly trust and who they see as adding real value to their situation.

Right now there is a huge temptation to withdraw funding for developing the skills and abilities of the sales team - at the very time when you need them to be at their very best. Now is the time to invest in the one group of people on whom the business is dependent.

One client of mine has taken an interesting approach. The CEO has effectively said, "I realise that right now things are incredibly tough. As a result it is unrealistic of me to expect sales to grow. So I want our focus to be on maintaining and developing our market share so that when the improvement comes - and it will - we will be best placed to take advantage of it."

In difficult times like these it is easy to adopt a sales or business approach that might not always be entirely productive:

Now is the time to invest in the one group of people on whom the business is dependent.
The Headless Chicken Approach: This involves running around making a lot of noise, scratching here there and everywhere, putting in a great deal of ill directed effort for very little return. Now more than ever effort needs to be focussed on those opportunities that have the highest chance of bearing fruit. The temptation is to panic and chase every so-called opportunity thereby diluting the sales effort.

The Dodo Approach: There is a theory that when dodo's arrived on Mauritius they found food so plentiful and predators so scarce that they no longer needed to fly and over time they lost the ability to do so.

It is one thing to hunker down and ride out the storm, but success usually belongs to the proactive. Sitting back and hoping things will get better may be tempting, but it could also be fatal.

The Ostrich Approach: Based on the theory that the ostrich has thought the problem through and concluded that "If I can't see you, you can't see me", when faced with danger it sticks it's head in the sand. In other words, if I ignore the problem, it will go away. If only that were true; in hard times, winners are proactive.

There are other, more productive ways forward:

The Golden Eagle Approach: The Golden Eagle invests for the future, either building and enhancing a single nest each year, or alternating between two or more sites depending on the prevailing conditions. It hones its' hunting skills, occasionally working in groups to hunt more effectively. In hard times, winners invest in infrastructure, people and skills, ready to act effectively when opportunities arise.

The Wise Old Owl Approach: The wise old owl takes things steadily, assimilating information, patiently watching and waiting, - listening, learning, understanding, planning its' approach - before striking quickly and effectively, launching itself to swoop down silently on its' prey. In hard times, winners listen, learn, and then act.

As you look at your business, or your approach to sales, which category do you believe you fall into? With all the pressures on budgets, it is easy to forget that the one group of people that the business depends on most at times like these are the sales team.

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