I've been talking to AEs, managers and a couple owners who are stopped cold when clients rattle off a litany of Recession Clichés. Here are the steps that usually happen:





Typical Step #1 Clichés

• “Business is terrible. Obama ruined the economy.”
• “All those government handouts. Bush ruined the economy.”
• “We're barely staying in business. Congress ruined the economy.”
• “Nobody’s spending. Brian & Stewie (or somebody) ruined the economy.”

Typical Step #2 Clichés:

• The next line goes something like, "That’s why we don’t have any money to spend.”
• We nod and say, "Well I guess you're right. I’ll come back in a couple months.”

Step 3. Aha! There is no Step #3 Cliché because, as a result of Steps 1 and 2, nothing happened; no money, no anything. Everything stopped.

It might be good to pause to reconsider our role in all of this. We're paid to be Sales Managers; SALES People. Listen to what’s being treated as important in the news; new home SALES, auto SALES, retail SALES. It's our job to sell, convince, convert, present, close and satisfy customers. Selling is the engine of the economy.

So the better response to the “ruined economy” might sound like this:

• “Congratulations! You made it through the toughest times and you’re still standing today. You’re probably down substantially from the strong pre-2008 business climate. Let me ask you a question. How do you plan to grow your business to begin to return to those levels?”
• “What's your plan for moving forward?
• “Have your competitors stopped advertising? If they're still advertising and you're not, they're grabbing your customers.”
• Or, “If your competitors have stopped advertising, you're in a perfect position to increase market share.”
• Or, “Whatever you do – don’t do Nothing.”

Indeed, I was just talking to good friend Joe Schwartz, CEO of Cherry Creek, who told me about one of his AE's who posed this excellent question to a client, "Do you need to stay in business to feed your family?” The obvious answer was, "Yes." She then asked, “Ok then, what do you plan to DO about it?” That's gutsy stuff but it needs to be asked. In fact it's our duty to ask that question if we really care about the prosperity of our clients. Don’t be afraid of losing business because of being too pushy or forward because there is no business if you don’t ask those questions.

It seems that many clients (and broadcasters) are sitting on a collective Pity Pot, bitching about the sad state of affairs. They’re quick to share, “Oh, ain’t it awful.” Stop it. Spend that time being creative not reactive. Blaming achieves nothing. And besides, it’s no fun. Here’s the fun.

The Buck Starts Here
The answer has always been the same; it’s our job to initiate. It’s about Action! Do something. Start something. Get off our duff. Create a new package, plan, promotion, product, idea. The first quarter is rich with NTR opportunities like Super Bowl, Presidents Day, Valentine’s, March Madness, St. Paddy’s and Final Four. There will be After-Holiday Sales like we’ve never seen. We also have a new blessing; a bottomless pit of Digital Possibilities. (Extra Credit Question: Where were Facebook, Pandora and Twitter five years ago? Answer: They didn’t exist. They’ve all been invented since then. Get the hint? Invent something. The world’s waiting for it.)

Managers you know that statistically your Top 15 largest accounts are the best prospects for brand new billing. Are there new categories that pop out? Are there trends? Is there a continuum of a certain kind of client? Again, those are clues to your easiest success potential for the coming year.

Last week I joined with a group of managers and we spent a day INVENTING STUFF together! New packages, sales contests, apps and promotions. It was a beautiful thing. The next day we presented them to one of the sales staffs. Everybody got all cranked up. It works. Not only that, it gives us Hope. Please consider doing the same thing.

Now go enjoy the holidays. You’ll feel best if you give your time and energy to people who have real troubles. Remember, to a kid, every Christmas tree is 30 feet tall.