For many managers, recessions prompt a near-autonomic reflex: Hunker down, reduce head count, and cut every cost you can. While a certain dose of those bitter pills is unavoidable, smart leaders see downturns as having plenty of upside, too. Talent is cheaper. Companies can gain market share as others cut back. And savvy investments give bold players a head start when the economy picks up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I remember going though this same discussion back in 2001 before we were blogging.\u00a0 We talked to companies about the opportunities that existed in a sliding economy.\u00a0 One thing that is certain – talent is cheaper during an economic downturn.\u00a0 That is why it is often a good time to upgrade your salesforce during these times.\u00a0 For that matter, it is a good time to upgrade any position for which you feel there is a need.<\/p>\n
There is an emotional component to monitor among your sales team that is quite important during this time and the article points out these items.\u00a0 Retention is still a key focal point for any sales manager during uncertain times:<\/p>\n
Amid pressure to downsize, it’s easy to forget that talent retention is a critical concern during a recession. Michael Kesner, a principal at Deloitte Consulting’s human capital practice, notes that “companies who took advantage of employees in past downturns were rewarded with people bailing when things turned around.” To avoid that, some of Kesner’s clients are adding more weight to factors employees can control\u2014such as customer-satisfaction scores or production levels\u2014when deciding on bonuses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The key item to remember is that strong salespeople are always<\/em> in demand no matter what the economy.\u00a0 We have seen many good salespeople jump to a new opportunity during a downturn, especially when they perceived their current employer’s future as being in doubt.\u00a0 Stay close to them and make sure you are still finding rewards for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The economy is foremost on almost every business leader’s mind right now, and rightly so.\u00a0 Many leaders look to entrench their company in a full defensive posture.\u00a0 This approach has to be incorporated, to some extent, during these economies.\u00a0 However, this is an excellent time to be aggressive in the market and to cut against the grain of conventional wisdom. BusinessWeek.com offers up specifics of this approach in their article Managing Employees in a Downturn: For many managers, recessions prompt a near-autonomic reflex: Hunker down, reduce head count, and cut every cost you can. While a certain dose of those bitter pills is unavoidable, smart leaders see downturns as having… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[49,23,4],"tags":[1750,1061,271],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-retention","category-sales-management","tag-sales-management","tag-sales-management-in-recession","tag-sales-retention"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-ss","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":802,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/04\/sales-manager-compensation-for-retention\/","url_meta":{"origin":1764,"position":0},"title":"Sales Manager Compensation for Retention?","author":"Mike Cardinal","date":"April 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent conversation brought to mind the responsibility of sales management for the development of both existing and new sales people. Why? Retention. As the employment market has shifted to an \"employee market\" - at least for talented sales professionals - sales management needs to make plans to retain sales\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Compensation"","block_context":{"text":"Compensation","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/compensation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1503,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/04\/retention-strategy-limit-rules\/","url_meta":{"origin":1764,"position":1},"title":"Retention Strategy – Limit Rules","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"BusinessWeek.com's playbook section offers a very short, but highly intriguing article title How Netflix nets and keeps talent.\u00a0 Here it is in it's entirety: PAY LAVISHLY Higher-than-average salaries\u2014and tying bonuses and raises to the market, not a pool\u2014can make stars less likely to bolt. Money is no object in hiring.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Retention"","block_context":{"text":"Retention","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/retention\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1006,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/retention-in-a-downsizing-industry\/","url_meta":{"origin":1764,"position":2},"title":"Retention In A Downsizing Industry","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We don't do much work in the pharmaceutical market but I do have a couple of friends who sell for the big players. SellingPower.com's article Have You Heard Who\u20ac\u2122s Hiring? discusses a downsizing trend in sales hiring that is occurring in that specific market. \u20ac\u0153The days of armies of sales\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Retention"","block_context":{"text":"Retention","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/retention\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":816,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/04\/retention-bad-moves-and-a-good-move\/","url_meta":{"origin":1764,"position":3},"title":"Retention – Bad Moves And A Good Move","author":"Mike Cardinal","date":"April 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"If you have noticed in our posts, we are paying more and more attention to retention. (say that 10 times fast!) The employment market clearly indicates that it's a hot topic. Over the years, two compensation moves really set off the negative alarms in my mind. They also made me,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Compensation"","block_context":{"text":"Compensation","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/compensation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":588,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/01\/when-turnover-is-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":1764,"position":4},"title":"When Turnover Is Good","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We met this morning with a sales manager from one of our clients and had an interesting discussion about turnover. This company is in an \"old-line\" industry and has an established salesforce. In fact, the newest salesperson has been with the company for more than 5 years. Most have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Retention"","block_context":{"text":"Retention","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/retention\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1226,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/10\/sales-management-top-down-or-bottom-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":1764,"position":5},"title":"Sales Management – Top-Down or Bottom-Up","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a sales management question for you - in terms of coaching and developing your sales team, is it best to focus on your top performers to make them better or your bottom performers to build them up? 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