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How to Get Your Sales Back on Track – Part 1

June 16, 2020 by Scott Ritzheimer

Many business leaders right now are recognizing this brutal reality: their current sales and marketing methods are not built for these trying times.  The pressure is building for companies to get their sales back up, but it's a real struggle. 

Many business leaders right now are recognizing this brutal reality: their current sales and marketing methods are not built for these trying times.  

The pressure is building for companies to get their sales back up, but it’s a real struggle. 

Clients are putting projects, jobs, and events (and accounts payable) on hold indefinitely. Many consumers have lost their jobs or are worried they will soon. Social distancing requirements are continuing to create substantial barriers to the business’s normal flow everywhere from the retail floor to the manufacturing floor. Travel is still heavily restricted, and uncertainty abounds.

While many have held on to the hope that they could ride this out and get back to normal, the truth is, there is no going back to normal.

Over the last two months, I’ve personally consulted with over 100 different business leaders in all industries, from manufacturing to catering and from professional speakers to marketing agencies. These conversations have given me a unique perspective on how this crisis is impacting businesses and how it is shifting over time.

I can summarize all that I’ve learned in one sentence. We all have to start working very hard to create success in the new normal, and the first place we have to start is with our sales and marketing.

I can almost guarantee your sales and marketing need to change in 2 ways: in the message and the method. In this article, we will talk about how you can pivot your message now. In part 2 of this series, we will discuss how you can modernize your method and get ready for success in the new normal.

Why your messaging has to change

Back in January, we were taking orders. If someone knew about you, that’s about all it took to get them to buy. Times were relatively easy, and we could get by with sloppy messaging. We could be a little unclear because the market was mostly unconcerned. We could be just like everyone else because there was plenty of business to go around.

And then March hit, and the world shut down. Today, I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to fight tooth and nail for every sale. With all the uncertainty right now, if you don’t crush it in your message, your prospects will not buy from you. They are going to wait. Because the world around us is shifting and changing every day, that deal is as good as it is gone. 

As a marketer, sales rep, or business leader, you have the formidable responsibility to help your prospect overcome their uncertainty and engage in business with you.Your old sales pitch, your old website, and your old ads have to change to do this. 

As a marketer, sales rep, or business leader, you have the formidable responsibility to help your prospect overcome their uncertainty and engage in business with you. Click To Tweet

Here are four things you can do with your message right now:

1. Contextualize your content

Our economy and our businesses and our clients have experienced trauma. Everyone is wondering what this means for them, their safety, and their livelihood. 

In the StoryBrand world, we teach that our brains’ primary drive is to help us survive and thrive, and they are handled in that order. We have to have survival sorted before we can move on to thriving. And I can tell you this, not a lot of buying is happening to help people thrive right now.

This means you need to focus your messaging to help your clients understand how your product or service is essential to their survival. How will it keep them emotionally well, physically safe, and financially secure? If you are B2B, how will your product or service increase sales, keep their workers safe, cut costs, or reduce their risk.

Here are a couple of pointers:

  • Look at all of your top-selling points. How were they affected by the crisis? Are they more important now? If so, how can you communicate that clearer?
  • Take the focus off of your survival for a moment and ask yourself, “How has this impacted my clients?”
  • Ask yourself, “What can I/we do to help right now?” It’s easy to focus on what you don’t have, but it’s better to focus on what you do have and how you can put it to use serving your customers.
  • Take your existing content and edit it slightly. Sometimes all you need to do add phrases like “in times of crisis,” “in these uncertain times,” and “when you are stuck at home” to your existing content.

2. Create urgency

There is an incredibly strong urge to wait and see right now. I’ve found that the typical response in the market is to freeze, to wait it out. You’ve probably felt the same way yourself. We don’t know what’s going to happen next.

You must show how your product or service can have an impact today. Most urgency right now comes from our survival instinct. If you do well at contextualizing your content, you’ll have a head start on creating urgency, but you still have some work to do. 

To overcome this mentality; you need to develop a greater sense of urgency. Here are a few simple strategies that can help you create urgency: 

  • focus all your content on how it helps them survive,
  • use time-bound offers, 
  • offer short-term discounts for long term deals, 
  • donate a portion of this month’s sales to front-line workers, food pantries or other charities

3. Reduce risk

Many businesses and individuals feel exposed and at risk. They are worried about their future (especially over the short and medium-term) and unsure about what will happen. 

The vast majority of business owners I’ve spoken with are hyper-focused on preserving cash. Many individuals I know have tightened their spending belts to protect them and their families.

It may go without saying, but health is still a major area of concern. Business leaders are trying to keep their employees healthy and productive. Individuals are also going to great lengths to keep their loved ones healthy and safe.

Your business then needs to position its product or service to reduce your client’s risk more than it increases their risk by parting with their cash.

Here are a few ways you can reduce the risk for your customers:

  • Make use of generous payment terms
  • Assume the risk of your product/service not working with a generous refund policy
  • Focus on the break-even point: how long will it take the investment in your product or service to pay for itself.
  • Focus on how your product or service can be used safely and even increase the safety of your customers, their employees, and/or their loved ones.

4. Be clear

The market is maxed out on mental processing power. We are re-thinking the core functions of our lives and work that were previously on auto-pilot. If your marketing isn’t clear, if it isn’t obviously connected to their survival, you are going to struggle to get their attention. Don’t make your success in sales, dependent on their ability to perform mental gymnastics.

You need to be clear as you tell them precisely what you do, exactly how it helps them overcome a problem they are experiencing right now, and exactly what their life will look like with that problem solved.

I promise you, those businesses who do all three of those things well will succeed even in trying times when others fail. 

Here are a few ways you can be clear with your message:

  • Focus on your customers’ current problems and how you help solve them
  • Empathize with the difficult realities your customers are facing
  • With your words, paint a concrete, visual picture of a successful future for your clients.
  • Give them clear steps forward. Despite the uncertainty in the future, you can still provide clarity in the present.

Wrapping up

A clear message is more important today than ever before. To gain traction in times of crisis, you need to take a moment to adjust your message to matter in the moment and make sense for your customers. Once you’ve clarified your message, you are then ready to focus on pivoting your method to get your clear message out in front of as many potential customers as possible. I’ll show you what this is important and exactly how to do it in Part 2 of this series.

Prev 1 of 1 Next
  • How to Get Your Sales Back on Track

    How to Get Your Sales Back on Track

    In the wake of COVID-19, many business leaders right now are recognizing this brutal reality: their current sales and marketing methods are not built for these trying times.
    The pressure is building for companies to get their sales back up, but it's a real struggle right now.
    Clients are putting projects, jobs, and events (and accounts payable) on hold indefinitely. Many consumers have lost their jobs or are worried they will soon. Social distancing requirements are continuing to create substantial barriers to the normal flow of business everywhere from the retail floor to the manufacturing floor. Travel is still heavily restricted, and uncertainty abounds.
    While many have held on to the hope that they could ride this out and get back to normal, the truth is, there is no going back to normal.
    Over the last two months, I've personally consulted with over 100 different business leaders in all kinds of industries, from manufacturing to catering and from professional speakers to marketing agencies. This has given me a unique perspective on how this crisis is impacting businesses and how it is shifting over time.
    I can summarize all that I've learned in one sentence. We all have to start working very hard to create success in the new normal, and the first place we have to start is with our sales and marketing.
    I can almost guarantee your sales and marketing need to change in 2 ways: in message and in method. In this video series, I will show you exactly how to pivot your message and upgrade sales and marketing methods to get your sales back on track and get your business moving forward.

    Read the Article: https://bit.ly/3ucPhVY

    #business #entrepreneur #people #team #culture #leadership #teamwork #businessowner #businesstips #coach

    Like what you see? You can find more great content from Scale Architects here!

    Website: https://www.scalearchitects.com
    Blog: https://www.scalearchitects.com/blog
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/achitectscale
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLj9yjac5P7UMFxoWuG8Zw/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/architectscale/
    Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scale_architect
  • Pivoting Your Message to Get Your Sales Back on Track

    Pivoting Your Message to Get Your Sales Back on Track

    Back in January, we were taking orders. If someone knew about you, that's about all it took to get them to buy. Times were relatively easy, and we could get by with sloppy messaging. We could be a little unclear because the market was largely unconcerned. We could be just like everyone else because there was plenty of business to go around.
    And then March hit, and the world shut down. Today, I wouldn't be surprised if you are having to fight tooth and nail for every sale. With all the uncertainty right now, if you don't crush it in your message, your prospects are not going to buy from you. They are going to wait. And because the world around us is shifting and changing every day, that deal is as good as gone.
    As a marketer, sales rep, or business leader, right now, you have the formidable responsibility to help your prospect overcome their uncertainty and engage in business with you. To do this, your old sales pitch, your old website, and your old ads have to change.
    Here are four things I'm helping my clients with right now that you can also do with your message:
    First, contextualize your content. You need to draw a direct line from your product or service to your customer's survival, or if you sell B2B, the survival of their business?
    Next, create urgency. To sell in times of uncertainty, you have to create urgency for your buyers.
    Then, reduce risk. When the world feels shaky, people are repelled by risk, and they are drawn to safety. You need to make purchasing from you safer than holding their cash.
    Finally, be clear. We have enough questions right now. The last thing we need is to struggle to understand what you do or how it can help us through these trying times.

    Read the Article: https://bit.ly/3ucPhVY

    #business #entrepreneur #people #team #culture #leadership #teamwork #businessowner #businesstips #coach

    Like what you see? You can find more great content from Scale Architects here!

    Website: https://www.scalearchitects.com
    Blog: https://www.scalearchitects.com/blog
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/achitectscale
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLj9yjac5P7UMFxoWuG8Zw/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/architectscale/
    Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scale_architect
  • How to Contextualize Your Messaging in an Economic Crisis

    How to Contextualize Your Messaging in an Economic Crisis

    How to Contextualize Your Messaging in an Economic Crisis
    Our economy and our businesses, and our clients have experienced trauma. Everyone is wondering what this means for them, their safety, and their livelihood.
    In the StoryBrand world, we teach that our brains' primary drive is to help us survive and thrive, and they are handled in that order. We have to have survival sorted before we can move on to thriving. And I can tell you this, not a lot of buying is being done to help people thrive right now.
    This means you need to focus your messaging to help your clients understand how your product or service is essential to their survival. How will it keep them emotionally well, physically safe, and financially secure? If you are B2B, how will your product or service increase sales, keep their workers safe, cut their costs, or reduce their risk.
    Here are four things I'm doing for my marketing clients right now that you should also consider in your messaging:
    Look at all of your top-selling points. How were they affected by the crisis? Are they more important now? If so, how can you communicate that clearly?
    Take the focus off of your survival for a moment and ask yourself, "How has this impacted my clients?"
    Ask yourself, "What can I/we do to help right now?" It's easy to focus on what you don't have, but it's better to focus on what you do have and how you can put it to use serving your customers.
    Take your existing content and just edit it slightly. Sometimes all you need to do add phrases like "in times of crisis," "in these uncertain times," and "when you are stuck at home" to your existing content.
    Context is king right now, but it isn't everything. Once you contextualize your messaging, you will likely still need to take the next step and add urgency to your offer to overcome uncertainty in your buyers. I'll show you how in the next video.

    Read the Article: https://bit.ly/3ucPhVY

    #business #entrepreneur #people #team #culture #leadership #teamwork #businessowner #businesstips #coach

    Like what you see? You can find more great content from Scale Architects here!

    Website: https://www.scalearchitects.com
    Blog: https://www.scalearchitects.com/blog
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/achitectscale
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLj9yjac5P7UMFxoWuG8Zw/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/architectscale/
    Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scale_architect
  • How to Overcome Buyer Uncertainty with Urgency

    How to Overcome Buyer Uncertainty with Urgency

    How to Overcome Buyer Uncertainty with Urgency
    Right now, there is an incredibly strong urge in most markets to wait and see. I've found that the prevailing response of many consumers and businesses is to freeze, to wait it out. You've probably felt the same way yourself. We just don't know what's going to happen next, and many of us still have new fires popping up each day as we struggle to keep our families healthy and happy and keep our businesses running with as little interruption as possible.
    A large percentage of our attention is constantly on the here, the now, the short term. And that means you need to show how your product or service can have an impact today. Most urgency right now comes from our survival instinct. If you do well at contextualizing your content, you'll have a head start on creating urgency, but you still have some work to do.
    To overcome this mentality, you need to develop a greater sense of urgency. Here are a few simple strategies I use to help my clients that can also use to create urgency:
    focus all your content on how it helps them survive,
    use time-bound offers,
    offer short-term discounts for long term deals,
    donate a portion of this month's sales to front-line workers, food pantries, or other charities
    The best way to overcome buyer uncertainty in trying times is to build greater urgency into your offers. However, urgency may not be enough by itself. In the next video, I'll show you how reducing your client's risk is key to selling in uncertain times

    Read the Article: https://bit.ly/3ucPhVY

    #business #entrepreneur #people #team #culture #leadership #teamwork #businessowner #businesstips #coach

    Like what you see? You can find more great content from Scale Architects here!

    Website: https://www.scalearchitects.com
    Blog: https://www.scalearchitects.com/blog
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/achitectscale
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLj9yjac5P7UMFxoWuG8Zw/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/architectscale/
    Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scale_architect
  • How Reducing Your Clients’ Risk is Key to Selling Uncertain Times

    How Reducing Your Clients’ Risk is Key to Selling Uncertain Times

    Many businesses and individuals feel exposed and at risk right now. They are worried about their future (especially over the short and medium term) and unsure about what is going to happen.
    The vast majority of business owners I've spoken with are hyper-focused on preserving cash. Many individuals I know have tightened their spending belts to protect them and their families.
    This may go without saying, but health is also a major topic. Business leaders are trying to keep their employees healthy and productive. Individuals are going to great lengths to keep their loved ones healthy and safe.
    With dropping revenues, millions of unemployment claims every week, and wide-ranging pay cuts for those who are still employed, the last thing many want is to part with their hard-earned cash. It just feels too risky.
    Your business then needs to position its product or service in a way that reduces your client's risk more than it increases their risk by parting with their cash.
    Here are a few ways I've encouraged my clients to reduce the risk for their customers that you should consider as well:
    Make use of generous payment terms.
    Assume the risk of your product/service not working with a generous refund policy
    Focus on the break-even point: how long will it take for the investment in your product or service to pay for itself.
    Focus on how your product or service can be used safely and even increase the safety of your customers, their employees, and/or their loved ones.
    As a visionary leader, you probably have a higher risk tolerance than most. This gives you an incredible opportunity to leverage risk to grow your business while also doing a great service to your customers but helping them reduce their risk.
    However, none of that matters if you aren't crystal clear in your communications. Stay tuned for the next video, where I'll show you why clarity is so important right now and how you can clarify your message and get your sales back on track.

    Read the Article: https://bit.ly/3ucPhVY

    #business #entrepreneur #people #team #culture #leadership #teamwork #businessowner #businesstips #coach

    Like what you see? You can find more great content from Scale Architects here!

    Website: https://www.scalearchitects.com
    Blog: https://www.scalearchitects.com/blog
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/achitectscale
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLj9yjac5P7UMFxoWuG8Zw/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/architectscale/
    Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scale_architect
  • The Only Way to Move Your Company out of this Crisis is to be Clear

    The Only Way to Move Your Company out of this Crisis is to be Clear

    The Only Way to Move Your Company out of this Crisis is to be Clear
    The market is maxed out on mental processing power. We are re-thinking core functions of our lives and work that were previously on auto-pilot. We have kids at home, continuously changing social distancing and sanitation requirements, and a nonstop onslaught of opinions from the news and social media alike.
    If your marketing isn't clear, if it isn't obviously connected to your customer's survival, you are going to struggle to get their attention. Don't make your success in sales dependent on their ability to perform mental gymnastics.
    You need to be clear as you tell them exactly what you do, exactly how it helps them overcome a problem they are experiencing right now, and exactly what their life will look like with that problem solved.
    I promise you, those businesses who do all three of those things well will succeed even in trying times when others fail.
    Here's how I'm helping my clients clarify their message and what you can do to clarify your message too:
    Focus on your customers' current problems and how you help solve them
    Empathize with the difficult realities your customers are facing
    With your words, paint a concrete, visual picture of a successful future for your clients.
    Give them clear steps forward. Despite the uncertainty in the future, you can still provide clarity in the present.
    A clear message is more important today than ever before. To gain traction in times of crisis, you need to take a moment to adjust your message to matter in the moment and make sense for your customers. Once you've clarified your message, you are then ready to focus on pivoting your method to get your clear message out in front of as many potential customers as possible. We'll dig deeper into this in the next video.

    Read the Article: https://bit.ly/3ucPhVY

    #business #entrepreneur #people #team #culture #leadership #teamwork #businessowner #businesstips #coach

    Like what you see? You can find more great content from Scale Architects here!

    Website: https://www.scalearchitects.com
    Blog: https://www.scalearchitects.com/blog
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/achitectscale
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalearchitects
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLj9yjac5P7UMFxoWuG8Zw/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/architectscale/
    Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/scale_architect
Prev 1 of 1 Next
Category: Focused Marketing

About Scott Ritzheimer

Scott is passionate about helping businesses scale and achieve Predictable Success. Having helped start nearly 20,000 new businesses and nonprofits and with his business partner started and led their multimillion-dollar business through an exceptional and extended growth phase (over 10 years of double-digit growth) all before he turned 35.

Today, he’s on a mission to help train and equip coaches, consultants, and internal advisors so they can help architect incredible organizations and personally enjoy immensely rewarding careers!

Previous Post: « 8 Practical Ways To Lead Your Team Through Every Crisis – Part 2
Next Post: How to Get Your Sales Back on Track – Part 2 »

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