Seven VAR Sales Management Tips For A Downturn

Addressing solution providers at Ingram Micro's VTN Spring Invitational in Orlando Thursday, Morris cited results from IPED's 2009 Growth Study of more than 7,500 solution providers, who, on average, expected not just flatness but growth in 2009, to the tune of 13 percent year-over-year on average.

Morris offered seven tactics to keep VAR sales forces focused and on the ball during a trying time:

1. Stay positive.

"Optimism is contagious," Morris argued, "and also makes you more attractive to your customer."

2. Target your customers like never before.

"You have no time for 'maybes,'" Morris said. "Target only ideal customers, and if you don't know what your ideal customer is, stop everything you're doing until you can say." If you don't have a clear customer in mind, he said, you're not only "not getting closer to your target but actively walking in the other direction."

3. Communicate better.

"Communicate with your sales team more, not less," Morris said. "Nature abhors a vacuum. If you do not communicate well with your sales team, they will assume the worst."

4. Execute.

Morris argued for the simplicity, however deceptive, of doing "the right things in the right way." It's too easy to get off track, and a distracted sales team misses targets, he argued.

5. Invest in new talent.

Making tactical investments puts you on the offense, Morris said, where many of your competitors are playing defense. Plenty of sharp IT executives have been laid off in the last few months. Hiring new talent can make sure your staff is at its fullest when the downturn finally trends upward.

"It takes three months to dismantle a sales team, but 18 months to rebuild it," Morris offered. "When things do look up, you want to be ready."

6. Have a contingency plan.

Morris evoked the old adage of fixing the roof while the sun is shining -- that is, having a 'Plan B' when things go wrong so you're not reacting in the moment.

"If you get to a point where you lose a big deal or you're not making your numbers, that's a very emotional time and you're not going to make the right decision," Morris said. "Put a Plan B on paper -- the way you will run [your] business if something happens. This is the secret sauce in a down economy. It's not about who's good and who's bad, but who's quick."

7. Maintain perspective.

Upturns and downturns are trends and "the recovery will happen sometime," Morris said.

"Will you have anything left in the tank when the market finally picks up?" he asked. "Suck it up. Perspective is the only way to navigate through a downturn."

Everything Channel owns Channelweb.com.