Sales Management Strategies to Survive an Economic Downturn

The global economic downturn has had a profound effect on sales organizations in every industry sector impacting the salesperson’s daily tasks and selling strategies. Where the topic of selling strategy and the salesperson is abundantly covered (Biong and Selnes, 1996) there is little research in the context of personal selling during a recession. There is a wide range of consultancy and managerial articles available listing advice to sales professionals during an economic downturn; however, they are based on firsthand knowledge rather than theoretical or empirical evidence. This lack of empirical research has lead to the aim of this working paper wh ich is twofold: 1. To investigate how the economic downturn has affected Personal Selling Strategies; 2. Determine how the economic downturn has affected the role of the salesperson. Interviews were held with twenty-four UK salespeople impacted by current recession from a variety of business-to-business companies. This paper contributes new knowledge for sales management and better equips sales practitioners with the strategies to negate the consequences of economic downturns.