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Here are the Top 4 lessons sales leaders in Tech should have learned from the 2008 recession but probably didn’t!

… that will cost you business in 2023!

Economists might argue about the looming recession, but things are already getting tense for the 18,000 let go at Amazon or the 10,000 gone from Microsoft.

There were a lot of difficult lessons learned in the last recession, and sales leaders who ignore them will pay the price.

Here are 4 lessons to pay attention to right now.

Lesson #1: CEOs are looking for saving in Opex, Capex and People.

If your deal is not Strategically Relevant, Tactically Urgent and provides rapid Time to Value, it won’t get funded… even if you’ve been working on it for a year!

Remember all that work-from-home kit that got sold at the start of the pandemic? Most of it wasn’t in anyone’s budget. Still, it was Strategically Relevant, Tactically Urgent and provided rapid Time to Value, so it got sold.

Looking at your deals through this “Recession Lens” will help you understand the risks that could cause your deals to get delayed or end with NO decision.

Lesson #2: Signing authority is being reduced throughout organizations.

The decision-makers your reps are calling on may no longer have the authority to approve their deal, even if they did just six months ago.

Here’s the thing.

The VP of finance doesn’t want all the noise associated with formally changing people’s signing authority, but she is taking a closer look at EVERY deal and prioritizing where to spend money.

Lesson #3: Reps need direct Access to Power or a Coach to ruthlessly qualify their deals to ensure they close when expected.

Sales cycles will get longer, NO decision will become a real issue, and sales forecasts will get even more unreliable than they are today.

Remember 2008. It happened then, and it’s already happening for many deals in the forecast.

Lesson #4: Headcount will get frozen.

It’s already happening… Worse yet, if you lose a rep, you likely won’t be able to replace them, even if you’re carrying the quota.

So the big question is, do you take out low performers now, knowing you may not be able to replace them?

For me, the answer is always a huge YES.

Take out the low performers, give their accounts that can generate revenue to your best reps (don’t change their goals), and watch them close the business, the low performers couldn’t.

You end up with all the revenue you would have had, with less expense… and as a bonus, your existing reps will appreciate the bluebirds!

2023 is not going to be business as usual.

Pay attention to these four lessons, and don’t say I didn’t warn you!

• See you next week when I share: The Best Piece Of Advice I Ever Got About Performance Improvement Plans.

See you next Saturday.

Great Selling… Jeff@SalesLeadersOnly.com