Saturday, June 13, 2009

Recession???

Okay my peeps. It is time to look into that crystal ball and determine which direction the wind is blowing in our industry.
First what about this so-called recession? Is it dire news for the direct sales industry? What is the bright side? Is there a bright side (ha ha)?
Here's what has been observed from the last recession. Newspaper or "cold hiring" becomes easier during these times, because the competition for jobs is much greater. Distributors will find that they are able to hire persons with better education, and with better quality lead markets. If it is a "Buyers" market in housing, it is a good time for hiring!
Consumers may be looking for something a little more geared toward saving money in the presentation, which gives Dealers, Representatives, and Distributors an opportunity to focus the sales demo/presentation on how the functions of the product can help cut the costs/bills of the consumer. More people spend their money in hopes of saving money than simply for the reward of having purchased another product. If your selling a product that's over $1000 it is not likely an impulse purchase so that means selling on emotion (getting the customer excited) might not be enough to prevent "Buyer's remorse".

Let's take a look at an example. During a recession homeowners will rarely put off fixing a leaking roof, even if it costs them $2-3K to do it. So what does that have to do with us? What we have to examine is why consumers will put off some purchases during a recession and yet not put off others. Let's assume that the consumer has heard that his company has laid off workers due to the recession. It is probable that he might become concerned about his own job health and thus put off a future purchase. But, that same person will not put off the leaking roof. Let's go one step further with this story. Suppose the consumer is one of these "I only pay cash" types (but not because of poor credit-but rather to avoid interest charges). He might object to a purchase because of concerns about his job and also confide that his company has cut back on available over-time work and thus he can not afford the product purchase (in cash). But, this doesn't apply to a leaky roof does it?
Not only will a consumer fix a leaking roof, but if he can’t afford to pay cash he will purchase the product on payments even with the interest charges being what they may be.
This same psychology applies to an irreparable refrigerator.
If the consumer does not fix the leaking roof it may cause increased damage to the house and eventually cost even more money to repair. If the consumer does not get a new refrigerator, the food will continue to spoil and again cost the consumer even greater sums. It is the job of the product presenter to make a presentation that encourages the consumer to purchase based on a savings now, and a reduced cost or increasing savings over time. If this is successful, the consumer will gladly make the purchase, and even pay for the product over time regardless of the interest (so long as the monthly savings is greater than the monthly expenditure; or in the event that the overall savings counter balances the increase in their monthly spending.
So there’s some recession thoughts to think about!

1 comment:

RV Roof Repair said...

How can rescission play a role in your daily routine life?