The past year has been quite the rollercoaster for sales folks. The 2nd half of the year saw layoffs at tech companies and startups alike. Unfortunately sales teams were the most hit in this exercise. Even for those not affected by layoffs, the last few months have been generally slower than expected. As we enter 2023, here are a few things sales people should expect:
Prepare for lots of prospecting, lower conversion rates
The prognosis for 2023 doesn’t look much better. Not yet at least. As businesses try to navigate uncertain times ahead, buyers will find it hard to propose and justify spends. If you’re hopeful unspent budgets in the last quarter (India FY), there’s not going to be much there. Most of these budgets have been frozen if not scrapped already.
Be ready for prospecting a lot more than you normally would. Bad surprises- things like expected deals not coming through will continue to happen. There’s not much you can do about it. Get back to the basics and work on having a large top of the funnel.
If you work in enterprise sales, be conservative about the timelines. Deals are likely to take longer than usual.
Be ready for overanalysis & some random experiments internally
More than the market though, it will be things internally in your organization that’ll be harder to manage.
If you are part of an early stage young organization, be ready for some pointless analysis, very counterintuitive changes & rollouts. A few organizations will be slow in seeing the slowdown for what it is. Some founders and sales heads will look for silver bullets where none exist. These will manifest in the form of changes in team structure, product offering, payment terms etc. amongst others. Apart from a few, most of these will be distractions.
Try not to be flustered by these changes and think too much about them. Keep an open mind while evaluating these changes, but focus on your core work and what’s worked for you in the past. Once the dust settles, the only thing that’ll matter is how you’ve performed with respect to your targets.
Job hunting won’t be easy
If you are one of those who’s out of a job and/or looking for one, things might be slightly tougher. Opportunities will continue to come by slower. It would help to be less picky, with a few caveats. Be open to exploring roles even if they don’t completely match your expectations. It’s ok to take a less desirable role to ride over the tide.
However, do evaluate the organization and viability of the business before you join. You don’t want to be out looking for a role again too soon.
Good frontline sales talent will have it easier. If you’re an experienced sales leader/manager, things might take longer. Job applications on websites might not deliver much. Access your network to get referred, use LinkedIn to reach out to leaders and recruiters directly.
Stick to the organization’s core business as much as possible
Whether it is in your current organization or a new organization you’re looking to join, try staying close to the core business. There will be promising new businesses and ideas: evaluate them carefully and do take those up if you feel the size of the prize justifies it and if the organization is committed to seeing it through. But as a general rule, try and stick to businesses that are core to the company’s future.
Quotas, bonuses & incentives will be a source of anxiety
Targets & quotas will seem to move away from reality for some of you. Some organizations will fail to acknowledge & accept the changed market situation. Targets or quotas might seem unreasonable and there’ll be some pressure to cut back on incentives. Try not to be perturbed by it.
Treat your incentives the way you should- as a bonus. Avoid planning expenses based on how much incentives you expect to earn.
It isn’t all gloom & doom
While things might look bad, remember that they probably aren’t as bad as they look and that things will turn around not too far in the future. There is generally a dearth of good sales talent, and that will continue. People who perform despite these difficulties will be much sought after once things pick up again. For now, just put your head down and stick to the basics. Happy selling!
