5 steps to take now in your selling after the Brexit vote

Well  the Brexit tube of toothpaste has been squeezed.  The Leave camp won.

 I was disappointed by my nation’s decision to leave the EU.

However I am a democrat and I have to accept as a member of the minority to bow to the decision of the majority of my nation

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Now for the consequences

What’s done is done.

There is little point in trying to poke the toothpaste back into the tube.

As salespeople we have to regularly accept such similar defeats – we know as the song lyric goes that we must ‘pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and start all over again.’

  For example we may disagree with decisions by our management, decisions by the ‘marketing’  on strategic direction,  production’s refusal to produce a ‘special’, finance’s  final say on margins ( or discounts)  etc. But we have to comply or else internal business anarchy takes place.

We are used, in other words, to accepting the minority position of Sales at power broking board level. ( The tension between serving the share holder , investors, stake holder etc versus the external customers)

The time for us to lick our wounds ( Remain) or gloat on our battle won ( Leave) is OVER

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Let’s not dwell on Brexit but rather concentrate on staying competitive.

Our country is shell shocked in the aftermath of the EU referendum. We are grappling with the new reality .

However unpredictable the future may be, the worst thing to do now is dwell on the result on the referendum vote.

 Much like the pointless moaning about England’s soccer team being knocked out of the European Cup  in France  ( Congratulations  and well played to the Iceland team by the way) the English FA has now to look to the future ,plan for it and take action to the new tasks. The fans need to get over it now too. So likewise must we sales in the post referendum era.

The real risk is that the warnings of economic decline and predictions of the diminished role for the UK in the world and other doom mongering become self fulfilling prophecies.

Yet we should be in no doubt the consequences of this vote is a real game changer. So here are some initial suggestions

1. Time to keep calm – not to panic.

2. Think

3. Review

4. Communicate now with your customers and prospects- if you have not already

5. Avoid lack lustre treading water type messages of ‘no change here’, “ wait and see” but rather communicate positively how you will be:-

• more competitive,
• more flexible,
• more creative,
• more dynamic
• more entrepreneurial
• and more proactive.

Re-assure your customers that unlike certain Brexit politicians ( as it currently appears) we in selling do have a plan B  !   – we know the importance of contingency and how to support our clients in both good , tough  and uncertain times.

Whether the UK’s Brexit decision turns out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Leave camp or a real one that is for the political historians to argue over, our role in Sales is to work to be part of the solution not part of the problem.

Whichever way you voted , now is the time to take up the strain again – and as sales and marketing profession it’s what we all will be doing.

Good selling in this ever changing world of new opportunities

Related Links

Minding your own business Leave or Remain