Wednesday Wisdom: Mining for Sales Gold After The Economic Pause

Inspiration, Business Success Strategies, Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses

In 2011 a reality television show called “Gold Rush” documented the gold mining activities of family-owned mining companies searching for gold near Yukon, Canada. Every week drama surrounded the teams as they “almost” found the mother-load of gold just below the surface. Most of the show looked to me to be a “man cave activity” where my guys watched other men’s machines break down just as the families almost struck it big. Maybe I didn’t watch it because there wasn’t a woman in the mix or because from my entrepreneurial years, I know most people don’t strike gold just because they want to.

Online, the word “prospecting” has two references. The first is searching for mineral deposits in a place, by means of experimental drilling and excavation or the responsibilities of salespeople to prospect for customers. Women entrepreneurs know prospecting has always been an essential part of the sales process leading them to in-person networking events, collecting business cards, and joining LinkedIn. If they were prospecting right, they also reached out to family and friends, old college roommates, personal vendors, and an outer circle of connections close to their immediate “ties” because they needed a list of potential customers to secure one day.

When the Coronavirus Pandemic hit and the economic pause began, prospecting for new customers and even selling to old clients, took a back seat as everyone adjusted to a new normal with less money in the economy. How could an entrepreneur know if clients could pay bills if they were furloughed, lost their jobs, or even their own businesses? Without conversations and research, most business owners were put in a holding pattern when it came time for traditional prospecting and sales activities. Now that New York State is reopening, how will small businesses start selling again especially if there is less money to go around?

This Wednesday Wisdom is meant to get you thinking about ramping up your sales activities again as “regular” business starts. How easy or hard will it be to pick up where you left off when the Coronavirus pause began? Have you been selling all along? Did you put a hold on marketing and sales activities? How eager or resistant are you to begin again? Do you think you are as motivated as the Gold Rush families looking for gold in the Yukon? You should be.

If you aren’t, that’s okay but tune in to Women TIES Zoom Meeting on May 28th to learn from an experienced sales professional to get motivated on prospecting and selling again with the right tools and mental attitude. There’s a lot of gold out there to mine. You just have to be willing to go after it.