Be Indispensable to Protect Your Job in a Volatile Economy

If you want to succeed at any job, make yourself invaluable. Go the extra mile; make them never be able to imagine what life without you there would be like. - Ross Mathews

Selling in a crisis is tough. Losing your job during an economic downturn is worse. Now more than ever, you need your income. If you lose your job, there is a much higher probability that you will take a pay cut when you land your next one or end up in a role or company that you dislike. 

No Mercy for Anchors

The good news for you and sales professionals everywhere is that most organizations and their leaders are smart. They understand that in volatile times like this, they need productive salespeople more than ever. Businesses cannot survive without a steady stream of new sales and loyal customers. 

The optimum word here is productive. In a recession, everything and everyone will be examined for its value. If you drain resources rather than generating sales and profits, you are gone. There is no mercy for anchors when the ship is sinking.

How to Get Fired in a Crisis:

Failure to prospect

Low activity and productivity

Lose customers

Mediocre performance 

Poor time management and organization

Wasting resources

Coasting along

Quiet quitting

Making excuses

Surprising the boss with bad news

Complaining

Being difficult to work with

The bottom line is, when your leadership team is faced with making decisions about sales force reductions, the dead wood gets cut first. Therefore you need to be indispensable to your boss and organization. 

Excellence is a Choice

Mediocrity, just like excellence, is a choice. Therefore, the most effective way to protect your job is to make the decision to be excellent. Here’s how you become indispensable and advance your career in a crisis:

Get back to the basics

Be fanatical about prospecting and fill your pipeline

Sell better

Retain your customers

Contribute and be a team player

Volunteer for projects and always offer to lend a hand

Look for ways to add value

Consistently ask the boss how you can help

Come in early and stay late

Give more effort

Mentor struggling team members 

Contribute in team meetings

Attack the day with drive and optimism

Be a beacon of light with your positive attitude

Go the extra mile

Change your way of thinking about work. Devote yourself to your company’s survival. Make a commitment to prove your worth to your boss, company, prospects, and customers every day. Be and become a person that your organization cannot live without.

Going the Extra Mile 

Going the extra mile is powerful in a world where mediocrity is the norm and most people won’t. These things may seem small, but in today’s world the majority of your competition fails in these obvious areas: 

Showing up early for meetings and being prepared 

Following up 

Checking spelling and grammar on your emails and written documents

Always looking, acting, and dressing like a professional

Volunteering for special projects

Coming in early and staying late

Keeping your word 

Doing more than is required

Really listening to your prospects and looking for ways to solve their problems–regardless of the impact on your commission check 

Taking personal responsibility to ensure that your support team follows through on their obligations 

Telling the truth when you’ve made a mistake or cannot come through on a promise

Constantly looking for ways to add value and do more

A commitment to excellence in everything you do–even when no one is looking