Tariff Angst? Plan for the Worst...

Feeling the heat from trade wars, tariffs, or supply chain chaos? Let's talk about the actionable steps you can take today to stay ahead in unpredictable times.

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You guys know that I work with a lot of global companies, and I have a lot of sellers in different parts of the globe who sell all over the globe. And recently I'm fielding a lot of calls that express concern or even worry about what's going on. Most of it, all of it probably is out of our control.

It could be trade war. It could be tariffs. It could be supply chain. It could be lack of access to certain markets. It could be layoffs. It could be lack of people. It could be lack of product. It could be rivers drying up. All of these things are things we have no control over.

But I'll tell you what, if you want to be successful this year, there are some things you do have control over that you can do right now in order to mitigate against whatever risk or concern might be coming your way. Number one, let's make sure the best of your ability in your territory you diversify. Big business, small business, medium business, short term business, long term business. Take a mix of industries as vast as possible for your product set so that if one industry is really hard but another one is flourishing, you always have a balance and can hit your target.

Make sure as well you're talking to a diverse number of people in your industry and in your market, so you don't get shut out of a customer or delay in making a sale because you don't have all the necessary contacts. Because if some of the things you're worried about do come to pass in your territory, you do want to try to get some deals closed quickly. So diversify as much as possible. Find industries that are likely to thrive or types of businesses when others might be suffering.

And the second thing is overweight your pipeline. You know, most of you probably work to a 3 or 4 X pipeline in order to get your gold. Now is the time. If you're very concerned about the conditions of the marketplace, to go to a 5 or 6 X pipeline. Why? Well, because if you're overweighted, you're always going to be able to find something somewhere that's going to close because you'll have such a variety of prospects in different stages.

And let's face it, worst comes to worst and nothing changes. Everything stays the same. And your market continues to thrive. Well, then you're just going to close more deals this year. What's wrong with that?

So plan for the worst. Expect the best and you'll always end up on top.

Don't forget to check out: How Not to Prospect!