Economies are like the seasons: They are always changing. Despite that fact, some economic seasons can last a whole lot longer than others. Imagine a cold, snowy winter that lasts much longer than what the calendar might suggest.

When the general or local economy takes a turn for the worse, those in sales industries that are negatively affected have two choices:

1. Get out of the industry
2. Ride out the tough economy and trust that things will improve

If you choose the latter, you will need to re-think, revamp and re-educate yourself on how to sell effectively and efficiently in a down economy.

Focus on the Fundamentals

The most important thing for any sales professional facing a challenging economy to remember is to never lose hold of the fundamentals of sales. Boiled down to the basics, those fundamentals are:

• Prospecting- Knowing how to prospect and actually putting your skills to work by prospecting.
• Building Rapport - When things are tough, customers not only are faced with the need to spend less but also will be more stringent on who they spend money with. If you're not building rapport, someone else is and they are getting your sales.
• Customer Service - Taking care of your customers and putting them first is always important but when struggling through a bad economy, customer service becomes much more important.
• Closing Skills- Closing sales is not easy in any economy, especially a bad one. If your closing skills are weak, so too will be your commission checks.

In if for the Long Haul?

If you decide to tough it out, focus on the fundamentals and stay in your sales industry, you should prepare yourself for some challenging times ahead. Depending on how negatively affected your industry is by the economic climate, you may see a long lasting downturn in your income. 

At first, losing 5 to even 20% of your income may not be too challenging, but stretch it out for several months or even years and things will get dicey. You may need to change your lifestyle, reduce debts and sacrifice some quality of life. Will it be easy? Absolutely not. But if you are committed to your industry and believe that things will turn around, your dedication and commitment to sticking it out should pay dividends once the economy turns around.

There's a funny thing that happens to sales reps who ride out the tough times: They often times end up significantly better off than they were when the economic downturn began. Not only will your sales skills be much stronger when things turn around, but the respect and rapport you will have built from your employer, fellow employees and customers will serve you quite well throughout the rest of your career.

Getting Out Before it's Too Late

For those sales professionals who decide to get out of their industry, their success will be all about their timing. Get out too soon and you may miss some opportunities to capitalize that result from other reps exiting the industry. Stay in too long and your financial situation may have grown so intolerable that you become too desperate and end up accepting the first job offer than comes your way.

Knowing when you must leave an industry is not an exact science. You'll need to keep current of the industry trends and how the economy as a whole is trending.

Some may believe that they will just know when it's time to leave but trusting your career and your financial life to feelings is risky at best. You will be far better off spending time each day researching your industry and identifying trends than just going by your gut.