UK GDP fell by 0.3% in March 2023, following a flatline in February and growth of 0.5% in January, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics. However, this doesn’t mean that all windows of opportunities are closed when it comes to the economic health of the UK’s 5.5 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs). According to UK sales transformation specialist The True Sales Company, it just means that SMEs need to understand where their profit comes from and adopt a laser focus on those areas of their business.

“It’s easy to say that ‘people aren’t buying’ right now when you look at the economic headlines. But even in a challenging economy there are still enough people buying products and services to keep millions of SMEs afloat. The difference is that SMEs need to understand their business in depth and identify their ideal client profiles if they want to home in on clients who are going to say ‘yes’ to their salespeople.”

Paul Owen, MD, The True Sales Company

Paul Owen, MD of The True Sales Company, cites the example of one of his clients in the commercial property sector. The business has taken the time to address two key points: identifying precisely which of its activities generate most of its profit and understanding its ideal client profile for laser focused sales activity. Much of this work merely required small tweaks in thinking and behaviour. The result is that the company is now struggling to take advantage of the huge number of warm leads flowing in through its sales team. Owen comments:

“A flat-lining economy and even a shrinking economy doesn’t mean that money has disappeared entirely. There is still money there, you just need to focus more strategically on how you win it.”

Other small changes can also make a big difference when it comes to how well SMEs can perform in tough economic circumstances. Many companies, for example, only just miss out when it comes to making sales and sealing deals. As such, a small shift in behaviour is sometimes all that is needed to improve a struggling performance rate.