Ad Sales Blog

Can you sell in a recession? Take the test!

Selling in a recession takes a different attitude. I always like to share this test with salespeople to see if they are up for the challenge. The trick is that this test actually comes from the December 1932 issue of Opportunity Magazine, written for salespeople during the Great American Depression. If you can pass a sales test written during The Depression, I figure, you are up to sell in a mere recession anytime!

Answer yes or no to the following:

1. Am I sociable?
2. Do I think in terms of success?
3. Do I really like selling?
4. Do I think of my customers interests?
5. Do I read sales literature?
6. Do I study my prospects?
7. Is my personal appearance a credit to myself and the company I represent?
8. Do I realize that success in selling is a matter of study and perseverance and that the element
of luck is small?
9. Am I cheerful in the face of interruptions?
10. Am I always courteous even with unreasonable prospects?
11. Am I always scrupulously honest in my representations?
12. Do I think of selling as a dignified calling worthy of my best efforts?
13. When faced with competition, am I inspired to excel?
14. Do I know that my line of goods is the best on the market?
15. Do I try to make repeat sales?
16. Do I talk quality first and price later?
17. Do I stay with a line of goods long enough to give the line a fair trial?
18. Do I spend sufficient time perfecting my demonstration to make it convincing?
19. Do I take advantage of every modern convenience in selling, such as the telephone,
telegraph and letter service?
20. Do I canvas systematically and never skip places because they look uninviting?
21. Do I work regular hours even when the weather is unpleasant?
22. Do I put in the extra time to close a deal when necessary?
23. Do I put extra effort into selling after a poor day?
24. Do I put extra effort into selling after an unusually good day?
25. Am I determined to stick with selling despite the lure of a blind alley, time clock, type of job?

Score Table

No. of Questions Answered Favorably Rating
25: Star Salesman
20: A Success
15: On The Way
Below 15: Need Overhauling

Recession fighting chart

Over the past half-century, there have been nine recessions, with an average length of 11 months each. If we head into a recession...eventually it will end as well.

On your next call.

If you are engaged with an advertiser who is thinking about cutting back their ad spend because there might be  a recession, show then th the chart below. The chart will make tangible the idea that all recessions end. Then ask ask them a simple question:

Who will your customers think when the recession is over if a competitor of theirs kept advertising?

Recession fighter promo letter

Not a recession!
In the last few weeks I have heard of several ad programs being cut back or put on hold because of concerns that a recession is coming. During the 2002 ad recession I wrote and distributed this letter with great effect. It shows how advertisers who maintain exposure during the slow times move ahead of competitors who don't and gives a great example of a product that benefited from this exposure, Kellogg's Corn flakes. Here is the introductory copy:

Should You Advertise During a Recession?

Consider this ad from 1935 and how it affects buying today.

Advertising dollars spent during slow times are the best investment a company can make.

In 1929, rival cereal makers Kellogg’s and Post were in a close race to win the breakfast cereal market. When the Great Depression started, Kellogg’s maintained their advertising spending while rival Post cut back.

At the end of the Depression, Kellogg’s had achieved a category dominance that they maintain to this day.

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On your next call:
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Download and print out the memo. Show them the old Kellogg's ad that ran at the height of the American Depression and remind them that it was during The Depression, when Post cereals cut their ad budget and Kellogg's did not, that Kellogg's became the category leader.
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Now ask, "How many more boxes of Kellogg's product have been sold long after The Depression ended because someone had the vision to see a time of economic slowdown as the time to pull ahead of competition?"

Download cornflakes_promo.doc