When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

It’s not just a folksy saying your mom used to throw around when your schoolwork was challenging.

Instead, this is exactly the attitude that today’s successful dealers and manufacturers are adopting to stretch their resources and make their businesses more efficient during an economic downturn.

Work smarter, not harder
According to Jeff Meyer, product engineer in new product development for Watts Water Quality & Conditioning Products, the key to realizing hidden efficiencies in your business is to first examine the resources you are wasting.

For instance, at Watts, the water treatment systems manufacturer based in Dunnellon, FL, Meyer and his co-workers recognized they were spending far too much time behind the wheel and the restaurant menu in order to have personal face time with clients.

Although Meyer acknowledged this is an important part of building a customer relationship, it’s also not always necessary.

“A lot of them don’t really need that much face time to stay customers,” Meyer explains. “They appreciate the attention, but as long as they can reach you when they have a question, that’s more important.”

So the sales staff of Watts cutback on travel expenses, while simultaneously growing their e-mail and website marketing, as well as phone sales tactics.

Maintain your sales
Meyer stressed that dealers and manufacturers continue to push sales above all and to be cautious of any efficiency which might adversely affect sales volumes.

For instance, reducing your stock on resin might help your bottom line that month, but what happens when you get a call and can’t complete a customer’s order?

“A lot of corporate executives think that maximizing efficiencies just means reducing your headcount or cutting back on inventory, but a lot of times those efforts are counterproductive to sales,” says Meyer. “Be careful to avoid letting your efficiencies hurt sales.”

Instead, Meyer notes it can be just as effective and cost-saving to invest time in researching ways to route your sales and technician staff so they’re not in the car unnecessarily.

The telephone can be just as effective for some sales and even technical calls.

Also, fight as hard as you can to maintain your staff and stock. These are fundamental aspects to your sales and you’ll need both in order to maintain your current levels and grow business in 2010.

If you are forced to make staff cuts, then do so wisely.

Water industry analyst R. Steven “Steve” Maxwell, founder and managing director of TechKNOWLEDGEy Strategic Group, a company based in Boulder, CO, suggested dealers and manufacturers should consider creative approaches to reducing staff levels.

For instance, allow staff more vacation when times are slow and hire personnel who only want to work part-time.

Motivate your staff
The next step in surviving the recession and economizing your business is to learn what drives your staff — from the salesperson making cold calls to the technician on a service run.

Ryan Lessing, regional sales manager at Watts, says he had an eye-opening experience when he was working as a service technician for another water treatment company.

Lessing would go out on a service call and calculate just how much money his boss was making on his time.

For instance, a $500 call might only call for $100 in parts and $20 in pay for Lessing. That meant his boss was pocketing $380, which led to a bad attitude among technicians.

But Lessing’s employer put an end to these frustrations by sharing the company’s profit and loss statement, as well as explaining some of the larger overhead figures.

Lessing learned that the $380 he thought was going straight to the boss’ lake house mortgage was instead being used to fuel the truck, pay for the company’s offices and warehouse, as well as other expenses that are key to running the company.

This not only assured Lessing of the integrity of the company, but also reinforced the importance of his work.

In addition to squashing negative attitudes through openness, Lessing encouraged employers to reward good customer service among technicians.

For example, offer a mini-vacation package to the technician who works for six months with no complaints.

These mini-vacations are also an effective tool for motivating sales staff, notes Meyer.

You can choose to reward sales personnel either on commission or on sales volume.

Meyer said he knew of one company which would buy relatively inexpensive off-season vacation packages.

The first salesperson to reach a certain volume number of sales would win a $500-$1,000 vacation package for two.

“It’s a carrot and a stick thing,” explains Meyer. “It doesn’t have to cost a whole lot, but the rewards can be great.”

Maxwell concurs and adds that more contingent and incentive-based sales programs can often serve the dual purpose of trimming expenses and pumping up sales — wherein salespeople are paid more on the basis of commissions or contingent compensation.

“Done properly, this should provide the salespeople with additional motivation to sell and put more money in their own pockets, but allow the company to pay less salary and hence lower expenses if sales do not increase,” Maxwell says.

Don’t cut back on key resources
Last, but not least, Meyer urges dealers and manufacturers to maintain their spending in several key areas:

• Research and development
• Training
• Advertising/marketing

Meyer suggested these three key areas can keep you ahead of the competition, especially training.

“We make sure our staff, even the sales guys, has been trained and educated,” asserts Meyer.

As a result, employees are able to service the customer to the fullest extent and no one is sent on a wild goose chase trying to solve a technical issue.

“This industry has really turned into a commodity industry where everyone is selling the same thing and you’re just competing on price,” Meyer states. “So we really want to have something that no one else has.”

Meyer said you can bring value to the customer through a well-stocked warehouse, a new product and good old-fashioned customer service.

“Don’t back down [in these areas] because of the economy,” concludes Meyer. “If anything, you should push harder.”