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Don’t refuse to admit that you’re in a slump! Denial is the most common reaction and can cause you to get stuck in the slump for longer than necessary. When realizing that you are in a slump, admit it and then resolve to take action against it. Whether you’re talking about your sales totals or your physical health, problems only get worse by putting them off until you decide to work toward a solution.

Find out why. Look back over the last few months and try to look for trends in performance. Did you change your advertising or the amount of exposure you generally dedicate towards promotion? Has the product or products you sell changed? Did you update your presentation based on product changes? Are you making fewer calls or less attempts at referral work? Until you diagnose what is ailing your sales performance, you can’t inject the medicine to cure it.

Plan a counter attack! This means making a schedule and setting daily goals to battle the problem. Don’t hesitate or tell yourself that you will start on Monday. Start today! Once a slump is realized, it is imperative to get busy toward a solution immediately.

If you found in the previous step that you failed to make as many sales calls as usual, set a goal of how many calls you believe it will take to get out of the slump. Then break the number down from total calls for the week, the day, the hour. Now get busy! This exercise in self-discipline will tell you a lot about yourself and help to get you and your staff back on track.

We’ve seen it before and will surely see it again. Make every effort to view the challenging economy as your opportunity to get creative and nurture some innovative brainstorming amongst your staff.