How To Close A Deal During An Economic Downturn

Not everyone equips themselves with the skill of knowing how to close a deal. At least for most, it’s not their first choice if they follow the rules of conventional wisdom. This was the case for Emily.

As a young woman in her twenties, the last thing Emily expected was to be applying for a tour guide job at her local museum. A minimum wage job, not even remotely related to her degree, much less her interests. 

But there she was, sheepishly standing in the midst of 80 people waiting for their name to be called. Most of these people were in their 40s and 50s and were recently laid off from their previous jobs. She never expected her life to take a turn like this. Emily’s troubles were dragging her deeper into despair. 

It all started when she graduated during the spring of 2008 – the year of the Great Recession that drove millions of people into a dead-end. This was the year that instantly dried up every single job she had applied for. And for an entire year, she was forced to live with her parents again. 

Unsuccessful in finding employment, she found herself penniless very soon. Her savings account run down to zero very fast. Desperate to somehow move on, she went back to school for a graduate degree, hoping it would make her more qualified. But this only sunk her deeper into debt. 

And even though she was cutting costs wherever she could, she was barely able to keep her head above water. The only way she could keep herself afloat or even continue living at her parent’s house before they’d have no choice but to put it on the market was to get any kind of job that was available. 

While it hurt her pride and left her heart heavy, that’s exactly what she did. Though she was glad she even got the job, deep down, she knew it wouldn’t last and hoped a new opportunity would somehow fall into her lap.  

Why You Have a Better Chance to Prepare Yourself

If you can resonate with the financial burdens Emily had to face, then it may be time to prepare yourself for possible economic downturns like this. What happened to Emily was far too common during those dark times. And as you know, we might be headed into another recession ourselves with the current worldwide spread of the coronavirus. 

Countries everywhere are shutting down. Companies are going out of business. Individuals are losing their jobs. And all the while the infection rates keep rising every day leading us into a global economic crisis that’s only going to get worse. 

By the end of this article, you’ll find out how you can protect yourself and your family if history is going to repeat itself again. You’ll learn how you can arm yourself without applying for a different job, without starting an online business, and without getting another degree that you’re never going to use. While the strategy we will share with you today may not solve all of your problems, it’s something you’ll want to equip yourself with even if we weren’t headed towards another recession (but chances are, we will).

Read on to hear more about how you can prepare yourself for the upcoming economic storm that’s bound to worsen with time. 

The Truth About The Dying Job Economy

Do you know that tugging feeling of uncertainty that keeps you up at night? It’s that feeling you get when you don’t know when your boss will call it quits. Cut you loose. And put an end to your only source of income. Let’s face it, jobs have been disappearing very quickly these days. But this is nothing new…they were disappearing before this present crisis as well. 

To put things into perspective for you, we found a disturbing statistic from Diana Mulcahy’s book The Gig Economy. Here’s what she discovered:

“The largest blue-chip corporations that were once bastions of stability are now frequent instigations of layoffs, downsizings, and restructuring of their workforces.”

“In 2015, the rate of corporate layoffs continued to increase and included companies such as Microsoft (7,800 workers), Proctor & Gamble (6,000 workers), JP Morgan Chase (5,000 workers), American Express (4,000 workers), and Target (2,250 workers). Walmart and McDonald’s, the largest employers in America, both laid off hundreds of corporate jobs. “

“Even high-growth technology companies aren’t immune. Twitter, Snapchat, and Groupon all conducted layoffs in 2015. These cuts may generate returns for shareholders, but they eliminate any sense of job security for workers.”

Most of us notice this fact more during our bad times and forget about it when things go back to normal. It’s not stupidity or ignorance. It’s just human nature. We know the current financial crisis we’re in is not our first nor is it going to be our last. We’ve suffered through these events countless times and yet it’s hard to say a majority of us have caught on to make any necessary changes. 

So, does that mean you don’t have enough common sense to figure it out? No. Not necessarily and here’s why: When times are good, many people refuse to accept that there is no job security. Like Emily, they convince themselves that it can’t happen to them, that they won’t be thrown out, and then they refuse to prepare for the possibility that their job could disappear overnight. 

Your best bet is to take matters into your own hands. Assume that it will happen to you and take the steps to prepare. 

How To Arm Yourself With Skills Before an Economic Downturn

When we talk about skills, we’re not talking about the skills you gained at your job. And if you actually did gain a skill from your job, would it be transferable to other industries, markets, and verticals? Let’s say you work as a financial analyst at an investment firm. Your skill wouldn’t apply anywhere else except in the financial sector. So when w talk about skills – we talk about those transferable across industries. 

But another important characteristic of skills is their economic utility – how much income can they generate for you? When we talk about skills – we’re referring specifically to what to as High-Income Skills. If you’ve ever stumbled upon one of his YouTube videos, you may have heard of this concept.

High-Income Skills are those skills that could make you $10k+ a month and give you direct control over your time, future, and income. Unlike jobs where you’re trading your time for money, with a high-income skill, trade your expertise and knowledge for money. Have you thought about this before? It appears that many people didn’t and still don’t think of skills this way. 

The surprising thing is this concept has been around before the internet, before computers, before cars, and even before the industrial revolution. Many great leaders have used it to impact millions – like the late Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Martin Luther King Jr., Jack Ma, Warren Buffet, and many more. Thousands upon thousands of books have been written about it. And believe it or not, you already possess this skill yourself. 

Why This is One of the Most Overlooked Skills in the Skill Economy 

It’s called High-Ticket Closing. And – no, it’s not sales. The word sales itself turns off any cautious consumer. This is why Forbes says traditional sales practices as a business discipline are no longer effective: “And any organization that still has “sales” titles on their org charts and business cards is living in another time and place while attempting to do business in a world that’s already passed them by.”

It’s rare that you’ll find opportunities in sales. Why? Because it usually involves the familiar sleazy, slimy, manipulative salesperson we all want to avoid at all costs. And that’s not what we’re talking about here.

You see, almost all of the opportunities lie in knowing how to close a deal and knowing how to close for the right businesses. We’re talking about businesses selling high-ticket products and services from $3,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 or higher. The truth is, even with the advancements in technology and the evolution of the internet, you can’t just sell a product for $3,000 online without running into a brick wall. It takes work. It takes a personal human connection, and forms just won’t cut it. 

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