The economic outlook is an important thing to consider, especially at the end of a year. 2017 is coming to an end, and as we enter the New Year, economist Dr. Thomas Potiowsky reviews what’s ahead. This is important for salespeople so that they can orient themselves and prepare for their upcoming year. It’s helpful to know what is going on in the sales market, as well as the business world as a whole. John Golden interviews Potiowsky on these topics.
This expert sales interview explores the economic outlook for 2018, including:
- The overall outlook that can be expected for 2018
- How lending makes a difference
- What to plan for the upcoming year
Overall Outlook:
“Things are looking fairly good,” said Potiowsky. “We’ve had some robust job growth so far, and the unemployment rate is low.” The business cycle is arriving at full employment, where we likely won’t see the unemployment rate go down much further. We will see wages start to increase. Labor markets are becoming tighter, and businesses begin to compete for available labor. This leads to higher incomes and better sales for a company. This is excellent news for those working in the sales industry. If the economy is doing better, we have more job growth, hiring, wage growth, and capital investment. All of these make for a much more robust sales environment.
Lending:
When we were in the depths of the recession back in 2008, banks had to keep their liquidity to meet regulations. They didn’t have the availability to lend funds. As we’ve seen this lesson over the last decade, we’re starting to see banks get through their stress tests, and lending has begun to increase a little bit. “Even so, banks are a little shy to let those lending gates open,” said Potiowsky. This means that those individuals are looking to start a business, or expand their current one, may need to work harder or plan differently when they look at getting financing for their project. It’s a much better time to secure a loan than in the past, but banks are still gunshy for the time being.
What to Expect:
If you’re a salesperson and you’re going into 2018, you might wonder what to expect for the year to come. 2018 likely won’t be a better year than 2017 was, but it won’t be a bad year, either. “I think you’re going to see a little plateauing and a little slowing of growth,” said Potiowsky. “It likely won’t be as good as 2016 or 2017, but even in 2017, we started to see a bit slowing and plateauing. I think that’s just going to continue.” One positive thing to note is that people seem to feel better about their job situation and overall finances. Consumers are doing more durable buying of large ticket items, like car sales and home furnishings. This is a good indicator of consumer confidence, which is a positive thing for salespeople.
For more information on what to expect in 2018, or to explore more about the economic world of sales, watch the full expert sales interview!
About our Host:
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
Pipeliner CRM empowers salespeople to take advantage of a steadily growing economy. Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.
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