How to attract more buyers even when the market is shrinking

Business owners across industries are watching familiar strategies stop working. Ads are underperforming and sales teams are losing confidence, leading many to assume demand has simply dried up. Executive coach and founder and CEO of the Abraham Group, Jay Abraham says the buyers are still there, they just need a reason to choose one business over another.

On this episode of Strategic Edge, Abraham explains how businesses can continue to grow during a downturn by actively taking market share their competitors.

Buyers have not disappeared

The market for most businesses and categories is struggling right now, Abraham says. Consumers who normally had disposable income are redirecting it toward gas, electric bills and other rising costs. Entrepreneurial companies have grown uncertain and reluctant to make capital expenditures, choosing instead to preserve cash flow.

"The market is constricted right now. I can't change that. You can't change that. What people don't realize is all the buyers haven't dissipated. They're still buyers."

People are still buying. The market has not vanished, it has simply tightened. Abraham says keeping that in mind can change everything about how a business should respond.

Stop chasing new buyers, take them from competitors

Abraham says trying to grow a whole new base of buyers during a downturn is too difficult and too slow. The better strategy is going after buyers already active with a competitor.

"You've got to decide, I want to take buyers away from my competition, because I can offer them more benefit, more value, more attention, more connection. And that needs to be your interim strategy."

One path to those buyers runs through a competitor’s own talent. Companies under pressure often cut key personnel first, since they carry the highest salaries. Many of those employees are free of non-compete clauses and hold deep relationships with buyers, distributors and influencers.

Abraham has structured deals where displaced employees earn a share of the profit from introductions they make, rather than a salary. He says the approach worked during the last recession and again during the pandemic.

Strengthen risk reversal

Abraham says businesses need to understand a competitor’s weaknesses and strengths before they can outperform them. Once that groundwork is done, the focus shifts to making the choice to buy obvious.

He points to Hyundai’s approach during the last recession as an example. The company offered to make a buyer’s car payments if that buyer lost their job. 

Abraham says the guarantee removed enough hesitation to drive sales during a period when most competitors were struggling.

Prosperity drains urgency

Abraham sums up the moment with an old saying, “prosperity drains urgency.” He says comfortable times make businesses relax, adding staff and expenses that go unquestioned as long as revenue keeps coming in.

Downturns force a different mindset. Abraham says difficult periods push owners to scrutinize spending they once ignored, cutting layers of overhead that built up unnoticed during better years. 

The businesses that do this work now come out the other side leaner, and better positioned once conditions improve.

Monetize existing relationships 

Abraham says his approach for decades has centered on getting more value from relationships a business already has, rather than chasing new ones. Buyers who trust a company often need other products within the same category. 

Aligning with businesses that offer those products but lack strong distribution lets a company take a share of that profit without added investment or risk. Even dormant customers or prospects who never converted can still hold value if the original relationship was solid.

The same principle applies to starting a business today. Abraham says launching from scratch is difficult right now, but partnering with an established business that already has buyer relationships offers a faster path forward.