In the last six weeks I’ve had many conversations with sales leaders and sales people regarding the impact of Covid-19 on business. The answers to the two types of questions I asked were surprising, or maybe still not.
I asked sales leaders: do you know how active your sales people are during this pandemic in developing their business? In 8 out of 10 the answer is: I don’t know, I think they are or I suppose they are.
When asking sales people how active they are in the market, most answers are in the line of: customers are not buying now, I can’t get appointments, it’s difficult to make on-line appointments and it’s almost impossible to sell on-line.
My conclusion could be: there’s not much selling going on!
But this conclusion is too simple and wrong.
Selling is still going on in more markets than we might think! The issues are more about sales people not knowing how to sell online and sales leaders not knowing how to motivate and coach people into doing so.
The world has to do with a pandemic not experienced since the Spanish Flue and is learning how to deal with it. Adapting to this new situation is critical to business.
My question to you is: how effective is your organization in safeguarding and growing your business? If you are not so sure, I recommend you to click here and find out more.
In the meantime, here are some tips to implement:
Markets which are hit catastrophically by Covid-19: hang in there and use your maximum effort to get involved and find out how you can help. Be empathetic, attend to existing and new business. Follow your sales process and you might get some business.
Use your telephone! Your phone connects you to the outside world. When used effectively, it could connect you to people wanting to talk, listen and do business with you.
There are businesses that are thriving and businesses that are struggling. Segment the markets you are active in, setup a strategic plan and work your market.
There are industries with few opportunities to sell: some examples are: travel and leisure, airlines, automotive, oil and gas. There’re also industries which are less impacted like: IT, healthcare, at-home consumption, telecommunications and hardware. Lots of people are working from home and their demands are changing rapidly. Check Dave Kurlan’s post.
Use business social media like LinkedIn to create positive exposure of yourself as a professional in what you do. Customers and prospects will see you and get to know you.
And last: If you want to be successful now and in the future, realise that the business world will never be the same anymore. Change your mindset and adapt to the new situation!
Learn more by reaching out to our team.
