Sales in COVID-19
Sales in COVID-19. At this point we all understand that COVID-19 is having a profound effect on business, civil society, behavioural psychology, and the sales process.
Sales needs to respond to the significant challenges and disruption that the global pandemic has brought about and cannot afford to ‘throw the quilt over our heads and go back to sleep’!
In this blog post I’ve draw on a few sources which I’ll reference later and our own experience as a lead generation and sales outsourcing business: Sales in COVID-19.
The New Normal
None of us can change the current situation, but we can change how we deal with it or our attitude towards it; recognise this and you are halfway there!
People are Socially Disconnected
Even if you have a full house at home, you can be disconnected from the ‘social side’ of the office, gossiping at the water cooler or relieving stress by talking through problems with colleagues. The social support structures! Don’t hesitate to reach out to colleagues or a trusted friend to talk it over, no big deal just a friendly chat at the water cooler, albeit over the phone or Zoom perhaps.
Many Decisions Will Be Put Off Until Post COVID
It’s an inconvenient truth but alas true; some decision will be put off until later in the year or even next year. If this is the case, you need to find out (a) when will a buying decision be made? (b) is that decision valid? Keep in contact but only if it adds value to the solution.
People Are Working Remotely
Almost 90 percent of sales meetings have moved to Zoom, Teams, other video conferencing systems or the telephone for the initial sales interviews. Source McKinsey COVID-19 Sales Survey More than half B2B Sales executives believe this is equally or more effective than sales models used before COVID-19.
There’s a Massive Shift to Digital Sales
There’s a massive shift to buying online but that’s only effects consumer products. When it comes to bigger ticket priced consultative selling; people still buy from people.
Sales Mindset in COVID-19
Most of the changes needed in mind set for Sales in COVID-19 don’t need explanation or justification but they do need to be spelt out.
Surround Yourself With Positive People
At the risk of over simplifying things, surrounding yourself with a group of negative, unhappy people – Guess what! Positivity and happiness is contagious.
Minimise Your Exposure To The News
Everyone has a ‘horse in the COVID-19 race’, to put it bluntly! News media needs to sell advertising and that needs an audience, and nothing gets an audience faster than bad news. However, it’s critical to our mental health to limit our exposure to news as much as possible.
Plan For Recovery
Nothing lasts forever, either recessions or global pandemics. Your clients need to plan for the recovery and now they may have more time to do so. Just bear this in mind!
Think About How to Connect with Opportunities
With everyone working from home, how can you reach decision makers? This could be the subject of blog piece, all of its own. But bear this in mind; response to research amongst our own people:
- High tech industries – most are working from home, some take messages and call back in response to email
- Professional services (e.g. solicitors & accountants) – mixed between home and back at work, extremely high engagement rate prior to lock down reopening but feel off, as people started reopening the office
- Manufacturing – 90% back in office some administration working between home and office
- Wholesale / Retail – back at work with some administration working between home and office
You may also be interested in looking over a previous blog post Working from Home Tips
No person is an island and I’d like to acknowledge either inspiration, quotes or facts from Mark Hunter: A Mind for Sales (https://thesaleshunter.com/amindforsales/) and McKinsey & Company How Sales Have Changed During COVID-19
