Regardless of when and what the “new normal” is, top sales organizations are brushing themselves off and adapting with agile plans to optimize 2020. Instead of waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel, they are creating and executing new paths to success.
Respect for the health and safety of ourselves and others remains a top priority. This noted, here are 3 deliberate actions you can take now to get back to a winning sales game plan and create momentum.
1. Shift your mindset:
How we react and adapt starts with our thinking. The changes that have occurred are real and as salespeople, it is okay to feel out of sorts or rhythm right now. There are many reasons why, so let’s not dwell on them. For anyone who has ever heard of the book “Who Moved my Cheese” by Dr. Spencer Johnson (or watched the short animated summary video at the bottom of this post) you will appreciate that what matters most is not the change that happens to us, but how we respond to this change.
As salespeople we have a choice. We can putter around wondering why and hope that things get back to the way they were, or we can embrace, adapt and leverage the tools we have (or that are available) and go after the opportunities we have in front of us right now.
What we do, (whether you are still with the same company or looking for a new one) is still the same. As a professional salesperson, your goal is to grow profitable revenue by keeping existing customers and getting new ones. We do this through convincing or helping buyers see that our products and services offer more value than the status quo or competition. All that has really changed is a shift to some of the approaches or means that we deploy to communicate. Our goal in selling is still the same and more importantly, our customers still want the same - better, faster or cheaper solutions that we sell.
2. Shift your Habits:
One way to shift your mindset is to deliberately modify your routine or habits. For example, instead of saying to a customer, “let’s get together when things get back to normal”, ask your customer for 15 minutes by phone or video with a prepared business purpose.
“Virtual Selling” is really not that new, different or complicated. If you think about it, virtual selling has been around since 1876 (the invention of the telephone). You may prefer face-to-face meetings (I know I do sometimes), but they are not a requirement to creating value and helping customers buy better solutions. In fact, most modern sales research (see Challenger/Gartner Group for example) has shown that building credibility through “demonstrating understanding” and providing a path to a better solution matters more to prospects and clients then our wonderful smiles and small talk.
Although it will feel uncomfortable at first, we encourage people to make a deliberate conscious effort to change up their game plan as needed. The new way or methods always become easier with repetition and your confidence will grow quickly. Once you find success you will stay with it.
3. Shift to Offense:
Get on the phones and get active! People still have needs that need to be met. There is plenty of opportunity out there right now for those who are hunting. Start with your base - how has your customer’s current state been disrupted? Are there opportunities to fill internal service gaps or replace competitors who have dropped the ball?
Refresh your prospecting techniques and cadences and be assertive about filling the top of the pipeline. This is an excellent time to make targeted and well thought-out prospect calls. Which accounts would have been recently disrupted and are possibly frustrated with their incumbent? Strike now while the iron is hot!
Action your plans instead of planning for actions. If you lead with value, people will listen.
Keep the Momentum!
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