“These are unprecedented times”. “There was nothing in generations that is comparable to the current situation”. “Covid has changed everything and life is reset to a ‘New Normal’.” These are just some of the often repeated statements we’ve heard from government and business heads alike. While this may be true to a large extent, does it mean it’s all gloom? Not by any stretch of imagination. It requires accepting the change, looking at the brighter side and preparing for a life that is different from what was before Covid-19 hit us.
As the world looks at ways to deal with these changed circumstances, let’s delve deeper into what is happening with an activity that is universal – Sales. The revival in economic activity is dependent on the sales community generating revenue and profits from every potential opportunity.
Sales has been, is and will always be, essentially a human interaction-based activity. The ability of a seller to speak to the customer, understand his/her needs and concerns, customise their product or service offering to their needs, and closing the sale determines how successful they are. Due to the change in circumstances, a sales professional needs to adapt to the new normal to continue to be successful. As an example, since physical distancing is the need of the hour, the default face-to-face buyer-seller interaction has moved to “remote selling”. The ‘new’ communication challenges include adapting to engage the customer remotely but effectively – leading to a whole new set of skills to be mastered.
Here are a few upskilling strategies that can help them to be future-ready post Covid-19. They may be adapting some of these even today, but the intensity of action needs to be much sharper in the coming days. And getting comfortable with technology will be a significant part of these strategies.
Positivity: It is a fact that most businesses across the world have taken a hard hit due to the disruption. The fallout of this is a lot of negative sentiment. Buyers are unusually circumspect and hesitant to commit to any purchase. In such an uncertain situation, it is important that a sales professional stays extremely positive despite the triggers to be otherwise. This might sound cliched but is a proven fact. A positive mindset will help them look at possibilities and opportunities, which they can pursue to convert. Apart from themselves, they can lift the morale of the entire team by staying positive.
Preparation: Success is 90% preparation and 10% flawless execution. This will never be truer than in the coming weeks and months. Taking advantage of the time saved in travel and face-to-face sales meetings, a sales professional can prepare to succeed. He can analyse and prepare better by looking deeper into the industry, its recent trends, the key players, their past purchase behaviour, challenges they are likely to face due to the disruption, and hence, how their needs could change, etc. This will ensure that their efforts are laser-focused on the right opportunities.
Planning: As an outcome of the intense preparation, a clear sales plan should emerge. This would ensure that the productivity of the sales resources is high, which is a critical requirement for the current business to survive and see another day. The sales plan should focus on elements such as customers to target, products or services to focus on, pricing and promotions, supply lead times, etc. It is pertinent to note that each of these elements can potentially be impacted due to Covid-19 related disruption and hence need interventions NOW!
Proactive Communication: A critical element of human interaction is communication. While in the normal circumstances, it is absolutely essential to meet customers and colleagues and communicate. In the post-pandemic era, a lot of it will move online. During the preparation and planning stage, the sales professionals are likely to zero in on high potential customers and their needs. Here begins the trigger for communication. Sales professionals can reach out to existing customers via phone or video calls, ask about their challenges and how can they help tide over the current situation. While no promises need to be made right away, this process will ensure that the client knows that the seller is making an effort to understand them and help where possible. Reassure the customers of improving the situation and how they can be ready for business revival. Among a bunch of salespeople competing with each other, a customer is most likely to trust someone who has been in touch with them during difficult times as well.
Professionalism: It is defined as a “way of doing a job with great skill and experience”. That indeed is what builds utmost trust in a buyer’s mind about the sales professional. Ability to stay positive and balanced, show the right solution among the products and services they are offering, and finally generate the best value are sure signs of a good sales professional.
Practice Empathy: Needless to say – these are extremely tough times. The client may be enduring unprecedented challenges in their businesses. While the sales professional may continue exploring opportunities to serve their needs profitably, they need to be aware of the limitations of the customer as well and act accordingly. What could help is designing transaction processes and solutions that consider the hardships of the customers. Some examples are staggered supplies, deferred payments to the extent affordable, deliveries at their place of business, etc. Make it easy for the customer to recoup. They will surely remember you once better times return.
Power Close: As an extension to the preparation we discussed earlier, sales professionals can play out various sales call outcomes and design ‘Close’ actions that can help secure the order confirmation. These can include positive reaffirmation of the benefits of solutions offered, commitment to be ultra-responsive to any further need of the customer, easy next steps etc. Anything that can give confidence to the customer that their interests are protected when they place their order.
Perseverance: In these unusual times, the buyers are in dilemma – unsure of the recovery time. They may be saying no or deferring the decision for safer times. In such circumstances, it is quite understandable if a buyer is hesitant. It requires a great amount of perseverance from the sales professional, giving the buyers the requisite confidence repeatedly. They should however be conscious about not taking it too far and alienating the customer.
Patience: This is a skill that has multiple benefits. Along with being persistent, practise patience and empathy. The usual lead times to get the customer confirmation on your proposals may not be relevant anymore because of the business or people changes due to the pandemic. Sales professionals may need to explain their solution multiple times to ensure the buyer is fully confident about the same.
Pivot: One of the biggest skills that a sales professional can display during these times is to be agile and flexible – willing to pivot from one strategy to the other – after experiencing how a client reacts to a particular solution. No one is really able to predict everything that can happen. In such uncertain times, the ability to put the best foot forward, learn, and quickly adapt to the need of the hour will define a successful sales professional.
Following some or all of these upskilling recommendations diligently, sales teams can experience higher success even in such dire situations. Companies that are looking for professional help to prepare their sales teams for the challenges ahead can benefit from trainings offered by premier institutions such as Manipal ProLearn that has highly experienced industry practitioners to upskill trainees and experiences professionals with hands-on learning via case studies, role play, etc.