IES Brings Executable Ideas from Global Sales Leaders on How You Can Transform Your Sales During COVID-19 and Beyond
Mar. 30, 2020 – Vienna, Va. -Each week, the Institute for Excellence in Sales seeks guidance and advice from the sales leaders we interview for our award-winning Sales Game Changers Podcast.
Every Monday, we post tips and ideas from these sales leaders.
What must you do TODAY if you’re in #Sales to survive and thrive, especially during the COVID-19. Creativity is a critical characteristic of high-performing sales leaders.
What are things you should do TODAY to keep your process on track and moving forward.
You can learn about each of the sales leaders below by listening to their Sales Game Changers Podcast episode.
Tim Atkinson, Group Vice President, ACS Group:
Try to stay as close to your clients as possible. Learn how your clients are reacting to the Pandemic. How is it affecting them, personally, their business , their colleagues. In the Professional Services domain, we are offering to assist in Outplacement for displaced employees. We are volunteering in the communities in which we live, supporting the causes our clients are supporting and asking they support ours as well. It’s a time for us all to be on the same side of the table. In fact, there is no better time than NOW. We all need it.
Find Tim on LinkedIn.
Vince Burruano, Vice President Sales, Commercial Division, JK Moving:
While face-to-face appointments have declined, we are finding time to be introspective. The team has been reviewing their business plans and putting forth some additional effort to research competitive accounts and develop plans to contacting prospective clients. We have also been reviewing our pipeline and reaching out to clients to see if their projects are still on track or if there are some additional support we can provide. The response has been great and it has helped to keep the team engaged.
Find Vince on LinkedIn.
Kevin Carr, Vice President Sales, Hospitality Cloud at Cvent:
This is a time for Sales Teams, to rely on each other to stay upbeat and motivated. It’s too easy to depend on your manager’s for inspiration, but you will build a better bond among your team when you rely on each other more and more. Sometimes the “player’s only” pep talk will create that magic.
Find Kevin on LinkedIn.
Jennifer Fisher, Vice President, Higher Education, WorldStrides.
Show care and empathy by using resource selling techniques focused on your prospect/client, i.e. articles on working from home, how to stay positive, etc. Touch points to help your client do their job better, will mean better results for you down the road!
Find Jennifer on LinkedIn.
Steve Richard, Chief Evangelist and Cofounder, ExecVision:
(See the image above from Vorsight on how their call volume is stabilizing during the COVID-19).
ExecVision & Vorsight we’re seeing a small dip in dial to appointment, however dial to conversation is better than before because execs working from home pick up the phone more often. Overall the meeting numbers haven’t changed much.
What does this mean?
My take: KEEP GOING. If your job is new business sales, you need to keep doing your job.
Does that mean you can simply pitch like you always did? HECK NO!
Do your job in an empathetic way towards your buyers. Think about what they sell and who they sell to. Are their customers struggling? If yes, they are probably also struggling. Acknowledge this. Offer whatever you can to help while leaving commerce off the table. At the same time now is a great time to connect with prospects.
On the flip side your buyers also need to be empathetic toward you. Even in the midst of a pandemic people still need products and services from companies where they don’t currently have a relationship. As a salesperson you need to level with your prospects that you still have a job to do, so you are going to do it with head held high standing on the value that you bring to other organizations like them.
The alternative is laying off all people who make a living by prospecting. Not OK.
Find Steve on LinkedIn.
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About the Institute for Excellence in Sales
The IES provides a wealth of services to sales leaders and their teams at companies large and small throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and across the U.S. It is an unbiased and trusted partner for the delivery of sales programs, speakers, training, services and products. The IES also produces the award-winning Sales Game Changers Podcast and runs the IES Women in Sales Leadership Forum. Contact the IES at www.i4esbd.com. A complete list of upcoming IES programs can be found here (https://i4esbd.com/
