How To Approach Sales (and Life) During a Global Pandemic

Being on the sales side of the house in the middle of a global pandemic, lots of uncertainties are out there. After all we’ve never been through something quite like this before. How do I forecast? How should I prospect? How do I stay relevant? How do I tactfully push my deals to close while also displaying empathy? Lots of questions like these are likely flowing through your mind as we all figure out what this will mean for us in both the short and long term.

If you are in any facet of sales, you are likely already focused on mitigating risk in your opportunities. Focused on controlling what you can, and understanding every possible detail so you can avoid the land mines. But even if you have all your ducks in a row, have vetted everything, and know every process detail down to how the final signer likes his or her coffee, there are always those unexpected outliers that could stall or kill a deal. M&A's announced as your contract is on the desk of the CIO for final signature. Champions leaving the company or getting laid-off out of the blue. Massive re-orgs announced as you are on the one yard line. If you've been in sales long enough, you have likely experienced some or all of the above. One thing I was not prepared for, one thing that I was not factoring into my forecasting of "what could go wrong" (along with nearly every other sales professional), was the current global pandemic caused by COVID-19 and the business impacts associated with this. The black swan of all black swans.

The Reality of "Breaking Your Comfort Zone"

Now for those of you sales guys & gals (and anyone else for that matter) who work on personal development, and even those of you who don’t, you’ve likely heard about the importance of “breaking out of your comfort zone”. “Do things that make you uncomfortable”, etc. We all get it. Do a workout out of the ordinary that kicks your ass, take on a stretch job that you may not exactly be “qualified” for but you know you can deliver on. Make a few extra calls every day or put in a few extra hours at the office. Take on a big goal that you commit to holding yourself accountable for. You get the picture. But is that truly “breaking out of your comfort zone”, or just breaking a comfortable pattern within your existing comfort zone. After all, after you “break your comfort zone” for an hour or two and then go back to a comfortable house, comfortable environment, comfortable economy, comfortable stock market, were you really and truly “breaking your comfort zone”? These are all questions I’ve been asking myself over the last two weeks after things have changed drastically. 

Choose Your Lens

The good news is that we all get to choose the lens in which we view things. Amidst all the chaos, the negativity and fear, the quarantines, the TP hoarding, there are opportunities and lessons that are sitting around just waiting to be learned. It’s easy to think short term (and totally natural), but if you take the long term perspective, maybe this is good for us. Maybe we needed a kick in the ass. A left hook to the jaw. An unexpected pandemic. Maybe this long running bull market, and strong economy needed a shakeup to force us to build character and get creative. Maybe we needed someone or something to force us to stay at home to work on that side hustle or new skill we have been putting off because of travel, customer dinners, or kids sports games. Maybe, although we thought we were “breaking our comfort zone”, we needed something that truly did. I know this may sound crazy with all of the current negative impacts we are facing, but my only point is to encourage you to think about the long term benefits, and opportunities that will inevitably come from this.

GOOD

If you are in capacity of business, sales, or leadership and are not yet aware of who Jocko Willink is, I would highly recommend following this guy and the content he puts out. One of the baddest men on the planet. 20 years of leading Navy SEAL platoons, high level black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, runs a highly successful business leadership consulting business, and has written some of the best leadership books I have ever read. One of the things he was known for when leading SEAL teams, and now talks about on his podcast, is how he always used the word "GOOD" when seemingly bad things were happening. A simple, yet highly effective reframing technique I started to leverage in my every day life.

So our bars and restaurants are closed? GOOD, more time to learn how to cook. More opportunities to help support your local bars and restaurants that are struggling by ordering food to go. More time to spend time having a cocktail with a neighbor in your front yard, or friends and family at a distance via videoconferencing. If you are a bar / restaurant owner, maybe this is a good opportunity to formulate a future contingency plan, create new menu options, or work on a side project / business expansion you have been putting off. 

Gym shut down? GOOD, more time to get creative on how to workout effectively at home and leverage what you have in your house to stay in shape. If you are a trainer or gym owner, maybe this is a good opportunity to develop that online training program, or work on strategies to grow your business that you have been putting off. 

Travel bans, onsite meetings with customers or conferences cancelled because of the quarantine? GOOD, more time to learn how to prospect / sell / market / connect with others using technology. Everyone is in the same boat. Your chance at “rapport” has never been better. 

Stock market, 401k and investments tanking? GOOD, new investment opportunities that we haven’t seen in 3-4 decades. 

Stuck in a quarantine with your kids and spouse? GOOD, more time to truly connect, talk, or work on a group project together that never would have happened without this scenario. More time to show your family you are a leader and that when crises occur, you aren’t phased by all the negativity, panic and chaos that others and their friends may be exuding. This is a character test. Nothing more, nothing less. Your chance to be remembered in their eyes as a positive, adaptable warrior, not a negative, fear mongering coward.

Be the 12th Round Tyson Fury

If you got a chance to watch the first Wilder vs. Fury fight and saw the 12th round, you witnessed one of the most incredible moments in boxing history. Deontay Wilder, as I'm sure many of you know, is known as being one of the best, if not THE best heavyweight knockout artists of all time. In fact, his knockout ratio (at this time) was a staggering 98%. Tyson Fury, on the other hand, is known as the better technical boxer of the two and has a pretty incredible comeback story from mental health and addiction problems he faced prior to this fight.

Fast forward to the 12th and final round. Most didn't expect the fight to last this long. Like he had done with so many other opponents, it finally happened. BOOM. Overhand right, left hook and Fury was down and not moving. Everyone thought it was over, including Wilder. But what happened next was incredible to see. Like the undertaker rising from the dead, Fury's eyes popped open, he got back on his feet, and even more incredibly, managed to win the remainder of the round.

My point in saying this is that if you are in sales, you are used to getting punched in the face. It can be a very emotionally taxing, high pressure and stressful career. But if you can learn how to manage this, your reward is a very nice income and knowing you helped people solve a problem. In times like this where we may have had 2020 opportunities die, or current quarter opportunities slip due to COVID delays, it may feel like that bomb Wilder dropped on Fury in the 12th round. Your choice to lay on the canvas, or pop back up on your feet and keep fighting. Be the 12th round Fury.

Final Thoughts

So that’s it. If there is anything I hope puts you at ease, it's knowing that we are extremely resilient as a country and have been through way worse and made it out better and stronger. For those in sales, you guys are the most resilient of them all. You have damn sure been knocked down before and came back swinging. Remember those times.

So love those who are close to you and even those who are not. Be a little more empathetic. Get creative. Work on that side project. Look at the big picture. Wash your hands. Put yourself in your customer and prospect’s shoes. Don’t stop prospecting or selling, (just calibrate your approach). Understand you control your perspective on what’s going on, and we will all get through this together. 

Just my $.02 from a sales guy who is in the same boat as all of you…..

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