How Sales Leaders Handle Unavoidable Adversity

Travel is restricted. Social distancing is being practiced. Employers are quickly shifting to remote work environments. Bear market environments are adding to the state of fear.

You've got sales targets, and a sales team that's looking to you for answers.

Good sales leader plan for unavoidable adversity. They never truly feel safe or comfortable; they remain afraid, terrified even, of not hitting their number. The successful sales leader believes that conditions will, with 100% certainty, turn against her without warning. At some unpredictable moment, at some highly inconvenient time, things will change, and she knows she'd better be prepared. Enter the Coronavirus.

What does she do? How does she lead the sales team? The executive team? Customers? She has a contingency plan for remote work (less / different customer interaction), lost selling days and lost or stalled deals.

Remote Work Contingency

If the customer isn't in the office, it doesn't mean you can't meet. Consider making temporary investments (enhanced investments) in virtual meeting technology. Now is the time to ensure all of your sales reps that don't currently have this technology secure it by the end of the week. That means:

• covering home internet for the sales team
• purchasing tools like Zoom, GoToMeeting, etc.
• reallocating expenses from other cost centers to cover these investments

Let's talk about how you can execute these contingencies without blowing the expense budget. Since many reps wont be traveling as much, spend these travel dollars on technology that supports remote work. You should also consider reallocating travel dollars to cover additional shipping expenses, especially if you sell a physical product and "samples" support your sales process. We can ship samples in advance of our "virtual meeting."

Lost Selling Days Contingency

Kids are out of school. Flights are cancelled. Customers are asked to work from home. Theres no way around this avoidable reality. Some reps, especially moms, will be at home with kids. Extend grace. Reduce expectations. Here are a couple of ideas to consider:

• Use this time for training and planning
• Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY)

I wrote an article last February on contingency planning because February has historically been a difficult month for my clients. The article discusses how to incorporate training and planning during slower seasons; it also unpacks the idea of TDY.

Stalled and Lost Deal Contingency

Times like this are great for finding new opportunities within existing accounts. Audit your sales and opportunities with existing accounts.

• Where can you maximize your sales within existing accounts?
• Which accounts aren't utilizing all of your offerings?
• How many accounts could benefit from learning about another offering?

Existing accounts already trust you. Go to them first to fill in your pipeline gaps. You can't force new sales to close until they are ready to close. Stay away from promotions and discounts that seek to capitalize on market fear and anxiety.

Create contingency plans for these three areas and present the plan to the executive team for review. Chance favors the prepared leader. Show your CEO that you are prepared for the unavoidable adversity that comes with the Coronavirus.