Sales Tips To Get Your Business Out Of Quarantine

(reprinted from the website of Viking Sales Consultants)

We are in the midst of something truly unprecedented in our lifetimes and that has turned our worlds upside down. What makes it worse is that everything happening is beyond our immediate control.

However, what you can control are your future actions and how you act now will determine your success for the near future.

Better days may already be starting to come

I can tell many business owners are ready to take control. I run my own consulting business and in just the last week the radio silence has finally ended. I've heard from almost all of my clients as well as many prospective customers who I had built relationships with before the pandemic started.

The most surprising thing I learned is that some companies deliberately stifled their sales efforts during the past six weeks. I understand why many businesses reacted this way. Having myself been in sales after the events of September 11, 2001, I know how difficult it can be to feel like a decent human being for even picking up the phone and calling someone you barely know. As for crafting an appropriate sales message, well, it is extremely challenging.

However, if you're asking yourself if it's too soon to start investing in business growth, then the only alternative is to invest in the loss of your business. Either way, you're spending money now already. If you haven’t started actively working on your future sales growth strategy then now is the time.

What has happened already whether we like it or not

I believe the essence of selling is to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. However you define sales, what we can all agree on is that when a recession does hit, you suddenly have three types of clients:

1. Clients whose needs for your product or services go down or are eliminated. Even if you had additional market share to go after before, there is very little chance of growing these clients significantly during the downturn. However, it is imperative you stay in contact with the right people, delivering the right message in anticipation of the right time.

2. Clients whose needs stay consistent. Count your blessings this is a client you get to keep. If there is market growth opportunity within this customer, now is the time to prove you are worthy of it. Make sure you tell your contacts every day how much you appreciate them. Maintain or cultivate the right relationships and know what’s going on with their business and with their clients so that you can continue to deliver the right message as to why they should partner with you. In the meantime, your competition may now be calling on them every single day!

3. Clients whose needs increase. There are always industries that benefit from an economic downturn. If one of your clients needed you more during this pandemic, then know that you now face serious competition. Chances are, these companies will also have finally invited in some of your competitors who had been calling on them religiously for years to help them out during this unique time.

How is the pandemic different from previous recessions?

This pandemic has been devastating in terms of lives lost, the disruptions to families, the psychological effects of social distancing and of course the economic consequences. However, there is one tiny silver lining in this very dark cloud: IT HAPPENED QUICKLY. Most downturns happen slowly with the result being that companies lose clients and/or market share to their competitors so gradually that they don't even notice it happening until it's too late.

When (not if) the next economic upturn happens, all of your clients (and prospective clients) will once again fall into one of the same three groups as above. Just like you, your clients could come out of the pandemic big winners or they could end up having been outsold by their competition if they failed to react appropriately.

What should sales teams be doing now?

Here are some selling strategies you and your sales teams need to put into action now, based on how the company performs post-pandemic:

1. Companies whose needs will drop to pre-pandemic levels or lower. Obviously many companies who directly benefited from the pandemic will be in this group but so will many others based on how they serviced their customers during the downturn. Beware: there will now be a power grab among both the old vendors and the new ones your client brought on when they needed additional help. If you are able to gain new market share or otherwise establish vendor dominance, this is one of three big ways you can grow your business.

2. Companies whose needs will stay consistent when compared to pandemic levels. If a company’s needs for your product or services grew during the pandemic, that may mean these are new prospects your sales teams may not even have been aware of before. They may still be off the radar for your slower-reacting competitors. If done quickly, this is another great area of potential growth for your company and your sales teams should do all they can to identify these prospective customers and make contact now.

3. Companies whose needs will increase from the pandemic levels. Obviously, many of the companies in this group may have been your big customers before and will rebound. Companies in this group may also be those coming out as winners, having outsold their competitors during the pandemic. As they grow, these companies will need the guiding hand of your sales team since they may be navigating new waters for the first time. They will be ready to take chances and ready to make investments.

What should business owners be doing right now?

Get your sales teams selling!

If you laid off salespeople or if your sales team held back during the pandemic, you're already behind. Mobilize your teams so that they are delivering the right message to the right people. There are seven ways to reach a prospective client? and only two of them require face-to-face contact. Each of your customers and prospective clients have their own unique timeline and when their right time comes, it will be too late if you haven’t already made an effort.

Hire new salespeople.

As I stated already, if you're asking yourself if it's too soon to start investing in business growth, then the only alternative is to invest in the loss of your business. Either way, you're spending money now already.

Don't skimp on sales training.

Every sales effort today can make or break your business tomorrow. Don't leave it to chance! It doesn't take much to train a new salesperson. My own training workshops get a new salesperson producing after only 28 hours of training and with as little as two hours of ongoing coaching a week. Even veteran salespeople may need some refreshers, in addition to help categorizing their prospective clients into the three groups above.

Other sales tactics to harness right now include:

• All-hands-on-deck Sales Blitzes
• Sales Campaigns
• Harnessing The 7 Ways To Reach A Prospect?
• Selling to the Five Buying Influences

Take a deep breath and take it one day at a time

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” - John Wayne.

We are all navigating new waters. The business world we knew yesterday may have changed forever. But, your business contacts will always need people to connect their company's needs to those products or services that allow them to function and thrive. This is the essence of what salespeople do which makes sales the one key area of any business that should never be neglected or shortchanged.

Get back to basics. Don't be afraid to ask for outside help when it's needed. Put one foot in front of the other. Pretty soon we will all be walking and soon after that, running again.

“Selling is easy. It just takes hard work and discipline to keep it this way.” Reach out today to discover more ways to grow your business.