This is a strange time to be in sales

I’m finding that this is a strange time to be in sales (just in case you didn't notice the title)

Let me qualify the statement with the fact that I know that there are many more people in much stranger, more worrying and even dangerous situations than me all over the world. Some might get to the end of this article and argue it’s just noise created by someone simply stating a first world problem akin to not having their preferred brand of coffee in the supermarket or having low-quality Netflix streams due to increased demand (both true and both trivial at all times, not just now).

That said, sales is what I do, it’s what I’ve done for most of my working life and it’s fun, challenging, interesting and varied work that, I believe, is important for businesses and in helping to keep the economy moving along. People still have problems that they need to fix and there are many products and services out there that can help solve them.

So I repeat, I’m finding that this is a strange time to be in sales as what used to be considered normal business practice, i.e. salespeople reaching out to contacts to see if there is an opportunity to help solve a problem, is now seen as ambulance-chasing, opportunism or even worse. Now, I realise that there are good and bad ways to reach out to potential customers and what is seen as good and bad is very much dependant on the offering, the level of need and the context at the time and right now the context for many is a pandemic that is destroying lives.

Given that ways of working are changing dramatically, there are problems arising that can be solved by products and services that other people sell. However, people increasingly seem to view someone trying to sell them a product or service at this time as inappropriate, this leaves salespeople in a strange situation. They can see a need, they have a solution, but they feel they can’t approach people for fear of upsetting them and gaining personal and organisational brand damage that will long be remembered after COVID-19 has been beaten.

I do think there is a solution though. As mentioned, there are good and bad ways to reach out to potential customers and even in this climate, I think there are good ways to do it. Perhaps, rather than looking for a sale to solve a problem now (which still might happen as a happy coincidence) look to build a relationship that might enable sales in the future (something salespeople should be doing all the time to be honest).

I should point out that I sell Software Testing as a Service to large organisation, so it can take 6-12 months from the first contact to starting work with a new customer and so my approach might be different from someone who is completing sales every week. None the less, I think there are a few things I’ve done more of in the past two weeks (mainly because I can’t be out meeting people face to face) that might add value for others so prepare for a list of nothing new or revolutionary, but of just what I have felt has worked for me.

Connect with people.Now, I did this a lot before too but it’s the way I’m approaching this that has changed – I’m now connecting to build relationships with people much more than I was before. i.e. the people I’m connecting with might not be a typical buyer or have an interest in buying any time soon, or ever. I’m just asking if they want to connect, end of. It might result in a chat or one day lead to a sale, it might not.

Share experiences / content. Chances are your organisation has lots of good content already produced that might now have a bigger audience to reach. If not, make some / talk to marketing about making some. It doesn’t need to be about a particular product or service, just an opinion piece or a video sharing your experiences. It might just spark a conversation with someone.

Comment and like. Likes are good, but meaningful comments that add value to other peoples’ posts are better, they build credibility and give other people outside of your network a chance to see you exist. They might like your comment or view your profile which could be the start of a beautiful new relationship – maybe.

Share. You already have a network of contacts, be it on LinkedIn, within your CRM, or in your phone. These people are perhaps suppliers, current and former customers, prospective customers or simply personal contacts. Each of them has areas of interest and even problems they are trying to solve, some of which you can help solve, some you can’t. You can, however, share things that might be of use to your network at large or with individuals. You might find you get something back that you are interested in too.

Don’t be afraid to do your job. It’s a strange time for us all, but if you have a logical reason to contact someone, be it to connect, chat, network, advise, share, comment or even sell, then do it. If you don’t have a logical reason then the person you are contacting perhaps has every right to call you out publicly as an opportunist ambulance chaser. Thinking about that before you hit send might help you decide if what you are doing is appropriate.

Maybe then this is not such a strange time to be in sales after all, as I said, the list above isn’t new (or exhaustive) it should form part of effective social selling at all times, regardless of the current situation. That said, I’m sure there will be people that disagree and want all salespeople to leave them alone at this time (and perhaps forevermore) and I’m happy for people to express their views in the comments (it might help with your personal brand or even your sales).

Social selling then (or the osmosis of LinkedIn) really helps to build awareness and reaches many more people than otherwise might hear about you and your organisation. It also helps to develop trust with people, enough for them to want to explore what is being sold, and to be fairly obvious, salespeople are employed to sell, that that should help. If salespeople don't sell then they and the company they work for are likely to fold under the weight of these strange times (or at any time).

A team of 10 people might form the sales function of a company that employs hundreds or even thousands of people – if the products or services they sell are not bought that’s lots of jobs at risk. Now I’m not saying people and organisations should buy things they don’t have a need for to keep people in jobs and help the economy keep going. What am I saying is that no matter how ‘warmed up’ a prospective customer is to a person and/or a brand via social selling, there will likely still be a first meaningful contact of some kind, so my request is that if you have a problem and there is an organisation out there that can help and they approach you in a sensible way, then why not hear them out?

Happy to connect or chat about this or anything else. Thanks for reading.