Will your sales job survive the sequestering of COVID-19? 

Maybe you’ve already been furloughed like so many people in the retail, restaurant, transportation, and other discretionary industries. We’re only a few weeks into this economy-crushing event in the U.S.; the current forecast is to restart business sometime in early May. It is hard to tell what that means at this time.

But if you are in sales and rely on the type of sales requiring multiple in-person interactions, when do you believe companies will allow us back on-site? Let’s say one of your client’s staff is optimistically back at their office in full by June 1, 2020. When do you think they’re going to allow nonessential people back on their campus?

My wild guess is sometime in September. Again, this assumes COVID-19 suddenly dissipates and we find some semblance of normal. So as road warrior salespeople, how will we adapt and survive, much less make money? What if we’re restricted from visiting our prospects and clients until 2021?

Every Communication Counts

Every opportunity to communicate with prospects and clients has always been important, but now these interactions are critical. Even with the shock of 9/11, planes started to fly within a few weeks after that cowardly and horrific act. Flights were more than half empty for months afterward, but commerce was happening. 

What we’re experiencing now is unprecedented on a scale that’s hard to even imagine, much less experience. The actions we take may not result in closed business this year. Those same actions might find us discovering and developing relationships that catapult us in different directions in the coming months and years.

What can we do to stand out?

• Many companies are pitching in to help others in need. If your prospects and clients are geographically close to you, find opportunities to safely participate in their volunteer work.

• Highlight positive things your company might be doing to help others during these times. How can your company help the industries you’re calling on?

• Consider starting certain meetings by sharing positive stories you’ve observed and invite others to do the same.

• A handwritten letter is special and unique, but how will it find its way to your contacts’ homes? Here’s an idea to consider. Write your letter, then take a picture of it and text it to your client. In the letter, you can tell them you would have preferred to send it to their home address but you didn’t have it. 

• Get your head wrapped around the importance of Return on Investment (ROI). The product and/or service you’re selling must offer your customer real value during tough and uncertain times. The importance of ROI ebbs and flows during economic cycles. Those of us who lean on these calculations during good times and bad will always be more consistently successful.

• How about a Virtual Happy Hour with your clients? Find a way to keep your clients engaged and create a forum for them to get introduced. Maybe you can find a fun online game to play with your clients. Maybe start a movie or book club.

• What about creating a local virtual user group meeting for your clients and prospects? Make it more about education and much less about selling.

Groundhog Day

As my kids have zoomed into their teens and beyond, a recurring theme my wife and I discuss is how fast the days seem to flash by us. It seems to be a common conversation among my friends and colleagues, too. It’s as if we’re on some race with no finish line. We frantically wake up each morning and run the human maze that is our lives.

Since the full force of COVID-19 hit us about March 9th, each day has felt like a week to me. I’ve heard this comment from others in the countless conference calls I’ve attended. My daily routine has already become so regimented that it reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day. In the storyline, Bill Murry’s character, upon awakening the following day, discovers that it’s Groundhog Day again and again and again. 

An Unexpected Benefit

Something I’ve pleasantly discovered is the extra time in my day to spend with my family. The angst that used to build over the weekend, thoughts about my upcoming flights, the preparation for meetings, and feeling guilty for being gone so often has subsided. 

Even with all the chaos in the world, and more seemingly coming each day, I’m experiencing more inner peace and calm than I’ve felt in many, many years. There are no sports to suck away hours of my time each week. There is no pressure to visit stores and buy more stuff that wasn’t needed anyway. 

In last week’s post, I mentioned the instant relaxation my wife and I feel wash over us each time we drive into the carport of our small lake cabin. It’s our place to escape the self-imposed pressures of too many options and a never-ending to-do list in the big city. 

The restriction of movement and activities that we are all experiencing feels like some of our liberties have been revoked. But there’s something very special about having fewer choices. Many people seem to have rediscovered the value of simple things to enjoy. For example, my neighborhood is alive with people and especially entire families out on walks and bike rides.

Dreaming of the Road to Sales

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m kind of missing the tasteless scrambled eggs at the hotels I frequent, the delayed and canceled flights, and arriving home at 1:00 am on Thursday. Road Warriors, do you know what I mean?