• Help the sales organization focus on the longer term of building the pipeline – not the immedi- ate sale. This is some of the best advice we’ve given to reps and managers. When times get tough and frantic, don’t freak out. Focus. As one of the top NCAA basketball coaches puts it, “Don’t focus on the score. Focus on playing the game.”
• Book deals further out. Most people in business can see beyond this crisis and can plan for future business growth. As the COVID-19 curve passes through, we be- lieve that business will kick back in and everyone will get back to work with a vengeance. If customers can’t buy or do the work now, book deals for a timeframe that’s beyond the curve, get a commitment for that point, and then stay close to work toward that with them.
• Work on strategic account planning. We can hear groans with that one. This is a great time to get the team together for each strategic account and think about what you can do for those accounts to help them through this crisis.
• Understand what your sales team needs for help. This might include flexible schedules, childcare, help with elderly parents, and, of course, compensation – which we’ll address below.
• Communicate with the sales team on a regular basis. Within the context of this crisis, reinforce what you’re doing and what you advise them to do.
HELP CUSTOMERS THROUGH THIS CRISIS Besides the sales organization, for customers the root of this crisis is also fear. Your organization can help them work through it. Directions for customers to explore may include: • Stop focusing on selling and start focusing on ad- vising. Customers still need revenue and results. How can your sales organization help with that? Shifting your team’s focus away from transactional short-term gain and working with customers on their longer-term business strategy goes a long way toward building that trusted advisor status. It changes the conversa- tion – now your customer can see you as an expert and someone who is committed and connected to their long-term growth.
• Recraft value propositions about how your compa- ny can support your customer during this crisis. The value proposition is at an organizational level (what your company can do for your customer’s company) and also at a sales team level (what your sales team can do for your specific buyers). The messages your sales team communicates to your buyers should be carefully thought out and mindful of the customer. They should not be randomly developed by each salesperson, which leads to reactive and inconsis- tent messaging. So, get your sales leadership team together and sharpen your on-the-street messaging
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But be more targeted about your program. Looking beyond the COVID-19 curve, consider offering special pricing and
offers for commitment to future delivery, say in Q3 or Q4.
to be consistent with the earlier points about how you can help and advise.
• Implement special pricing, offers, and policies. Some companies are taking the blanket action of simply lowering price. Sure, that draws on the basics of supply and demand. Demand decreases, supply increases, price drops. But be more targeted about your program. Looking beyond the COVID-19 curve, consider offer- ing special pricing and offers for commitment to future delivery, say in Q3 or Q4. Shift payment policies to ease the customer’s financial burden now by making an investment from your organization. Better to make this investment now and help your customer than to take a zero now with no future benefit for your organization.
• Communicate with customers on a regular basis. Reinforce what you’re doing to help them. Give them your best advice on what to do during this time as it relates to the areas affected by your products and services. We’ve all seen the initial flood of emails com- ing from companies about how they’re addressing the crisis. It’s important to keep up the flow of communica- tions as a regular campaign.
FIND REAL GROWTH OPPORTUNITY This may not be a complete sales wasteland. There may be opportunity out there your sales organization hasn’t uncovered. Directions to explore may include: • Optimize territories. Most sales territories are not covered efficiently. Let’s face it: Reps cherry-pick the top opportunities from abundant territories and leave the rest under-penetrated. In normal times, optimiz- ing territories is one of the most effective methods for increasing sales performance. It’s certainly a great op- tion now. By focusing reps in on a smaller set of more lucrative accounts and shifting under-covered accounts to reps that have sales capacity, you can improve the overall productivity of each rep and the organization. Heat map your markets; then, heat map your rep activ- ity to those markets. Find the hot spots for opportunity and cold spots for coverage – and make targeted ac- count assignment shifts.
• Sell virtually. Companies have been shifting from in-per- son meetings to video conferencing as a norm, and this is a great time to expand this with your customers. With enforced safety measures limiting air travel and face-to- face meetings to “mission critical travel,” this is a great time to explore and understand how remote connection
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